SCUBA JUNE 2024 issue 146 | Page 53

TRAVELSPECIAL
Blue-lined snapper gather in colourful schools

Scenes from a sapphire sea

Mozambique
Comoros Mayotte
Madagascar
Alphonse Island
� � � � � � �
Seychelles
� � � � �

In search of the perfect Indian Ocean retreat , Simon Rogerson visits Alphonse Atoll in the southern Seychelles

The Seychelles has an untamed side . Fly south from the capital , Mahé , and the endless blue of the Indian Ocean is speckled with lonely coral atolls . These are the Outer Islands , administered by the Islands Development Company ( IDC ), and visited by a select few . One such island , Alphonse Atoll attracts fly fishers in search of the gamefish that haunt its sandflats . This unspoiled atoll is also gaining a reputation in the diving world .

From the air , Alphonse presents a mosaic of greens and blues , its forest of palms bisected by a 2km airstrip . At sea level , however , a coral atoll is an unforgiving place . If you were to arrive here as a
53