Scuba Gear for the Seychelles

Water temperature and wetsuits

Sea temperatures around the Inner Islands usually sit between about 26 °C and 30 °C, warmest from around March to May and slightly cooler during the south-east trade winds from June to September. That makes the choice simple for most divers:

• 3 mm full wetsuit: the best all-round choice. It keeps you comfortable on two or three dives a day and protects your skin from fire coral, which is common on granite pinnacles such as Brissare Rocks.
• Shorty or 1 to 2 mm suit: fine for warm-blooded divers on shallow dives in the hottest months.
• 5 mm suit or a hooded vest: worth it if you feel the cold, plan long deep dives on the Mahé plateau, or will be on a liveaboard doing four dives a day.

A thin rash guard or dive skin is handy for snorkelling between dives and on the boat, where the equatorial sun is strong even on cloudy days.

Bring or rent?

Dive centres in the Seychelles rent full sets of equipment, and the quality is generally good. Still, a few items are personal and worth packing:

• Mask: a mask that fits you is the single most useful thing to bring. Pack a spare strap.
• Dive computer: you will dive to 30 metres on some sites, so you want a computer you know how to read. Most centres rent them, but numbers are limited.
• Wetsuit: rental suits are fine, but your own fits better and dries overnight in the heat.
• Fins and boots: open-heel fins with boots help on beach entries and rocky jetties. Full-foot fins save weight if you only dive from boats.
• Regulator and BCD: worth bringing if you dive often and have the luggage allowance. Check whether your regulator is DIN or yoke and carry an adapter, since centres use both.

Weights and tanks are always supplied. Tanks are usually aluminium 11 or 12 litre cylinders; ask your centre for steel or nitrox if you need it. If you are choosing a centre, our Seychelles dive shops guide lists the equipment questions to ask.

Safety gear

Open-water sites like Shark Bank and the outer reefs can have current, and boats may pick you up away from the mooring. Bring a surface marker buoy (SMB) with a reel or spool, and a whistle or other audible signal. A small torch is useful even in daytime for looking into the cracks between granite boulders, and it is essential on the Ennerdale wreck. A personal locator beacon is worth considering for liveaboard trips to the outer atolls.

Sun and reef protection

The Seychelles sits just south of the equator, so sunburn is quick. Bring a reef-friendly mineral sunscreen (non-nano zinc oxide or titanium dioxide), a hat and sunglasses for the boat, and cover up between dives. Better still, wear a rash guard and use less cream. Never stand on coral to fix a fin; practise buoyancy in the shallows on your first dive.

Electronics, cameras and power

The Seychelles uses the British three-pin plug (Type G) at 240 volts. Bring an adapter and a small power strip if you charge a camera, computer and torches every night. Humidity is high, so pack silica gel for camera housings and open them only in air-conditioned rooms. A dry bag keeps phones and towels safe on the boat and on the ferry between islands.

Packing list

Luggage tips

Long-haul flights to Mahé often have generous checked allowances, but the domestic flights to Praslin and the outer islands use small aircraft with strict weight limits. If you are flying between islands, check the allowance first and keep heavy items like your regulator in your carry-on. The ferry between Mahé, Praslin and La Digue is more relaxed about luggage. Our Seychelles dive travel page compares the ferry and the plane.