Dive Review of Silhouette Cruises/Maya's Dugong in
Africa/Seychelles

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Silhouette Cruises/Maya's Dugong: "Aldabra Atoll/Outer Islands Trip - Good Cruise to a Pristine Location", May, 2022, by ROBERT PECORARO, HI, US ( Contributor 15 reports with 8 Helpful votes). Report 11927.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Silhouette Cruises runs two trips a year to Aldabra Atoll and the outer islands of the Seychelles on the Maya's Dugong vessel. The vessel is a multi-purpose boat that does diving, fishing and research cruises out of Mahe, Seychelles. It's a sturdy boat with a large fuel capacity to be able to cover the nearly 1800 miles that we traveled during our two week trip. It is a functional, comfortable boat, but it is not luxurious. It was pretty stable but we did have some long, rocky days and nights at sea. Some of the passengers did get sea sick. It was a surprisingly wet boat as the back deck got soaked while underway in higher seas. The food was good, but some passengers complained that it was not enough. I don't think that was the case, but the boat did provide more food after the complaints. The boat produces its own potable water. Some guests did not like the taste, but it didn't bother me. The diving deck is large and it is set up well. The diving is done from fiberglass tenders that are put in the water and picked up by an onboard crane. Getting on and off the tenders from the main boat can get a bit tricky in rough seas, and the crew does a lot to assist. The gear is pre-loaded onto the tenders and is not donned until the tender reaches the site. Unfortunately, the crane broke during our first day of diving, which was a significant distance from the harbor in Mahe. The boat had to return to the main island to get the part to fix it, costing us more than a full day. To the boat's credit, they offered to keep us out an extra day, however, many of us had return flights the same day the boat returned to port. The boat had a camera table and two large rinse buckets, however, there was lots of other stuff put on the camera table and a dedicated rinse bucket for cameras was not mentioned or enforced. There were only fourteen guests on board and 10 of them were divers. Some were snorkelers and visited the land while others were diving. The divers also got to do land visits, some of which should not be missed. There were two dive guides, one experienced in the area and the other not so much. The two groups pretty much dived together, since one guide knew the sites well. On a few occasions we went as one big group, due to an injury to one of the guides and for other reasons. Dive briefings were minimal or non-existent. The guides would give a bit of info about the site, but it was pretty much "follow me". Currents and weather play a big part in many of the sites, since the atolls have lagoons, where the water rushes in and out during the tide changes throughout the day. Some of the sites are inaccessible if there are strong currents or if it is too windy. Unfortunately, we were not able to do some of the signature dives during our trip due to wind and currents. It makes you wonder why our three days at Aldabra Atoll were scheduled during a full moon phase? This is something you can plan for in advance, especially if the main channel dive is not dive-able in a strong current. As far as covid goes, the boat did require that guests get tested before they leave their home country, although Seychelles did not require pre-testing for fully vaccinated travelers. Masks were not worn on board, and nobody got covid, as far as I know. Information flow on the boat was an issue at times. There were a few mis-communications between Captain and crew, and, at times, left the guests a bit confused. The Captain began giving nightly briefings after dinner, to ensure that the proper information was getting disseminated. Since the dives and sometimes the landings were so dependent on weather and tides, sometimes dive and landing times were left up in the air until we got closer to our destination. One thing that needs to be mentioned is the lack of any kind of adequate safety briefing on the first day of the trip. This is an essential part of any cruise, especially given the rash of accidents that have occurred during the last several years. Guests were told that there would be a briefing after dinner on the first day of the cruise. The briefing that we got was pretty much questions that the guests had, such as "where do we charge our batteries?" and 'where do we muster in an emergency?" Although there were signs in the cabins and throughout the boat, these things should be addressed verbally at the beginning of the cruise. Most boats also run a drill prior to sailing. No general dive briefing was given as well. Overall, I would say that it was a very good cruise. Our fellow travelers were a nice bunch and everyone got along well. The outer islands of the Seychelles, and particularly Aldabra Atoll, were amazing for both land visits and diving. Aldabra is a World Heritage site and is a pristine environment. The fish mass there was amazing. The trip is quite expensive, due to the limited number of guests and the fuel consumption of the boat for such a long haul. I had been looking forward to this trip for some time, since they tend to book full years in advance. I am glad that I did it, but I must say that I probably wouldn't do it again unless there is an easier way to go, sometime in the future. Some of the outer islands have air strips. If passengers boarded on one of the outer islands, instead of Mahe, eliminating some of the long crossings, I might consider going back in the future.
Websites	Silhouette Cruises/Maya's Dugong
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Continental US, Hawaii, caribbean, Indo Pacific, Africa, Asia, South Pacific, Antarctica
Closest Airport	Mahe, Seychelles	Getting There	From San Francisco or Los Angeles to Dubai and on to Mahe, Seychelles
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, cloudy	Seas	calm, choppy, surge, currents, no currents
Water Temp	71-88°F / 22-31°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-100 Ft/ 12-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Safety stop at 45 to 50 minutes
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	1 or 2
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	There was a camera table, but it was not enforced exclusively for cameras. No dedicated rinse bucket enforced. We often used a freshwater hose on deck to rinse cameras if we were late to come back aboard.

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Dive Review of Silhouette Cruises/Maya's Dugong in Africa/Seychelles

Silhouette Cruises/Maya's Dugong: "Aldabra Atoll/Outer Islands Trip - Good Cruise to a Pristine Location", May, 2022,

Photos Submitted with this Report

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Silhouette Cruises/Maya's Dugong in
Africa/Seychelles