Seychelles · Indian Ocean
Mahé
One of the calm inter-monsoon windows with especially good visibility.
Mahé is the main Seychelles island and base for the country's diving — granite-boulder topography unique to the Seychelles, big napoleon wrasse, reef sharks, and the occasional whale shark on the outer banks.
Good season
Year-round; April–May and October–November are calmest. Whale sharks October–November.
Trip duration
5–7 nights, often combined with Praslin and La Digue.
Dive style
Boat diving on granite reefs; moderate current.
Dive level
Open Water; Advanced for outer sites.
Reef health
What you’ll actually findThis reef is losing coral faster than it's recovering. If it's on your list, go sooner — and manage expectations on coral colour.
Coral reef health
How is this calculated?On current trend, no live coral by ~2040. Losing about 1.3% cover per year — roughly 16 years of reef left to see if nothing changes.
Heat stress right now
No abnormal heat right now. Corals stay coloured.
NOAA Coral Reef Watch · updated May 2026 · 0.3 °C-week heat dose
What to expect on a dive
Seychelles took two major bleaching events in the last decade. Recovery is patchy.
Sources, methodology, and the raw numbers
Raw observed numbers
- Coral cover: 21% (survey Sep 2024, GCRMN Western Indian Ocean transect)
- Bleached: 24%
- Recent mortality: 9%
- East Africa post-2024 — observed condition reflects the declining regional pattern.
Raw thermal numbers
- NOAA CRW alert level: No stress
- Degree Heating Weeks: 0.3 °C-wk
- SST anomaly: +0.3 °C
How we summarise this
Observed coral cover, bleaching, and mortality come from named in-situ surveys with a stated date and method — they describe one snapshot of one reef and do not extrapolate to neighbouring sites. Current thermal stress is satellite-derived from NOAA Coral Reef Watch at ~5 km resolution; it indicates risk, not observed coral damage. We deliberately separate observed condition, current thermal stress, and projection — and we never publish a projection without a documented model and uncertainty.
Sources
- Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network — GCRMN / ICRI
- NOAA Coral Reef Watch — U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- AIMS Long-Term Monitoring Program — Australian Institute of Marine Science
- Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment — AGRRA Program / Perry Institute for Marine Science
- NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program — NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program
- Reef Check — Reef Check Foundation
- NOAA CoastWatch / OceanWatch — NOAA NESDIS / STAR
- Allen Coral Atlas — Arizona State University Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science
- Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority — Australian Government
- International Coral Reef Initiative — ICRI Secretariat
- Reef Life Survey — Reef Life Survey Foundation
- NASA PO.DAAC — NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Caltech
- Copernicus Marine Service — Mercator Ocean International for the European Union
- NASA Ocean Color (OB.DAAC) — NASA Goddard Space Flight Center / Ocean Biology Processing Group
- Argo float network — International Argo Program / UCSD
- CoralWatch — University of Queensland
- IMOS / AODN — Integrated Marine Observing System / Australian Ocean Data Network
- WRI Reefs at Risk Revisited — World Resources Institute
- Ocean Health Index — OHI partnership (Conservation International + UCSB + NCEAS)
- IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere (SROCC) — Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
- GOA-ON — Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network — GOA-ON Secretariat + IOC-UNESCO
- HAEDAT — Harmful Algae Event Database — IOC-UNESCO Intergovernmental Panel on Harmful Algal Blooms
- NCEI Marine Microplastics — NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
Reef condition changes year to year. If you visit, consider supporting responsible-travel and conservation operators on the ground.
Pressure on this reef
Protection · fishing · what you can doProtected-area status
Strict MPAInside a strict marine protected area with active enforcement.
Fishing pressure
Low fishing pressureDominant pressures
- tourism
- warming
- illegal fishing on EEZ edges
2 Green Fins-verified operators known at this location.
What you can do
Seychelles recently designated 30% of its EEZ as protected. Live with the conservation tag fees — they fund enforcement.
Protection status sourced from Protected Planet / WDPA and refined with Marine Protection Atlas. Fishing pressure proxy is Global Fishing Watch AIS data. See the methodology for what these sources can and can’t prove.
Pollution & water-quality
What divers should knowMultiple bleaching events (1998, 2016, 2024)
SEVERESince 1998
Granitic Seychelles has been hit by three major bleaching events since 1998. Cumulative coral loss is significant.
What this means for your trip
Pelagic-focused trips (whale shark, mola mola at L'Ilot) remain strong. Reef diving has thinned but unique granitic boulder topography keeps it visually striking.
Dive sites here
2 curated
Brissare Rocks
Granite boulder pinnacle north of Mahé covered in soft corals and resident schooling fish. Whitetip reef sharks rest in the cracks; eagle ra…

Shark Bank
Offshore granite outcrop rising from 30 m to 8 m below the surface. Top draws schooling yellowtail barracuda and snapper; deeper edges bring…
Gear
What to bringWhat divers say
“Diving among house-sized granite boulders is geologically unlike anything else in the Indian Ocean.”