Seychelles > What to do & what to see > Deep-sea diving

Diving With 115 islands scattered across the Indian Ocean, Seychelles offers diverse and impressive diving opportunities. Seychelles offers year round diving experiences in waters mainly outside the cyclone belt and dive centers around the country cater for novice and experienced divers alike, offering a number of specialised courses.                                                                                           Emperor Fish © STB    The Inner Islands, remains of a submerged mountain range, rest on a shallow plateau with prolific marine life and excellent PADI diving facilities available to access a multitude of dive sites.   All of these northerly islands offer impressive granite reef locations where the sculptured rocks can be covered with soft corals and sponges, and fish life is prolific, due to the archipelago’s isolation and also strict conservation rules. Wreck dives are available in some areas but only the islands to the south have wall dives, drop-off dives and drift diving opportunities as well. The Outer Islands to the south of the archipelago are all coralline or sand cays and mainly uninhabited, presenting the experienced diver with excellent opportunities to explore where few have gone before.  Outer Island diving is rich and varied, featuring everything from mini-walls and canyons to migrating Manta Rays, numerous wreck sites and some of the finest Gorgonian fans in the Indian Ocean. Diving on Aldabra’s terraced walls is dramatic and Green Turtles are common both in water and on their habitual pilgrimages up the beach to nest. The Cosmoledo atoll offers huge hard coral bommies with 3 metre Gorgonian fans and massive barrel sponges all under the watchful guard of inquisitive Potato Bass. Astove settlement reef presents another awe-inspiring wall dive whose reef top is incised with crevasses and caves and boasts a large resident Green Turtle population. Dive depths vary, ranging from 8 to 20 metres for inshore sites and up to depths of 40 metres for dives offshore.    Seasons and conditions    Diving is possible all year round but is governed by island’s position and the prevailing winds. Generally speaking, the best conditions for both the Inner and OuterIslands are in the calm periods, April-May and October-November, when the water temperature can rise to 29ºC and offers excellent (up to 30 metres) visibility. In December and January, the north-west winds blow but conditions remain much the same as in the calm periods, with the exception of greater surface movement and some localised turbidity. From May to September, the winds are stronger and blow south-easterly. Visibility and temperature may thus drop during August with water temperatures of around 25°C. A wet suit of at least 4mm is necessary. Unlike the InnerIslands, some of the more southerly OuterIslands are close to the cyclone belt, and during these months they can experience extremely rough conditions on occasion. A 4mm wetsuit is the minimum protection recommended for the OuterIslands. Islands with big drop-offs and walls often have marked thermo-clines with temperatures ranging from 19 to 27ºC and a full suit is an advantage for most divers.   Marine life   The InnerIslands’ marine life reveals an abundance of fish even on shallow inshore reefs and features different types of Butterfly fish and Angel fish, Soldier fish, Squirrel fish and Sweepers among many others. The island reefs are also havens for many invertebrates including Octopus, Spiny Lobster and a plethora of Nudibranchs, such as the Spanish Dancer. Sites with regular current flows support fan corals and colorful tree coral formations while more remote sites shelter the larger fish species, such as the Napoleon Wrasse, Giant Grouper, Reef Sharks and Ribbon-tailed Stingrays. Most spectacular are the plankton-eating Whale Sharks found all year around the Inner Islands, with peak sightings in August, and October through January.   Marine life around the relatively isolated Outer Islands tends to be even more prolific, with frequent sightings of many of the larger grouper species, particularly the spotted Potato Bass as well as Grey Reef, Silver Tip, Nurse Sharks and the occasional Hammerhead Shark. A number of rare exotics have been identified from this area such as the African Pygmy Angelfish thought to exist only in small numbers at depth off Mauritius and now found regularly in easy diving depths off Astove. The cartoon-like Yellow Rubber Lipped Sweetlips is another firm favorite while elusive Long-Nosed Hawkfish can be easily found in most Gorgonian fan areas.    Health   Divers should bring proof of certification and medical clearance for any medical problem.   It is recommended there be a 24-hour safety window between the divers’ last dives and their next flight.   Equipment    Most dive centres offer modern dive equipment rental and service facilities. However, repair facilities for divers’ own gear may be limited, subject to availability of specific spare parts.  Air Seychelles offers a free sporting equipment allowance of 10kg, which applies to the equipment of diving, golf, fishing and surfboards. The equipment is weighed separately and if the weight is less than 10kg no supplement will be payable. If the weight exceeds 10kg, the equipment is added with the other checked luggage and any excess weight above the specified baggage allowance will be payable.     To profit from the sporting equipment allowance on connecting flights to Praslin, visitors must travel exclusively with Air Seychelles and the Praslin sector must be reproduced on the same ticket as your international sector. SUBIOS    SUBIOS (Sub-Indian Ocean Seychelles) is the country’s annual underwater photo and film festival, with an aim toward showcasing the islands’ extraordinary marine world and promoting Seychelles as an ideal diving destination, as well as to sensitise the local population to the beauty beneath the waves. The festival includes not only its annual photographic and video competition but also features presentations by famous visiting speakers, SUBIOS dedicated events at hotels and a special schools programme to educate the nation’s youth concerning the beauty and fragility of the islands’ marine eco-systems.  Source: Seychelles Tourism Board Back to   Seychelles travel guide Homepage Links • prime dive spots off mahé island • diver travel tips • international underwater festival Links in other languages                          (1) (8) (1) (1) (1) Same category in a different destination Madagascar Maldives Mauritius Mayotte Réunion Sri Lanka Zanzibar