Thursday, April 16th started with a gentle call from the expedition leader, urging guests out of bed in preparation for the daily activities. On this particular morning, the guests would find themselves just barely off the island Astove, within the Aldabra group. Soon the outdoor café was teeming with excitement as the snorkel platform was set and divers began choosing tanks.
The Seychelles Islands are an undeniable mecca for marine life. Under the title Seychelles, the many islands have been grouped into several different assemblages. Among them, the Aldabra group is best known for its spectacular coral reefs and fascinating, healthy ocean life. Astove did not disappoint, to say the least. The island includes a coral reef which fringes along the coastline, marking only a maximum depth of 15 feet until it entirely drops off into the deep. This wall likely extends down thousands of feet, and is remarkably steep. It is here where most guests either snorkeled or dove on scuba throughout the day.
The underwater architecture on this island is a point to make in itself. This particular coral reef system was thick with caves, holes, caverns, and passageways. Along the wall laid several precarious coral overhangs which gave shelter to larger reef fish, each curiously watching the divers swim by. A place like Astove does not attract many scuba divers simply due to the travel logistics, though any avid diver should put the island on their bucket list.
The scuba diving group dove the longest, steepest wall of the island. A slow current lazily helped the divemasters and guests along, while the wall really showed off what it’s made of. Too many species of coral to count were covered in small reef fish, ubiquitous in diversity and number. On the wall itself invertebrates such as giant clams, octocoral, sponges and nudibranchs occupied small canyons within the coral rock. Glancing off the wall into the deep blue offered an entirely different viewing experience, with tuna streaming by and green sea turtles using the current as a highway, even the occasional hammerhead would glide by in the eerie distance.
Astove offered a quality of marine life that is not often stumbled upon anymore, a truly pristine section of the Indian Ocean. I am confident that this is an experience which all guests, whether snorkeling or diving, thoroughly enjoyed and will remember for some time to come.
