Diving at Channel Rocks
Like most of the customers at Octopus Divers (more details about them below), I did one dive today. I was picked up at 0830 and taken to their dive centre on the opposite side of the island.
Unfortunately the dive at Channel Rocks was a disappointment. Descending into the water, it felt like a desert. There was nothing to see. I would have yawned while diving if I could.
The 55 minute dive seemed like an eternity and I was rather bored. Fortunately there were a few moments to spark my interest; it was my first sighting of a lobster in little cave. Apart from that there were a few bits of fish around including one Napoleon. Upon surfacing, I puked up a little. It was like acid coming out. Then I felt really cold and shivered all the way back to dry land.
Speaking to other divers in the group back on dry land, one guy had done five days of diving. Yesterday’s site had been good and today was the worst of all his days. My bad luck, I suppose.
The Dive Operator: Octopus Divers
I did two dives over two days with Octopus Divers at on Praslin Island, Seychelles. It is a Swiss-owned outfit with nice friendly staff. They are located in the compounds of the Berjaya Resort at Anse Volbert (Cote D’Or).
They do two standard outings a day at 0900 and 1400. In addition, there is a daily introduction to scuba mid-morning and a night dive on Wednesdays.
When I was there, it appeared most people just do one dive. I suppose it gives more time to laze around with family. If you want to do two dives, there’s a little wait in between. They can supply you box lunch at a price that’s much cheaper than a restaurant and the quality is good. The beach here is very nice and you can hang out in between or after your dive.
All the equipment I used were in good working order. Paperwork and handling of equipment was prompt and orderly. They say that one dive master will look after a max of 6 clients, but on both my dives it was one dive master to two clients.
Pricing:
- Currently dives are priced at EUR55 including all equipment; or EUR45-50 if you have your bits and bobs.
- Bear in mind that a dive at EUR55 is about half the price of a full-day snorkelling trip (including lunch).
- They advertise a pick-up service but I was surprised to find that it includes taking you home (rather than just one way as some sneaky operators would have it). The transport sealed the deal for me. A return taxi from another part of the island could easily cost the same price as a dive!
I’d happily dive with them Octopus Divers again. Unfortunately, diving here seems a bit hit-and-miss unlike say in Malaysia or Indonesia.