All activities / Scuba Diving / Praslin
Scuba Diving in Praslin
The second-largest Seychelles island, an hour by ferry or fifteen minutes by air from Mahe. The dive centres cluster on Cote d'Or at Anse Volbert, a short run from the granite reefs of the Sister Islands, Aride and the pinnacle at Ave Maria Rocks.
Why here
Praslin trades the busier hub of Mahe for shorter boat runs to some of the archipelago's best granite diving. From Cote d'Or the sites lie fifteen to thirty minutes out: the current-swept pinnacle of Ave Maria Rocks, the reefs off Aride and Booby Islands, and the boulder fields around Coco, Sister and Felicite where whitetip reef sharks, eagle rays and hawksbill turtles are regular. The topography is the draw, granite towers and swim-throughs rather than flat reef, and the traffic is lighter than Beau Vallon. It pairs naturally with a stay on Praslin or La Digue and with a morning in the Vallee de Mai forest between dives.
Best months
As across Seychelles, the calmest and clearest diving is April to May and October to November, the transitions between monsoons. Ave Maria Rocks and the more exposed pinnacles carry current and suit logged divers, while the sheltered reefs off Cote d'Or work for training and first open-water dives. Water stays in the high 20s Celsius, so a shorty or thin wetsuit is enough.
Getting there & around
Reach Praslin by the scheduled fast ferry from Mahe, about an hour, or a fifteen-minute domestic flight. The two centres sit on Cote d'Or at Anse Volbert, walkable from most of the bay's hotels, with sites a short boat ride offshore. Combine easily with the Vallee de Mai and a day trip to La Digue.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (2)
Octopus Diver
SchoolOctopus Dive Centre is a family-run PADI 5 Star Instructor Development resort on Cote d'Or at Anse Volbert, Praslin, with more than twenty years on the island. The German magazine Unterwasser has voted it among the world's top hundred dive centres. It runs daily fun dives, the full PADI course ladder from Scuba Diver to Instructor, night dives and snorkelling trips out to the Sister Islands, Coco and Felicite.
Whitetip Divers
SchoolWhitetip Divers is an owner-run dive centre on the beach at Cote d'Or, next to the Paradise Sun hotel on Praslin, with more than a decade of diving on this coast. It works over twenty sites around Praslin and the neighbouring islands, teaches PADI courses for every level, and runs daily excursions, snorkelling trips and private boat charters for small groups.