The best Seychelles snorkeling is inside the marine parks. From Mahé, the Ste Anne Marine Park is a 10-minute boat ride and pairs well with a stop on Moyenne Island, while Port Launay works from the beach. From Praslin or La Digue, Ile Cocos is the standout. Go April to May or October to November for calm water.
Seychelles snorkelling is at its best inside the protected marine parks, where fishing and collecting are banned and boats have to moor in set places. There are good beach spots too, but inside the parks SPGA rangers patrol and check tickets, and the reef is protected from fishing.
One thing to know before you go: the reefs took a heavy hit in the 2024 global bleaching event. The fish are there. Much of the coral is still growing back. More on that below.
| Spot | Island | How you get in | Park fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ste Anne Marine Park (and Moyenne) | Off Mahé | Boat, 10 min from Victoria | Rs 200 |
| Port Launay | Mahé, northwest | From the beach | Rs 200 (shared with Baie Ternay) |
| Baie Ternay | Mahé, northwest | Boat only | Rs 200 (shared with Port Launay) |
| Fairyland, Anse Royale | Mahé, east | From the beach | None (free shore entry) |
| Beau Vallon | Mahé, northwest | From the beach or by boat | Not an SPGA park |
| Ile Cocos | Near La Digue | Boat, about 10 min from La Digue | Rs 200 |
| Curieuse and St Pierre | Off Praslin | Boat, 20 min from Côte d’Or | Rs 300 |
| Anse Lazio | Praslin, northwest | From the beach | Not an SPGA park |
Fees are SPGA’s non-resident rates for ages 12 and over, checked in October 2026. Park sites take cards only. Beau Vallon and Anse Lazio are not on SPGA’s fee list.
If you are staying on Mahé, start here. The Ste Anne Marine National Park is about 5 km offshore, 10 minutes by boat from Victoria, and SPGA calls it “a perfect snorkeling spot.” It has one of the largest seagrass meadows in the granitic islands, where green turtles feed, plus coral reefs around six islands and occasional bottlenose dolphins.
Local operators often name the reef between Moyenne Island and Ste Anne as the best stretch, with Cerf’s reefs second; currents can run stronger around Cerf. If snorkelling is the whole point, the semi-private snorkelling trip spends a half day on three reef stops instead of the usual lunch-and-landing routine. Tour snorkel stops report parrotfish, angelfish and the odd hawksbill turtle.
The reason to pick a tour that lands on Moyenne is what happens after you dry off. You get a 30-minute trail through the forest Brendon Grimshaw planted, with giant tortoises wandering across the path. Full-day trips usually combine snorkelling, lunch and the walk. Read how to visit Moyenne for fees and timings.
Not a swimmer? Glass-bottom boats and a semi-submarine from Eden Island show you the same reefs without getting wet.
Port Launay, on Mahé’s northwest coast, is the only marine park in Seychelles you can reach by road, about 30 minutes’ drive from Victoria via La Misère. SPGA says the reefs on both sides of the bay are good for snorkelling, and there is a marked underwater trail with a species leaflet. Whale sharks feed here in season.
It is the easiest marine park snorkel to do on your own. Buy the ticket online first, since the site only takes cards.
Next door to Port Launay, Baie Ternay has no road at all. You arrive by boat from Beau Vallon or Port Launay. The bay is small, about 0.8 km², but SPGA lists hawksbill turtles, moray eels and shoals of catfish sheltering among the granite boulders, with whale sharks and dolphins possible. Yachts shelter here during the southeast monsoon, which makes it a good choice from May to September when other coasts are rough.
For a free, easy shore snorkel, Fairyland at the end of Anse Royale is hard to beat. A reef shelters a lagoon 1 to 3 m deep. Near the rocks you can expect semicircle angelfish, bluespotted groupers and goldbar wrasse; spotted eagle rays sometimes come in from further out.
Snorkeling Report rates it beginner level in calm conditions. At low tide the lagoon gets very shallow, so swim out toward Ile Souris for more depth, but do not go round the back of the islet, where the current is often strong.
Beau Vallon, Mahé’s busiest beach, has almost 2 km of sand and reef close enough to make it a base for diving and snorkelling. It is the place to hire gear or join a boat to Baie Ternay. This coast tends to be the calmer side of Mahé from May to September, when the southeast trades blow (SPGA notes yachts shelter in nearby Baie Ternay then).
SPGA describes Ile Cocos as the best-known snorkelling spot in Seychelles. It is a small marine park of three islets (Ile Cocos, Ile La Fouche and Ilot Plate) about 10 minutes by boat from La Digue, with very clear water. Hawksbill turtles are the main attraction, and SPGA says whale sharks pass roughly August to November.
You get there on a tour from La Digue or Praslin. If you are only on Mahé, it is a long day, so think about it as part of an island-hopping trip.
Curieuse, about 2 km off Praslin, is better known for its tortoises and mangroves, but SPGA lists Coral Gardens and Pointe Rouge for reef snorkelling. St Pierre islet, a five-minute boat ride from Curieuse, is the other stop most Praslin snorkel trips make; SPGA lists it for both snorkelling and diving. Boats leave from Côte d’Or. Curieuse’s fee is the highest of the marine parks at Rs 300.
Praslin’s best-known beach has reef at both ends, about 500 m apart. The eastern end is shallower with more coral. Reviews are mixed: the rocky entry gets rough in a swell, and jellyfish turn up at certain times of year. Worth a look if you are on the beach anyway. For Mahé’s other swimming beaches, see the best beaches in Mahé.
April to May and October to November are the transition months between monsoons, when the wind drops and the sea is usually calmest with the best visibility. From May to September, stick to the northwest coast of Mahé. From November to March, the sea is often calm, but this is the rainy season. The best time to visit guide has the month-by-month figures.
Whale sharks: roughly August to November around Ile Cocos, and seasonally at Port Launay.
Be realistic about the coral. The 2024 global bleaching event reached the inner islands by April 2024. The national reef status report published in May 2026 called 2024 the most severe heat-stress year on record and put inner-island live hard coral cover at about 20% in 2025, well below pre-2016 levels. Figures for individual sites like Ste Anne are not published.
What that means in the water: plenty of reef fish and turtles, patches of healthy coral, and stretches of bare or algae-covered rock between them.
Inside the marine parks, SPGA bans fishing, spear guns, and collecting shells, coral or any marine life. Do not stand on coral, and keep your distance from turtles.
Pack your own reef-safe sunscreen, a hat and a towel. One Moyenne visitor reported that sunscreen is not sold on the boat. Bring water shoes too: on Moyenne there is no jetty and you wade ashore.
If you want to compare boats, our tours page lists every Ste Anne trip we have checked, with which ones actually land on Moyenne.
7 hours
Reef viewing from a semi-submersible, a snorkel, a buffet lunch with live music, then time ashore on Moyenne to find the tortoises and the old graves.
from$141
Check availability4 hours
A small-group half day for keen snorkellers, with three reef stops in the park and a break on the Long Island sandbank.
from$170
Check availability2 hours
A short outing from Eden Island in a fully transparent boat, with a swim at one of the park's reefs and sometimes a sandbank stop.
from$112
Check availability7 hours
A catamaran day in the marine park with snorkel stops, a Creole lunch and a guided walk among the tortoises on Moyenne, with the island landing fee already paid.
from$158
Check availabilityPrices and ratings were taken from GetYourGuide and can change. Booking through these links supports this site at no extra cost to you.
SPGA calls Ile Cocos, near La Digue, the best-known snorkelling spot in the country, with very clear water and hawksbill turtles. From Mahé, the Ste Anne Marine Park is the easiest good option, 10 minutes by boat from Victoria, and its reef between Moyenne and Ste Anne is often named the best part. Baie Ternay on the northwest coast is the other strong Mahé pick.
Yes. Port Launay marine park has reefs on both sides of the bay you can reach from the sand, and it is the only marine park in Seychelles you can drive to. Fairyland, at the end of Anse Royale on the east coast, has a sheltered lagoon 1 to 3 m deep. Beau Vallon on the northwest coast also has reef close to shore.
Yes, if you are a non-resident aged 12 or over. SPGA lists Rs 200 for Ste Anne, Rs 200 for Port Launay and Baie Ternay together, Rs 200 for Ile Cocos and Rs 300 for Curieuse (checked October 2026). On site you can only pay by card. Most boat tours include the fee, and you can also buy online at spga.gov.sc/tickets.
Often, yes. SPGA lists hawksbill turtles at Baie Ternay and Ile Cocos, and says green turtles feed on the large seagrass meadow in the Ste Anne Marine Park, where visitors may get the chance to swim with hawksbills. Keep a few metres back, never touch them, and let them surface to breathe without crowding.
The fish life is good, but the coral is recovering. The 2024 global bleaching event reached the inner islands by April 2024, and the 2026 national reef status report put live hard coral cover around the inner islands at about 20% in 2025. You will still see angelfish, parrotfish, turtles and rays. Expect more bare rock than older photos suggest.
Sainte Anne Marine National Park is a protected area of sea and six islands about 5 km off Mahé, a 10-minute boat ride from Victoria.
The best time to visit Seychelles is April to May or October to November.
The best things to do in Mahé split between the water and the hills.
Seychelles island hopping runs on the Cat Cocos ferry: 1 hour 15 minutes from Mahé to Praslin, then 15 minutes on to La Digue.