Seychelles
Indian Ocean
Seychelles
£2.50
Diving Seychelles
The Seychelles looks unlike most Indian Ocean diving because of its geology: the inner islands are granite rather than coral, so dives run over huge rounded boulders, canyons and swim-throughs rather than reef flats. Mahé, Praslin and La Digue give easy access to this terrain, while the remote outer atolls are liveaboard territory. Whale sharks pass through in the second half of the year, and the granite topography holds good numbers of reef fish, rays and turtles. Like much of the region, the coral has been hit hard by bleaching, and recovery varies site to site.
- Best time to dive
- April to May and October to November, between the monsoons
- Difficulty
- Beginner to intermediate
- Water temperature
- 26–30°C
- Visibility
- 10–30m, seasonally variable
Top dive sites
- •Shark Bank, Mahé — Granite pinnacle with rays and big schools
- •Ennerdale wreck — Large tanker wreck north of Mahé
- •Ave Maria Rocks — Boulder terrain off Praslin with reef sharks
- •Aldabra and outer atolls — Remote, liveaboard-only, pristine
What you’ll see
Frequently asked questions
When is the best time to dive the Seychelles?
The changeover months between the two monsoons — roughly April to May and October to November — give the calmest seas and the best visibility. The north-west monsoon from December to March brings warmer water but more rain and choppier conditions, while the south-east monsoon from June to September is windier with reduced visibility on exposed sites. Whale shark sightings are most commonly reported around the second half of the year.
What makes Seychelles diving different?
The granite. Most tropical diving happens over coral, but the inner Seychelles islands are the exposed tops of an ancient continental fragment, so the underwater landscape is enormous smooth boulders stacked into arches, canyons and swim-throughs. It gives dives a scale and structure that coral reefs rarely have, and the crevices between boulders hold nurse sharks, rays and lobster. The outer atolls are true coral islands and dive completely differently.
