Praslin & La Digue · Seychelles · Drift · Pinnacle
Marianne
A granite drift with blacktip and whitetip reef sharks
Area photo: Tobias Alt, Tobi 87 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Marianne is dived around granite islands, usually as a drift, with depths between 12 and 25 m. Blacktip and whitetip reef sharks turn up here in numbers, and the granite is broken by passages the dive runs through rather than around. Green and hawksbill turtles are logged on the same ground.
Where it is and how deep
4.3517° S, 55.9217° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
This is usually run as a drift, so the group goes in and is carried along the granite islands rather than working from a fixed point on the rock. Depths are between 12 and 25 m, and the dive holds a fairly steady level along the granite while the water does the work. Nothing here has to be swum against, which is the reason the site is dived this way rather than as a circuit of one piece of ground.
Blacktip and whitetip reef sharks are the regulars, and the site's own description puts them here in numbers rather than singly. The granite is cut with passages, and the dive takes them as they come, threading between boulders and out the other side before the current picks the group up again. Sharks aside, those passages are the character of the site, and green and hawksbill turtles are logged along the same rock.
Marine life and season
- Reef sharks
- Sea turtles
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Good |
Season follows Praslin & La Digue: The southeast monsoon runs from May to September; the water is windiest and the visibility thinnest in July and August, while March, April and November log the clearest water.
Know before you go
- A drift ends away from where it began rather than back at the boat, so carry a surface marker buoy and stay in contact with the guide for the pick-up.
Questions divers ask
What sharks are seen at Marianne?+
Blacktip and whitetip reef sharks, in numbers rather than one at a time. The site is run as a drift and they are seen along the granite as the current carries the group past it.
Sources
- Marianne dive site — Scubago
In The Logbook
- Where to see reef sharks on your first divesBig animals · 14 min read
More dive sites in Praslin & La Digue
Pinnacle
Sponge-covered granite with whitetip sharks and turtles
Pinnacle
Granite canyons in the channel between Praslin and La Digue
Reef
A granite reef whose tallest boulder breaks the surface at low tide
Pinnacle
Three shark species and schooling humphead parrotfish
Pinnacle
Giant granite boulders and swim-throughs, 35 minutes out
Reef
Five minutes out, around 5 m, in a bay that stays calm
Coral garden
A shallow coral reef five to ten minutes off Praslin
Pinnacle
Granite boulders inside Curieuse Marine National Park
Similar dives elsewhere
Drift
L'Ilot
Seychelles · Seychelles
Drift a 200 m passage where eagle rays school
A brief, powerful drift where threshers and hammerheads come out of the blue
Grey reef sharks off the thila's ocean step on the incoming tide
A kilometre of channel drifted on the outgoing tide