Conception Island is a small, uninhabited island, located 2km/1.2mi west from the main island of Mahé. Conception Island has very hilly terrain with no good beaches. Strong currents and large waves make the island very dangerous to approach and make it extremely difficult to land. The underwater landscape around the island features huge granite boulders dotted with impressive hard corals. There are two well-known dive sites around Conception Island. The Conception Rocks dive site, located at the southern point of the island, features a number of interesting swim-throughs that are formed by granite boulders and deeply incised gullies. The Conception Arena, located west of the island, features a submerged granite reef that forms a natural arena with a shelving sandy bottom that drops away at a depth of around 30m/98ft. Both dive sites have currents and attract a large number of fish species. Visits by schooling pelagics are very common and whale sharks are also present in the right season.
When To Go Diving
The tropical climate provides comfortable conditions for year-round diving, with an annual water temperature of 27-29C/81-84F. However, this dive site is only accessible when the sea conditions are calmer, from March to May and from October to early December, which is also the right time to see whale sharks.
What to see
When diving at Conception Island, divers will have good opportunities to see stingrays, barracudas, hawksbill turtles, and reef sharks, along with a large number of small reef fish species.