Seychelles · Seychelles · Seamount
Willy's Rock
A seamount that tops out at 13 m
A seamount off Mahe with a maximum depth of 13 m, about fifteen minutes by boat from either Beau Vallon or Bel Ombre. The shallow rock carries the everyday reef cast, parrotfish, triggerfish, angelfish, butterflyfish and damselfish, with moray eels in the cracks and hawksbill turtles passing over the top of it.
Where it is and how deep
4.6265° S, 55.3806° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
About fifteen minutes from Beau Vallon beach or Bel Ombre marina, the boat anchors on the sand beside the site and the dive is a circuit of the seamount. The maximum depth is 13 m, so gas rather than no-stop time is the limit, and the light stays good the whole way round, from the top of the rock to the sand at its base.
Reef fish do the work here. Parrotfish graze the rock, triggerfish and damselfish hold above it, angelfish and butterflyfish move along the sides, and globefish hang in the shelter of the boulders. Moray eels occupy the cracks, and hawksbill turtles come over the top of the seamount. Current runs light on most days and strong on some, which decides how far around the rock a group gets.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Good |
Season follows Seychelles: Inter-monsoon periods (Mar-May, Oct-Nov) are calmest with the best visibility; whale sharks pass through the inner-island channels August through October.
Sources
- Willy's Rock - Scubago — Scubago
More dive sites in Seychelles
Protected marine park reef, nothing deeper than 20 m
Pinnacle
The current is the point here, and it is dived September to May
Pinnacle
Granite drift at 20 m with white tip reef sharks
Wreck
Wreck on sand at 24 m, white tips passing now and then
Wreck
Three sections of a Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker in 55 metres
Pinnacle
Granite boulders and small caves to a maximum of 30 m
Drift
Drift a 200 m passage where eagle rays school
Pinnacle
Grey and whitetip reef sharks over an offshore pinnacle
Similar dives elsewhere
Blue soft corals and dense fish life on a swim-through thila
The 'fish soup' pinnacle — two thilas packed with life
Pinnacles, sea fans and fish on the thila's north side
Three coral blocks from 10 m, the biggest 80–100 m long