Praslin & La Digue · Seychelles · Pinnacle
Shark Rock
Three shark species and schooling humphead parrotfish
Area photo: Tobias Alt, Tobi 87 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Shark Rock is a group of big granite boulders south-east of Praslin, 30 to 40 minutes out by boat, with an average depth of 12 to 25 m. Sponges and encrusting corals cover the stone. Whitetip, grey reef and nurse sharks are all on the record here, along with schools of humphead parrotfish, barracuda, giant trevally and yellowfin soldierfish.
Where it is and how deep
4.4151° S, 55.8064° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The run out is 30 to 40 minutes to the south-east of Praslin, and the site is a set of big boulders standing in the water, covered in sponges and encrusting corals. Average depth is 12 to 25 m, which means the deep end sits at the base of the rock and the shallow end on its tops; the dive is worked between the two rather than along any reef line.
The name is earned by the sharks: whitetip, grey reef and nurse sharks are all on the record here, which is three species on one bank. Alongside them the site holds schools of humphead parrotfish and of yellowfin soldierfish, with barracuda and giant trevally also on the list. The long ride out, 30 to 40 minutes each way, is the price of a fish list that full.
Marine life and season
- Reef sharks
- Reef fish swarms
- Barracuda
- Trevally & jacks
| 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.
Sources
- Shark rock dive site — Scubago
More dive sites in Praslin & La Digue
Pinnacle
One giant boulder, 10 to 25 m, with sharks on the granite
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
Drift
A granite drift with blacktip and whitetip reef sharks
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
Similar dives elsewhere
Caves and overhangs north, a wall past 60 m east
A 4 m coral top, soft coral at 15–25 m and almost no current
A small arch and two sea-fan overhangs on a channel-swept thila
A field of table coral crowning a thila of caverns and overhangs