Shark Bank

Shark Bank is a reef dive site located between Mahé and Silhouette Island, roughly a 20–30 minute boat ride from northwest Mahé, near Beau Vallon. The site is built around granite pinnacles and boulders with sandy bottoms, rising to a shallowest point of around 12 m and dropping to 20 m at the bottom, creating a varied underwater landscape of rock formations and open sandy patches.

The site is well known for its concentration of sharks and large schooling fish. Reef sharks, small whitetip sharks, and nurse sharks are regularly encountered, along with eagle rays, marble stingrays, and stingrays. Huge schools of yellow snappers are a highlight, and groupers, barracudas, and octopus are also present. Whale sharks appear during the right season, and the best periods to dive Shark Bank are March through June and September through December.

Strong currents run through the site and are a defining feature — they draw in the shark and ray activity but also demand respect. The site is rated intermediate to advanced, and the depth and current make it unsuitable for inexperienced divers without a guide. Access is by boat only.