Too Big For The Aquarium?

[Andy Hipkiss]

Just got back from the Seychelles and although the coral destruction from the 97/98 El Nino was still evident, dramatically so in places, good diving was to be had. Some areas are coming back quite well although more for the Pocillopora than acro. Soft corals are doing well with fields of sacros and some wonderful purple softies, maybe Dendrophyton.

On the real upside though, the pelagics were out in force. Turtles, eagle and bonnet rays, jacks, tuna, a school of 7 humphead wrasses (big so and so's), a few white tipped reef sharks and my favourite ....... a whale shark :D

http://www.andy-hipkiss.co.uk/Temp/whaleshark.jpg

[ahoy]

Awesome. :o

We are thinking about a dive trip later in the year and, sadly, have decided to rule out Egypt in light of current developments.

:(

Not knowing much about the Seychelles, I get the impression you would recommend it for the diving, but do you know if there are options for other activities, e.g. dingy sailing, trekking?

Thanks,
S.

[Andy Hipkiss]

Ohh I dunno if I'd recommend the Seychelles. It's only paradise :lol:

More seriously, bear in mind that everything is expensive. Once you've overcome that hurdle then there is little to complain about.

For diving then for the main (inner) islands then the DI we used really only rated Mahe (it's where the plane lands which makes life a little easier as well). If you can afford the time then there is a liveaboard that sails from Victoria, Mahe and heads on down towards the outer islands (e.g. Aldabra). This would seriously be a diving holiday of a life time.

However, for a "mixed" holiday, then I can tell you what we did. The first thing to know is I organised my only flights down to Mahe, Seychelles (I have loads of BA airmiles so I only had to pay the airport duty). A tour operator may offer a better deal if you can't get free flights. A company called Barefoot has quite a good reputation for such holidays (not just the Seychelles) but there are loads of companies that will do.

I contacted one of the dive centres in Beau Vallon (north Mahe, about 10 or 15 mins drive from the capital, Victoria (or 25-30 mins from the airport). They are based at a nice hotel called the Berjaya Beau Vallon. The manager of the dive centre managed to get us a "cheap" price on the rooms ($120 a night vs about $200 normally - remember ... everything is expensive!). The hotel offers free non-motorised watersports. The downside of the hotel we stayed in is that they charge in forgein currency only (dollars normally).

The Seychelles rupee is strictly controlled by their government, which of course means there is a strong blackmarket in currency exchange ;) From the bank you only get about 6 rupees for a dollar, from one of the locals on the beach, I'm lead to believe (cough) that for changing 50 bucks you can get 9 to the dollar and for 100 you'll get about 9.5. It's better to change your money to dollars before you go since you'll only get 12 rupees to the pound.

You may get a better more friendly service from one of the many guest houses rather than a large hotel. The various travel agents will be able to help better here. The guest houses tend to be cheaper than the hotels it seems although all the ones I contacted want about 130-150 euros a night - however I only contacted those on the internet, and almost by definition, those with enough money to be on the 'net will be quite expensive. From our experience, you DO want to be based in/near Beau Vallon if you want to dive (the two 5star dive centres are both in Beau Vallon).

Another very nice looking hotel in Beau Vallon is the Coral Strand (about 5 mins walk from the Berjaya). I didn't see the rooms there but the hotel itself appeared excellent, has a top rated dive centre, watersports etc etc (oh .. and a truly wonderful Indian restaurant :D )

If you aren't going on a purely diving holiday then try and get a few days on some of the other islands. Praslin is much much quieter and EVEN more pretty than Mahe, then there is La Digue which redefines expensive but if you have the cash, is almost worth the money ... it's that nice! There are other islands but I haven't experience of them. Just bear in mind that Mahe is the only one with a reasonable population, the other islands are much quieter (and all the better for it if that is the holiday you want).

This website should give you lots more ideas http://www.aspureasitgets.com/default.htm

[ahoy]

I'll start preparing the 'business case' to present to the other half... ;)
Thanks for the info,
S.

[Andy Hipkiss]

Although it's probably best to have an ocean view (west facing is best to watch the sunsets), a mountain view is bearable ;) ... this is one from the rear of our room taken early one morning when the mist was still evident. Walking through these tropical "jungles" is amazing.

http://www.andy-hipkiss.co.uk/Temp/roomview.jpg

[Suk]

Hi Andy,
Glad to hear you had a nice trip, I'm extremely jealous, even though it's not that long ago when I was diving in Sipadan. Didn't see any whale sharks there though.
How big was this one & how close did you get to it? It's certainly my favourite too.
I've seen one Eagle ray in M'sia & it was absolutely gorgeous, did you get any pics of the ones you saw? c'mon don't hold back...you know we want to see them all.

Cheers
:D

[Andy Hipkiss]

Suk,

The photo above was taken at a distance of about 2 meters, I got within about 50-60 cm. One of the divers actually touched it much to the displeasure of the captain of the boat. Apparently if they touch you then it doesn't matter but if you touch them they get spooked and dive deep.

Here's a photo of it as it had just passed my right shoulder:
http://www.andy-hipkiss.co.uk/Temp/whaleshark1.jpg

I'd guess the size of the whale shark was about 5 or 6 meters but may have been larger ... all I know is at such a close distance it was bloody big! However, it had no obvious cuts, wounds or scars so it would appear to be a relative "baby". Amazing to think these things get up to 15 meters.

Sorry, no photos of the eagle rays, the closest I got to one was about 10 meters. I tried to get closer but we were often in quite strong current and they are a lot better at swimming in the flow than I was!

I got within about 1 meter of a large bonnet ray (Hels had one go directly over her at maybe 20-30 cm) but we didn't have the camera at that time. Curse :(

LOL about you being jealous ... I certainly was of your trip. The Seychelles will always hold a special place in our hearts (we got married on Praslin) but a trip to Sipadan looks a requirement from what you and Brian have said. Whether it be our next trip or not I'm not sure. Zanzibar looks very attractive also, as does a liveaboard in the southern Red Sea, as do the Maldives, as do .... hmmm, now where do I find the money :wacko:

[Suk]

Andy,
Awesome...That last shot brings back memories of my ride of a lifetime on a similar sized fish. The one we saw was feeding in circles & I spotted it coming towards us out of the deep blue as we were descending, around 10 metres.
Myself, an Aussie & the german divemaster.
As soon as I saw it, as well as the Pilot fish & remoras swimming along I just had to get close, real close....The adrenalin was pumping & all I could think about was hitching a ride, I took hold of the dorsal fin & wow....the power of the shark was incredible, I didn't have to fin much. I was a bit concerned about it diving deep so kept a watch on my depth gauge which is when I scraped my knuckle on it's sharp scales. Smooth from head to tail but very rough the other way, anyway the blood looked so weird cos at that depth red looks green :lol:
I jumped off for a bit & let it swim off & rejoined my buddy who couldn't believe what he'd seen either.
And then guess what, it came around again so this time I swam under it & stroked it's belly then came around to the other flank holding it's dorsal in one hand & it's pelvic in the other, B)
The third time around I watched the Aussie have a ride with the divemaster looking on not sure what to do.
The last time round I had to have another go & the divemaster decided he was going to join in as well but I think that must have spooked it as it just swam off into the blue, it's tail nearly knocking me senseless...I could feel the power from it's tail & almost got whiplashed :wacko:
We must have only been down about 20 mins but when I looked at my air......nearly gone.. :blink:
When we surfaced we just couldn't stop talking Whaleshark, & I must have had this 'high' for weeks after...
A truly incredible experience which I'm sure will prolly never be surpassed. The Manta ray is what i'm hoping to see in the future & i've seen pics of divers riding them too.... :ph34r:

[Andy Hipkiss]

Woo-hoo ... my dive buddy for a lot of my dives has just sent me a CD of all his photos from the trip. Damn, there are some really ugly fish at 5 meters ;)

http://www.andy-hipkiss.co.uk/Temp/uglyfish.jpg

[Andy Hipkiss]

© David Cameron 2003


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[Andy Hipkiss]

© David Cameron 2003

http://www.andy-hipkiss.co.uk/Temp/turtle2.jpg

[Andy Hipkiss]

© David Cameron 2003

http://www.andy-hipkiss.co.uk/Temp/bumphead.jpg

[Andy Hipkiss]

© David Cameron 2003

http://www.andy-hipkiss.co.uk/Temp/ray.jpg