There are few better places to learn to scuba dive than Mauritius. Coral reefs surround the entire island, providing countless outstanding dive sites and the still, safe waters are perfect for beginners. With the luxurious hotels, restaurants and spas above the water and a stunning series of reefs and shipwrecks below it, Mauritius holidays are the ideal time to learn how to dive in style.
Getting Qualified
Before you can dive, you ll have to do a certified course to teach you the essentials of scuba diving, including equipment use, diving technique and the principles of safe diving. These courses can be taken at any reputable dive centre and usually only take a single day to complete successfully. Before you book a place, make sure your diving course is accredited by one of the major diving organisations. This helps ensure that the level of training is up to scratch. There are numerous different bodies that provide accredited diving, but PADI is perhaps the best known and is widely respected worldwide.
If you want scuba diving to be a big part of your Mauritius holiday, you may wish to choose your hotel carefully. Some of the luxury hotels in Mauritius, such as the five star Shandrani, have their own dive centres on site, making them the ideal accommodation option for aspiring divers.
When to Go
Scuba diving can be done at any time of the year in Mauritius, but it definitely pays to pick the right time to go. The best season is in the Mauritian summer, from November until April, when the water temperature hovers around 30 degrees Celsius and is still and clear. During the winter, the water temperature drops to around 20 degrees Celsius. Still warm enough to dive, but the water gets rougher and visibility can be much poorer during the winter months, so divers on Mauritius holidays typically choose to go in the summer months.
Where to Go
Once you ve got yourself qualified, all that remains is to pick the best places to dive! Mauritius has many excellent dive sites and almost all of them are very safe and highly suitable for beginners. You may wish to ask the experts at your dive centre for their own personal recommendations, as they will likely be able to match the kind of things you want to see with your current skill level.
While there are many dive sites to choose from, there are a few that you shouldn t miss out on. The legendary Shark Pit in the north of the island is one of these, as from November to May it is filled with black tailed sharks (don t worry, they aren t interested in humans!). The other classic dive site is The Cathedral on the west coast, so named for the cathedral like cavern that teems with exotic sea life.
If you d like to see some shipwrecks on your Mauritius holiday, try the Stella Maru and Silver Star, both of which provide some spectacular underwater visuals. For something a little older, the Sirius in the south is a genuine English galley that was sunk in 1810. Swimming around the wreckage of a 200 year old shipwreck is quite something!
Author Resource:
Claire Bryant is a Mauritius holiday specialist for key2holidays, an online tour operator offering Mauritius holidays (http://www.key2holidays.co.uk/mauritius ), as well as holidays to other destinations.
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