The North-West Coast
Due to strong currents, these are mainly drift dives with the boat following the divers. There are also a number of sites off popular Grand Bay. Some are nearby, like Tortoise, which is at 13m. Lots of morays, octopus and lionfish are found on these flat reefs. Coral Gardens, which starts at 18m, consists of coral banks between which are sand gullies. Commonly seen are squirrelfish, trumpetfish and goldies. For beginners, a good option is Perrybeer site, tropical reef fish abound as do moray eels.
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Further north is the Merville Patches. Also good for beginners, this starts at 10m, in a lovely lagoon with finger coral lots of small tropical reef fish, lionfish and morays too. The site known as Malene is known for its shell life at about 20m. The deadly venomous cone seashells, are among the many beautiful seashells present there. Night dives off Grand Bay are excellent.
From the la Pirogue, divers are taken to some 20 sites. Very useful for beginners is Aquarium, a rocky reef area with plenty of angelfish, kingfish and butterfly fish plus lots of wire coral. Watch
All sites visited by the Meridien dive centre at Beachcomber Hotel are about 30 minutes by boat from the hotel. And they are all on the seaward side of the barrier reef, where marine life is abundant
A bit more affected by mass tourism than other regions, the East Coast offers some excellent diving. One of Mauritius' best dives is The Passe where you drift dive through the passes with the current
The marine life of Mauritius has suffered from man's arrival although it is an additional attraction for visitors. It is easy to visit coral gardens in depths of seven to 20 metres and the range of
The reefs of Mauritius offer excellent opportunities for scuba diving and snorkelling enthusiasts with warm, crystal clear water, calm seas and varied marine life. The 205-mile (330-km) coastline of
There are several good scuba-diving locations around Rodrigues, but there is no diving school or public-use compressor on the island, and you need a boat. The best dives are off Pointe Colon and
Pointe Coton, on the east coast, has the best beach on the island. There are other nice beaches at St François, Trou d'Argent and Petit Gravier.
Rodrigues is a volcanic island rising from a ridge