Question Any recent (2023) dive experience in Seychelles?

[parrotfish91]

I saw a thread in 2022 but am interested in any experiences this year. My dive buddy and I are considering diving in Seychelles in September, and would like to determine if it is worthwhile. I just want to make sure we won't be looking at sand and boulders all week underwater.

We are Advanced divers with several hundred dives each. We like quieter places - we aren't looking for nightlife or clubs. We also like to avoid crowds and mass tourism. We have been to many places but never Seychelles, and trying someplace new is one of our criteria.

I would appreciate any input anyone has on diving in the Seychelles from a land-based resort. And also, what specific sites were better than others. It seems like Mahe and Praslin are the easiest islands to get to. I've seen ads for an outfit on Alphonse Island and am interested in objective feedback on that experience.

Thanks in advance for any input anyone has!

 

[GDHLEWIS]

For diving Seychelles your better off on Mahe, simply more operations working compared to Praslin. I dont have a specific Operator or site to visit specifically but a quick google search will get you all that information. There is a fair bit of decent enough diving and Seychelles will be quieter on the dive sights compared to other Tropical locations in the world

 

[backprop]

September's a good time to go to Seychelles in general, but you'll definitely be at the mercy of the trade winds which don't tend to die down until October. That will affect where dive ops will go, so selection may be limited.

I personally found the vibe of diving from La Digue and Praslin better. Unless you really want to limit the choice of where you stay on Mahe to a resort with its own dive operation (there aren't too many), or a place in Beau Vallon which is sometimes called, dismissively, "the Waikiki of Seychelles," then you could be making quite a trek to your boat each day. If you have the $$$ and want to stay at the Kempinski or Constance Ephelia, then those are options for sure; they just were not in my price range at all.

Trek Divers on La Digue is good. You can get a chill place within walking distance to the departure point at the ferry pier. There are some more upscale resorts too, but I believe they book diving through third parties.

Octopus Divers on Praslin is also good. That area (Cote d'Or) has lots of options to stay and a concentration of restaurants.

Just a final couple notes. First, the diving is not great. Almost all the Seychelles islands are granitic, so there isn't reef unless you go to some of the further-flung islands by liveaboard. The topography is interesting-ish, I'd say. There is some colorful sea life, the visibility can be OK, and it's not terribly cold, but it's not comparable to most anything in, say, in the Caribbean. I went for the same reason you did - to go somewhere new - and absolutely don't regret it. But I'm also glad the trip was not centered on diving.

Second, I noticed that dive ops themselves aren't big on making advanced reservations. Of the two I mentioned above, you can certainly contact them beforehand, and they might even answer, but the general idea is that you just show up on the morning you want to dive and go. Just something to remember so it doesn't seem like all the dive ops are sketchy if they're not giving you lots of specifics, taking deposits, and so on.