Bassa-da-India Video

[Manta-Passion]

Hi everyone

Just came back from a liveaboard to Bassas-da-India, one of the most mysterious and remote places dive site in the world. Located in the Mozambique Channel, halfway between Africa and Madagascar, it took us 48h to get there.

There, we were supposed to see...just about everything!!! Zambeze, Silver tips, Hammerheads, Tiger, even Great white, and more..

And the winner is... NOTHING !!!! we saw squat, nothing, not a shark, not even a jellyfish !!! Ok , we had one great silver tip dive (at one point, we had 17 animals around us), but apart from that....

Still, a very nice trip, and the trailer ( a 4mn video) can be seen on Manta-passion.com, or directly to the link Manta Passion - Passion of Scuba Diving through Video - Video Bassa da India - Eparses Islands - France - Mozambique - Silver Tips

If someone has already been to Bassas, I will be very interested to have a report on the trip !

We were accompagnied by Johan Boshoff, a well known south african diver, and Editor of DiveStyle magazine.

Enjoy!

 

[Paulhorscraft]

Hi,
I'm interested in a trip to Bassas, can you please answer a couple of questions.
What time of year did you go?
What boat were you on?
How did you rate the dive operation?
Did they give you any info on best time to go?
Cheers

 

[Manta-Passion]

Hi
Sorry for the delay, but I just came back from Raja.

According to my informations, the best season is may to september. After, the wind rises strongly (it's already a problem during the "good" season).
I was in contact with a south african Travel Agency, and they contacted me for a last minute offer with a discount price. The regular price was very expensive (around 5000$).
The boat changed at the last minute ; it was a sail boat (catamaran), with only 6 guests.
It's was a small boat, not especially confortable.
Setting up a liveaboard from Mozambique is very complicated. And the south-africans have no tradition or experience in liveaboards.
There was no skiff, and with the waves, current, wind, the boat was not suited for Bassas.

Anyway, I liked the trip, it was an adventure. But the dives were disapointing.

I've just received another review from a french travel agent ; they've just come back from Bassas, and if they had better dives, the conclusion stays the same : it's not worth it. Finning and illegal fishing just destroyed the site.

On the other way, being permanently on the island is the best way to prevent poaching. So...

Best

MP

 

[Paulhorscraft]

Thanks for the info. Looks like I'll give it a miss and spend my money elsewhere.