Destinations

The northernmost land masses of the Seychelles are known as the Inner Islands. Granitic and of unknown provenance, they rise above the sea surface from a massive plateau ca. 50 m deep that suddenly drops thousands of meters along its steep edges. The capital island of Mahé as well as the nearby major islands of Praslin and La Digue along with a host of smaller islands are located here, offering both true coral and granite reef diving.

The Inner Islands can be enjoyed year-round. A variety of dive sites range from shallow, protected areas with no current to beautiful coral slopes, caves, walls, and amphitheaters with mild to moderate current.

There are also many opportunities for exciting night dives. Watch an octopus de-camouflage, glide across the decks of a wreck, spot a ghost moray weaving in his hole or swim with a whale shark in plankton season. World-renown dives such as Ennerdale Wreck and Brissares Rocks are found here along with many lesser known, more spectacular areas at The Sisters, Aride, Bird, Denis, Marianne, Curieuse, Cousin, Silhouette and others.

The Praslin-La Digue group of the northern Inner Islands includes a few islands far to the North and East on the edges of the Mahé Plateau. This part of the sea features reefs and underwater mounts. The richly variegated topography provides magnets for bottom fish, trevallies, schools of young fish and naturally the pelagics who hunt them. Amongst these are sailfish, black marlin, amberjacks, dogtooth and yellowfin tuna, gray, white tip and black tip sharks. Bonefish, milkfish, rays, and turtles frequent the reefs and lagoons. A 2010 aerial survey proved that this area had the second-highest level of cetacean density and diversity in all the surveyed regions of the Southwest Indian Ocean. Spinner and spotted dolphins, short-finned pilot whales, sperm and pygmy sperm whales, and blue whales are seen, especially during migration periods.

The edge of the northern Mahé Plateau is best dived from October to early December and from March through mid-May. Dramatic granite boulder clusters create gullies and passages to inspect. Steep, incised walls covered with soft and hard coral formations drop to sandy bottoms where rays and the occasional nurse shark are found. Larger pelagics can be seen where the plateau drops quickly, whale songs and dolphin chatter heard from the Deep. Isolated lagoons and remote island reefs are populated by barracuda, jacks, turtles, rays and reef fish. Follow black and white tip sharks gliding between pinnacles and mounts. Photograph a ghoulish bearded rockfish peering up from below. Surprise, a giant stingray resting in the sand.

The Amirantes, a chain of coral islands closest to the main granitic northern Mahé Plateau, start at African Banks 235 kms south of Mahé. There are 25 islands in this group which include true coral atoll formations at St. Joseph, Desroches and Poivre but also beautiful sand cays. The coral is healthy and abundant. Giant gorgonian fans and barrel sponges decorate the reefs, and marine life is prolific. It is rare that boats visit here. The few tourist resorts are exclusive, reached only by expensive chartered flights. Almost no one is diving in these waters, and so you will often find yourself alone with no one else in sight.

Between May and September, powerful southeast monsoon winds create rough conditions in the Amirantes. The calmest periods are between monsoons, so the best times to dive here are March to May and October through mid-December when visibility improves, up to 40 m. The most likely times to see giant mantas and sailfish are September to May. Throughout the year, there are grey, bull, nurse and reef sharks, platoons of eagle rays, solitary sting rays, giant trevally, jacks, barracuda, turtles, moray eels and all manner of interesting and rare smaller creatures such as nudibranchs.

The southern Amirantes spiral around Alphonse Island, located 400 km/250 miles southwest of Mahé. Once owned by Mauritian families and merchants then by the British government, these isolated outposts were initially developed as maize, sweet potato, pineapple, and coconut plantations. Today, they provide luxury island getaways known for world-class diving and fly fishing. The islands are ringed by reefs with coral in good condition and pristine waters. Divers are few and far between, and so you will have the sea largely to yourself.

As in the North Amirantes, the best time for diving here is March to May and October to mid-November, when visibility levels can reach an astonishing 40 m. Spot a nurse shark searching for a soft bed on a gentle sandy slope. In fact, several shark species roam these waters including silver tips, hammerhead and bull sharks. Square off against a giant potato bass, out to defend his territory. Trail a platoon of eagle rays in formation sweeping past a thick fan coral forest where a rare long-nosed hawkfish lingers. Clouds of humpback and yellow snapper interspersed with oriental sweet lips in pairs or singles, bump-head parrotfish, bat fish and fusiliers abound with an occasional troop of barracuda passing through. Turtles, moray eels, lobsters, octopus, and cleaning shrimp plus an array of nudibranch are all present.

This cruise combines the highlights of the Northern and the Southern Amirantes itineraries, adding many additional dive sites not possible to visit during the 1-week expeditions. African Banks is one of these, the northernmost landfall of the Amirantes Group. It consists of two islets, North & South, which lie just 2 km apart. These flat, uninhabited islands, washed by waves sweeping over reefs, are surrounded by fish-rich waters. Rémire, a.k.a. Eagle Island, is the northernmost inhabited island in the Amirantes Group. Once a guano mining site and coconut plantation, it now boasts a small airstrip and a modest guest house. Marie Louise and Desnoeufs are known for important bird colonies & turtles.

The best time for diving in the Amirantes is March to May and October to mid-November when the monsoon winds recede, and it is calm & dry with visibility levels at 30 to 40 m. Many types of sharks patrol the reefs, checking you out almost as soon as you hit the water. Greater and lesser barracuda, sometimes solitary but also in groups, materialize out of nowhere. Join a swarm of sweet lips and snappers rounding a coral head. Look for stingrays buried in the soft white sand below. Giant spotted pufferfish flutter their huge eyelashes, while rainbow-colored parrotfish deconstruct a coral outcrop below. Turtles paddle by in search of forage. Moray eels weave in their holes, sometimes emerging to snake their way towards a new resting spot. Marvel at scores of candy-colored damsels dancing over a clump of orange sponge, where a tiny black and yellow puffer fish busily helicopters about. Suddenly a giant Napoleon wrass appears and moves majestically across the scene, trailing a bevy of batfish in his regal wake.