Deep Sea Fishing Seychelles: Charters & Best Season

Deep Sea Fishing Seychelles: What This Fishery Actually Delivers

The first time I heard someone describe deep sea fishing Seychelles as "just like the Maldives but with bigger fish," I was standing on a dock in Mahé watching a charter captain quietly shake his head. He'd heard it before. The Maldives has engineered its entire tourism infrastructure around accessibility — every resort sits on its own reef, every transfer is a seaplane ride away, and the fishing, while solid, operates within a system built for comfort first. The Seychelles does not care about your comfort in the same way. It cares about the fish.

And the fish here are extraordinary. The Indian Ocean Drop Off — the abrupt shelf edge that plunges from shallow plateau to 2,000 metres within a few nautical miles of several outer islands — produces yellowfin tuna, wahoo, dorado, and sailfish at volumes that would embarrass most other Indian Ocean fisheries. But that Drop Off is not accessible from Mahé on a half-day charter. Not meaningfully. Not if you're after the fish that made this fishery's reputation.

What separates the Seychelles from every other destination I've fished in the Indian Ocean — and I've fished the Maldivian atolls, the waters off Exmouth in Western Australia, and the outer banks of Phuket — is the sheer variety of environments within a single archipelago. You can target bonefish on the flats of St Francois Lagoon at 06:30, then be fighting a wahoo over deep water by 10:00. That range doesn't exist in the Maldives. It barely exists anywhere.

But — and this is the honest part — that variety comes at a logistical and financial cost that most fishing guides won't tell you upfront. The outer islands where the best big game fishing Seychelles has to offer actually lives are not easy to reach. They require domestic flights, dedicated lodge bookings, and in some cases, liveaboard arrangements that add days and dollars to any itinerary.

This guide is for people making real decisions about where to spend serious fishing time and serious money.

Why Fish Seychelles Over Other Indian Ocean Destinations

The honest answer is species diversity — but that answer needs unpacking, because it only holds true if you're fishing the right part of the archipelago. The inner islands around Mahé and Praslin offer competent fishing. The outer islands offer something else entirely: a fishery that competes directly with the best I've encountered anywhere in the Indo-Pacific.

I've spent time on the outer Maldivian atolls — Addu, Fuvahmulah, the southern chain — where the pelagic fishing is genuinely impressive and the GT population on the outer reefs is among the most aggressive I've seen. But the Maldives flats fishing is limited, the bonefish populations are patchy, and the dorado season is narrower than most operators admit. The Seychelles outer island system gives you all of that in one geography, with the addition of a reef and lagoon structure that produces bonefish and permit on the flats at a level that rivals anything I've seen in Belize or the Bahamas — environments built specifically for that fishery.

The other factor is the Drop Off itself. That shelf edge creates a temperature and current dynamic that concentrates pelagics in ways that feel almost unfair when conditions align. I've seen yellowfin tuna stacked so densely on the surface at the Drop Off that the water looked like it was boiling from 200 metres away. I've also seen the same location in a south-east swell with nothing but whitecaps and disappointment. The fishery is real. It is not guaranteed.

What I wouldn't recommend: booking a standard Mahé-based day charter and expecting to access the outer island fishery. The distances involved — Alphonse Island sits roughly 400 kilometres south-southwest of Mahé — make day-trip access impossible. Operators who suggest otherwise are selling you a different, lesser product under the same marketing umbrella.

Seychelles vs Maldives: Species Diversity and Access Reality

The Maldives wins on infrastructure. Full stop. Every transfer is timed, every resort has a dive and fishing centre, and the learning curve for a first-time visitor is almost non-existent. If you want a fishing holiday where nothing logistically difficult happens to you, the Maldives is the better choice.

But if you're an experienced angler who wants to target multiple species across multiple environments in a single trip — and you're prepared to deal with domestic flights, weight restrictions, and accommodation that books out 12 to 18 months in advance — the Seychelles outer islands are in a different category entirely.

The GT fishing on the Seychelles flats, particularly around Alphonse Island and the St Francois Lagoon system, is the best I've encountered in the Indian Ocean. The fish are larger on average than what I've seen in the Maldives, and the flats themselves — broad, shallow, with clear sight-fishing conditions in good light — are more conducive to technical fly fishing than anything the Maldivian atolls offer. Bonefish Seychelles is not a secondary attraction. On the right tide, at the right time of year, it is the main event.

Access reality: to fish Alphonse Island, you need a domestic flight from Mahé to Alphonse (operated by Air Seychelles or charter, roughly 90 minutes), and you need to be booked into the Alphonse Island Resort — managed by andBeyond — which operates on a full-board, guided fishing package model. There is no day-trip option. The minimum stay is typically five nights, and peak season weeks sell out well over a year ahead.

Fly Fishing vs Deep Sea: Which Suits Your Trip

These are not interchangeable experiences, and the mistake I see most often is anglers booking a Seychelles trip without deciding which one they're actually there for. The logistics, the locations, and the operators are almost entirely separate.

Deep sea fishing Seychelles — targeting wahoo, tuna, sailfish, and dorado over blue water — operates primarily from Mahé, Denis Island, and the outer island drop-off zones. It's boat-heavy, weather-dependent, and best suited to anglers who are comfortable on open ocean in a 30-foot sport fisher. Denis Island, sitting on the edge of the Seychelles Bank, is one of the better-positioned departure points for offshore work — closer to the shelf edge than Mahé, with a small airstrip that takes 20-minute flights from Mahé.

Fly fishing — GT, bonefish, permit, triggerfish on the flats — is almost exclusively an outer island pursuit. Alphonse and St Francois are the benchmark locations. This requires wading or poling skiffs across shallow lagoon systems, technical casting in wind, and a tolerance for the particular frustration of watching a 20-kilogram GT refuse your fly three times before disappearing into the coral.

If you only have five days and one budget, pick one. Trying to do both from a Mahé base is a compromise that serves neither well.

Best Season for Deep Sea Fishing in Seychelles

The Seychelles fishing season is governed by two monsoons, and understanding them is non-negotiable before you book anything. The south-east trade wind — the SE monsoon — runs roughly May through September. The north-west monsoon runs November through March. Between them sit two inter-monsoon windows: March to April, and October to November. Those windows are where the serious fishing happens.

The SE monsoon brings consistent 20-to-30-knot winds and a swell that makes the outer bank fishing uncomfortable and, on bad days, inaccessible. I've been stuck on Mahé for two days waiting for a weather window during a June trip — the charter captain wouldn't take the boat out, and he was right not to. The inner island fishing remains fishable in the SE monsoon, but the offshore pelagic action is significantly reduced.

The NW monsoon is more nuanced. It's not the same as the north-west monsoon I've experienced in Phuket — that system brings sustained heavy rain and genuinely dangerous seas. The Seychelles NW monsoon is warmer, more variable, and often delivers fishable days between weather fronts. Dorado and wahoo numbers peak during this period. But it's not reliable, and liveaboard operators will tell you the same.

October and November are, in my experience, the most consistently productive months across the entire archipelago. The seas settle, the pelagic species are moving through on their migration routes, and the flats at St Francois are in prime condition for GT and bonefish. If you have one booking window and you're serious about big game fishing Seychelles, this is it.

Season and Conditions Observation: The inter-monsoon transition in October produces a specific current pattern along the Drop Off that I haven't seen replicated anywhere else in the Indian Ocean. The thermocline rises, baitfish concentrate on the surface, and the wahoo fishing in particular becomes almost absurdly productive. I've seen similar dynamics on the outer Kimberley coast in Western Australia during the April tidal shift — that same sense of everything aligning at once — but the Seychelles version is more compressed, more intense, and gone within six weeks.

Month-by-Month Species Availability and Sea Conditions

January–March: NW monsoon, variable conditions. Dorado and wahoo active. Sailfish numbers building. Flats fishing possible but wind affects sight-fishing quality. Best for pelagics if you can work around weather fronts.

April: First inter-monsoon window. Conditions settle rapidly. All species available. GT fishing on the flats picks up significantly as water clarity improves. One of the most underbooked months — which means availability exists if you move fast.

May–September: SE monsoon. Offshore fishing restricted. Inner island reef fishing and light tackle work remains viable. Not the time for the Drop Off. Yellowfin tuna still present but harder to access consistently.

October–November: Second inter-monsoon window. Peak season. All target species active simultaneously. Bonefish Seychelles flats fishing at its best. Wahoo and dorado over the Drop Off. Sailfish marlin encounters increase. Book 12 months ahead minimum for Alphonse.

December: Transition into NW monsoon. Still fishable, increasingly variable. Dorado numbers strong. Some operators consider this a sleeper month — I think the risk-reward is marginal unless you have flexibility to reschedule.

Top Species: What You're Actually Targeting

The species list in the Seychelles is long enough to be genuinely impressive and specific enough to reward planning. You are not fishing a generic "tropical pelagic" environment — you are fishing a system where different species dominate different zones, and understanding that geography determines whether you go home satisfied or confused.

The headline pelagics — yellowfin tuna, wahoo, dorado, and sailfish — live over the Drop Off and the deep-water channels between the outer islands. Yellowfin here run large; fish over 80 kilograms are caught regularly by charter boats working the Drop Off in the October-November window. Wahoo are faster and harder to predict, but when they're on, they're on in numbers that make the Maldives wahoo fishing look thin.

Dorado — mahi-mahi — are arguably the most accessible of the pelagics for less experienced anglers. They're aggressive, they fight hard, and they're visually spectacular when they come out of the water. I've caught dorado in Vietnam, in the outer Maldives, and off the north Queensland coast, and the Seychelles fish are bigger on average and more consistently present during the right season.

Giant trevally on the flats is a different sport entirely. The GT fishing around Alphonse and St Francois is technical, demanding, and occasionally humbling. These fish are not cooperative. They will refuse a perfect presentation and eat a bad one for reasons that seem deliberately designed to undermine your confidence.

And then there's bonefish. Bonefish Seychelles doesn't get the same marketing attention as the GT fishing, but the St Francois Lagoon system holds bonefish populations that rival the Florida Keys in density — and the fish are larger. Average size runs 2 to 4 kilograms, with fish over 6 kilograms caught regularly.

Pelagics vs Flats Species: Tuna, Wahoo, Dorado, Bonefish, Trevally

The practical split is this: if you're targeting tuna, wahoo, dorado, or sailfish, you're fishing from a sport fisher or liveaboard over blue water, typically 15 to 40 nautical miles offshore. If you're targeting GT, bonefish, permit, or triggerfish, you're wading or poling a skiff across a lagoon flat in knee-deep water with a fly rod.

These two experiences require different gear, different guides, different locations, and different physical tolerances. Deep sea work demands sea legs and the ability to spend six to eight hours on a moving boat in open ocean. Flats fishing demands casting accuracy in 20-knot crosswinds, the ability to wade silently on uneven coral substrate, and a genuine tolerance for frustration — because the GT will see you before you see it, more often than not.

Marlin — both blue and black — are present in the Seychelles, particularly around the outer banks during the NW monsoon. But I'd be cautious about booking a trip specifically for marlin. The numbers are lower than the marketing implies, and the dedicated marlin fisheries I've experienced off the Kimberley coast and in the Coral Sea are more reliable for that specific target. The Seychelles marlin fishing is a bonus, not a guarantee.

Yellowfin tuna, by contrast, is as reliable as anything I've fished in the Indian Ocean. Target it. Plan for it.

Best Fishing Locations and Departure Islands

Geography matters here more than in almost any other fishing destination I've covered. The Seychelles archipelago spans roughly 1,400 kilometres from north to south — the distance from London to Athens — and the fishing quality varies enormously depending on where in that chain you're positioned.

Mahé is the main hub and the departure point for most Seychelles fishing charters. It's convenient, well-serviced, and produces decent fishing on its shelf and reef systems. But Mahé is 400-plus kilometres from the outer island fisheries that define this destination's international reputation. Day charters from Mahé are fine for light tackle reef work and occasional pelagic encounters. They are not the Indian Ocean Drop Off fishing that serious anglers are here for.

Denis Island sits on the northern edge of the Seychelles Bank, about 95 kilometres north of Mahé — a 20-minute flight. It's a private island with its own small resort, and its proximity to the bank edge makes it a legitimate departure point for offshore big game fishing. I'd rate it as the best option for anglers who want genuine pelagic access without committing to the full Alphonse Island logistics and price point.

Alphonse Island is the benchmark. Full stop. The andBeyond-managed Alphonse Island Resort operates the most thorough guided fishing programme in the archipelago — covering both the offshore Drop Off and the St Francois Lagoon flats system. The guides here are among the best I've encountered anywhere in the Indian Ocean, with a specific expertise in technical fly fishing for GT and bonefish that you simply won't find on a Mahé day charter.

Cousine Island offers a more intimate private island experience with access to good reef and light tackle fishing, but it's not positioned for serious big game work.

Cross-Destination Comparison: Alphonse Island's combination of flats and offshore fishing most closely resembles the experience I had at Farquhar Atoll — logistically punishing to reach, requiring full lodge commitment, and worth every complication if the species are what you're there for. It has the isolation of the outer Maldivian atolls without the engineering — which means it's rawer, more satisfying, and about 40% harder to get to.

Indian Ocean Drop Off, St Francois Lagoon, and Outer Islands Compared

The Indian Ocean Drop Off is not a single location — it's the collective term for the shelf edge that runs along the western and southern margins of the Seychelles Bank and the outer island plateaus. The most productive sections are accessible from Alphonse and from liveaboard operations that work the southern outer islands. The Drop Off accessible from Denis Island is a different, shallower shelf break — productive for tuna and wahoo, but not the same depth or current dynamics as the southern system.

St Francois Lagoon at Alphonse is a world-class flats fishery. The lagoon covers roughly 15 square kilometres of shallow coral flat, with a hard sand bottom in sections that makes wading practical and sight-fishing conditions excellent in good light. Best light for sight-fishing the flats is between 07:00 and 10:30, and again from 14:30 to 17:00 — when the sun angle is high enough to penetrate the water column without creating glare. The midday period is largely wasted on the flats.

The outer islands — Cosmoledo, Astove, Farquhar — are for liveaboard expeditions only. No permanent tourist accommodation. Access via charter flight or vessel. These are the most remote and most productive locations in the entire Seychelles fishing system, and they are genuinely logistically punishing. Cosmoledo in particular has a GT population that is, in my experience, unmatched anywhere in the Indian Ocean.

Seychelles Fishing Charters: Operators and Costs

The charter market in the Seychelles splits cleanly into two tiers, and conflating them is the most expensive mistake you can make when planning this trip.

Tier one: Mahé and Praslin-based day charter operators. These run half-day and full-day trips on sport fishers ranging from 25 to 40 feet, targeting reef species, light tackle pelagics, and occasional offshore work when conditions allow. Prices run from approximately €250 to €600 per boat per day, depending on vessel size, fuel costs, and whether tackle is included. Gerry's Private Charters operates out of Mahé and is one of the more consistently recommended operators for this tier — the boats are well-maintained, the captains know the local reef systems, and they're honest about what the day charter product actually delivers. FishingBooker lists several Mahé operators with verified reviews, and it's a reasonable starting point for comparison.

Tier two: Outer island lodge-based fishing programmes. This is where the serious big game fishing Seychelles product lives. Alphonse Island Resort, managed by andBeyond, operates a fully guided fishing programme that includes both offshore sport fishing and flats guiding. The pricing model is all-inclusive: accommodation, meals, guided fishing, and boat access bundled into a per-person-per-night rate that runs approximately €1,200 to €1,800 per person per night depending on season and room category. That sounds steep until you price out the components separately — and then it looks like reasonable value.

Field Hack: If you're targeting Alphonse Island through andBeyond, book directly with their dedicated fishing programme coordinator rather than through a general travel agent. The fishing-specific allocation — guide assignments, skiff access, offshore boat priority — is managed separately from the general resort booking, and agents outside the fishing programme network frequently don't know which weeks have guide availability versus which weeks are already allocated to group bookings. Calling directly and asking specifically about "fishing guide allocation" for your target dates will save you arriving to find your preferred guide is already committed to another party for three of your five days.

Honest Warning: The half-day charter from Mahé marketed as "deep sea fishing" is not deep sea fishing in any meaningful sense. The water depth accessible within a half-day return from Mahé harbour does not put you over the pelagic zones that produce the fish in the photographs. You will catch reef fish. You may catch a small tuna. You will not be fishing the Drop Off. If that's your budget, go in with accurate expectations — it's a pleasant boat trip with light tackle fishing attached. It is not big game fishing Seychelles.

Charter Pricing Breakdown: Mahé vs Alphonse Island Operators

Mahé day charter (half-day, up to 4 anglers): €250–€350. Reef and light tackle. No offshore access. Tackle usually included. Departure from Victoria harbour, typically 06:30, return by 12:30.

Mahé day charter (full-day, up to 4 anglers): €450–€600. Better offshore access in calm conditions. October–November inter-monsoon window produces the best results from this tier. Still not the Drop Off.

Denis Island fishing package: Varies by resort rate plus fishing supplement. Estimate €600–€900 per person per day all-in for a dedicated fishing stay. Better offshore positioning than Mahé. Smaller operation, fewer guides.

Alphonse Island Resort (andBeyond): €1,200–€1,800 per person per night, all-inclusive with guided fishing. Minimum five nights recommended for meaningful fishing time. Fly-in from Mahé adds approximately €400–€600 return per person on the domestic charter flight.

Liveaboard outer island expeditions (Cosmoledo, Farquhar): €3,000–€5,000 per person per week, depending on vessel and operator. Limited availability. Books out 18 months ahead for peak season.

Trip Types: Half-Day to Multi-Day Expeditions

If you're arriving in the Seychelles primarily as a non-fishing traveller and want to add a fishing experience to a beach holiday, the Mahé half-day charter is the right product. It's accessible, it requires no advance planning beyond a 48-hour booking window, and it delivers a genuine time on the water without the logistical overhead of the outer island system. Manage your expectations and you'll have a good morning.

If you're a serious angler — meaning fishing is the primary reason for the trip, not an add-on — then the half-day Mahé product is a waste of your time and a fraction of what this fishery can deliver. You need a minimum of five days at Alphonse or Denis to get meaningful fishing time, and you need to build in weather contingency. I've had two days at Alphonse where the wind made the flats unfishable and the offshore work marginal. Having seven days instead of five meant I still got four full fishing days out of the trip.

Multi-day liveaboard expeditions to the outer islands — Cosmoledo, Astove, Farquhar — are the pinnacle of the Seychelles fishing experience and the most logistically demanding option. These trips typically run seven to ten days, operate on a live-on-board basis with no shore accommodation, and require you to be comfortable with the realities of extended offshore living: limited freshwater, shared quarters, weather-dependent itineraries, and the genuine possibility that the fishing will be extraordinary and the comfort will be basic.

Beginner vs Experienced Angler: Choosing the Right Format

If you're new to offshore fishing, start with a full-day Mahé charter and treat it as an education. The captains on the better boats — and Gerry's Private Charters is worth the booking — will teach you the basics of trolling, live bait presentation, and reading the water. You'll catch fish. You'll understand the environment. And you'll leave knowing whether you want to come back for the serious version.

Experienced offshore anglers who haven't done flats fishing before should think carefully before booking a fly fishing week at Alphonse. The GT fishing on the flats is technically demanding in a way that surprises people who are competent offshore but have no flats background. You need to be able to cast 20 metres accurately into a 20-knot crosswind with a 12-weight fly rod, on the first shot, with no false casts — because the GT will be moving fast and you will have one opportunity. If that's not your current skill level, the andBeyond guides at Alphonse will work with you, but you'll spend the first two days learning rather than fishing effectively.

Experienced fly anglers targeting bonefish Seychelles will find the learning curve shorter. The bonefish on St Francois are spooky but not impossible, and a competent bonefish angler from the Bahamas or Florida will adapt within half a day.

Practical Logistics, Permits, and Safety

The Seychelles does not require a fishing licence for recreational anglers fishing from a licensed charter vessel. The charter operator holds the relevant permits, and your activity is covered under their licensing. If you're fishing independently — from shore, from a private vessel, or in any context outside a licensed charter — you'll need to contact the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) directly for the relevant recreational permit. The SFA permit for non-commercial recreational fishing costs approximately 500 SCR per day as of the most recent rates I've confirmed, though this figure should be verified directly before travel as it's subject to revision.

Catch-and-release is standard practice for most species on the flats — GT, bonefish, permit — and is effectively mandatory at Alphonse Island under the andBeyond conservation programme. Some pelagic species can be retained for consumption, but operators will advise on current regulations. Blue marlin and black marlin are catch-and-release only under Seychelles law.

Safety on the offshore charters is generally well-managed by the established operators. The vessels running from Mahé and Denis Island carry standard safety equipment and operate within Coast Guard communication protocols. The outer island liveaboards are a different calculation — you are genuinely remote, weather windows can close, and the nearest medical facility is hours away by air. Travel insurance with medical evacuation cover is not optional for these trips.

Getting to Your Departure Point: Mahé, Praslin, and Outer Islands

Mahé is the main international entry point, served by direct flights from London, Paris, Dubai, Doha, and several African hubs. Most international anglers land at Mahé and either fish from there or connect onward.

Praslin is accessible from Mahé by Air Seychelles (25-minute flight, departures roughly every 90 minutes during daylight hours, costs approximately €80–€120 return) or by ferry (60 minutes, significantly cheaper at around €30 return, but subject to sea conditions). Praslin-based fishing is primarily reef and light tackle — it's not a serious big game departure point, and I wouldn't route a fishing trip through Praslin unless you're combining it with a general island holiday.

Alphonse Island: domestic charter flight from Mahé, approximately 90 minutes, operated by Island Development Company (IDC) or private charter. The andBeyond resort coordinates flight bookings for guests — don't try to arrange this independently, as the flight schedule is tied to resort operations and independent bookings are rarely accommodated.

Denis Island: 20-minute flight from Mahé on a light aircraft. The airstrip takes small planes only — luggage weight limits are strict at 15 kilograms per person including fishing gear. Pack accordingly. Rod tubes check in as oversized but count against your weight allowance on the Denis transfer.

The outer island liveaboards typically depart from Mahé by charter flight to a staging island, then transfer to the vessel. Confirm the exact logistics with your operator — this changes based on vessel positioning and seasonal itinerary.

Final Assessment: Is the Seychelles Fishery Worth the Commitment?

Yes. But only if you go to the right part of it.

The Seychelles is one of the few places in the Indian Ocean where a single trip can legitimately cover world-class offshore big game fishing and world-class technical flats fishing — GT, bonefish, and permit — within the same week. That combination does not exist in the Maldives. It barely exists anywhere. The Indian Ocean Drop Off fishing, the St Francois Lagoon flats, the sheer biomass of the outer island system — this is a fishery that has earned its international reputation honestly.

But the version of this fishery that earns that reputation requires real commitment: the domestic flight to Alphonse, the lodge booking made a year in advance, the budget that accounts for all-inclusive outer island pricing rather than Mahé day charter rates. The Mahé product is fine. It is not what people mean when they talk about deep sea fishing Seychelles in the same breath as the world's great sport fisheries.

If your target is yellowfin tuna and wahoo over the Drop Off, book Alphonse in October or November, go through andBeyond directly, and build in seven nights minimum. If your target is GT and bonefish on the flats, the same advice applies — and add a 12-weight rod to your kit list. If you're working with a tighter budget and want a genuine offshore experience without the outer island overhead, Denis Island in October is the most honest value proposition in the archipelago.

The Seychelles will not make it easy. It will make it worth it.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best month for deep sea fishing in Seychelles?

October and November are the most consistently productive months for deep sea fishing in the Seychelles. These inter-monsoon weeks fall between the south-east trade wind season and the north-west monsoon, delivering calmer sea conditions, better visibility, and peak pelagic activity along the Indian Ocean Drop Off. Yellowfin tuna, wahoo, and dorado are all highly active during this window, and the flats fishing for GT and bonefish at Alphonse Island is simultaneously at its best. April is a secondary inter-monsoon window that's significantly underbooked — if October-November availability is gone, April offers comparable conditions with better charter and lodge availability. I'd avoid June through August for offshore work; the SE monsoon makes the Drop Off access unreliable and the outer bank fishing uncomfortable at best.

What fish species can you catch deep sea fishing in Seychelles?

The main pelagic targets are yellowfin tuna, wahoo, dorado (mahi-mahi), and sailfish over the deep-water zones and the Indian Ocean Drop Off. Blue marlin and black marlin are present, particularly during the north-west monsoon season, but are catch-and-release only under Seychelles law and are less reliably targeted than the other pelagics. On the flats and reef systems, giant trevally is the headline species — the GT fishing around Alphonse Island and St Francois Lagoon is among the best in the Indian Ocean. Bonefish are abundant on the St Francois flats, averaging 2 to 4 kilograms with fish over 6 kilograms caught regularly. Permit and triggerfish are also present on the flats. Reef species including various snapper, grouper, and barracuda are accessible from Mahé and Praslin-based charters throughout the year.