Aldabra Atoll
Seychelles · Indian Ocean
Aldabra Atoll is one of the world's most remote UNESCO World Heritage Sites, offering pristine untouched reefs, schools of hammerhead sharks, giant manta rays, and enormous populations of green turtles best visited April through October.
Aldabra Atoll Special Reserve
Awarded 2020
How this reef is doing
ⓘ How we measure thisReef state
Closed to commercial fishing for about forty years, this strict reserve carries reef fish biomass of around 4.8 tonnes per hectare, among the highest in Seychelles and far above the fished inner islands (Koester et al. 2023).
Coral cover
Fish life
Heat
Fishing
Quiet water, and fishing is fully banned here.
Sources · Global Fishing Watch and reef gravity
What you will see
37 species across the dive sites here
Coconut Crab
Seen 2 months ago
at Passe Houareau
Vulnerable
Pied Crow
Seen 2 months ago
at West Channels
Least concern
White-Throated Rail
Seen 2 months ago
at Passe Houareau
Least concern
Green Sea Turtle
Seen 4 months ago
at Passe Houareau
Least concern
Hawksbill Sea Turtle
Seen 7 months ago
at Aldabra Lagoon Reef
Critically endangered
Blacktip Reef Shark
Seen Mar 2025
at Aldabra Lagoon Reef
Vulnerable
Humpback Snapper
Seen Mar 2025
at Grand Passage
Least concern
Brown Noddy
Seen Mar 2025
at Passe Houareau
Least concern
Lesser Frigatebird
Seen Mar 2025
at West Channels
Least concern
Great Frigatebird
Seen Mar 2025
at Passe Houareau
Least concern
Golden Trevally
Seen Mar 2025
at West Channel
Least concern
Barrel Sponge
Seen year round
at Turtle Rock Wall
Black Coral Tree
Seen year round
at Grand Passage
Blue-lined Fusilier
Seen year round
at West Channel
Least concern
Blue-ringed Angelfish
Seen year round
at Passe Houareau
Least concern
Bull Shark
Seen year round
at West Channel
Vulnerable
Bumphead Parrotfish
Seen year round
at West Channels
Vulnerable
Dogtooth Tuna
Seen year round
at Grand Passage
Least concern
Giant Grouper
Seen year round
at West Channels
Giant Sea Fan
Seen year round
at West Channel
Gorgonian Fan Coral
Seen year round
at Grand Passage
Lettuce Coral
Seen year round
at Passe Houareau
Critically endangered
Manta Ray
Seen year round
at Grand Passage
Endangered
Octopus
Seen year round
at West Channel
Least concern
Peacock Mantis Shrimp
Seen year round
at Passe Houareau
Picasso Triggerfish
Seen year round
at Passe Houareau
Least concern
Red Snapper
Seen year round
at West Channel
Least concern
Reef Octopus
Seen year round
at Passe Houareau
Least concern
Tube Sponge
Seen year round
at Turtle Rock Wall
Whitetip Reef Shark
Seen year round
at Turtle Rock Wall
Vulnerable
Yellowhead Butterflyfish
Seen year round
at Passe Houareau
Least concern
Eagle Ray
Seasonal visitor
at West Channel
Endangered
Oceanic Manta Ray
Seasonal visitor
at Passe Houareau
Endangered
Scalloped Hammerhead Shark
Seasonal visitor
at Passe Houareau
Critically endangered
Spanish Dancer Nudibranch
Seasonal visitor
at Passe Houareau
Tiger Shark
Seasonal visitor
at Turtle Rock Wall
Near threatened
Whale Shark
Seasonal visitor
at Grand Passage
Endangered
Dive sites
Passe Houareau
scalloped hammerhead shark · oceanic manta ray · green sea turtle · white-throated rail
West Channels
bumphead parrotfish · giant grouper · white-throated rail · brown noddy
Aldabra Lagoon Reef
blacktip reef shark · hawksbill sea turtle · white-throated rail · brown noddy
West Channel
scalloped hammerhead shark · bull shark · eagle ray · golden trevally
Grand Passage
manta ray · whale shark · humpback snapper · dogtooth tuna
Turtle Rock Wall
green sea turtle · hawksbill sea turtle · whitetip reef shark · tiger shark