AT THE TIME OF THE EXTINCTION OF THE DINOSAURS, 250 million years ago, a great upheaval caused the single landmass that made up the Earth's dry surface to break up and split into the continents we know today.
First it formed two supercontinents, Laurasia and Gondwanaland. Then Gondwanaland itself split to form what we now know as South America, Africa and Madagascar.
India became an island off Africa, but when it moved north to join Asia, a tiny micro-continent was left in the middle of the newly formed Indian Ocean.
This was flooded by rising sea-levels until only the tops of its ancient granite mountains remained visible. These became the inner islands of the Seychelles.
The islands still carry reminders of the supercontinent to which they once belonged. No mammals roamed the islands, because the golden age of the mammal had yet to dawn. Reptiles ruled unchallenged. Since then trees and plants have evolved along with the animals to make what are the unique Seychelles species today.
The landscape is unique, and the combination of mountains covered in tropical plants and coconut trees, the high cliffs, granite rocks and clear white sands, all surrounded by warm turquoise water, make the inner islands of the Seychelles arguably the most beautiful environment on our planet. Was this the original Garden of Eden?
Victoria, the colonial capital, is on Mahé, the largest of the islands. Other islands that you might stay on include Praslin, La Digue, Silhouette, Aride, Denis and Bird. If you want to scuba dive, Mahe or Praslin makes a good choice.

COCO DE MER
Everything looks beautiful in the Seychelles, including the people, who are the result of a genetic mix of European planters, freed African slaves and indentured Asian workers. There is no endemic disease and no malaria here. The fruit falls off the trees and the fishes jump out of the sea.
Praslin has the famous rainforest reserve called the Vallée de Mer. Here you will find the celebrated coco de mer. Its fruit is of the same dimension and shape as the lower torso of a curvaceous woman, complete with pubic hair. Also worth seeing is the endemic black parrot.
The waters around the inner islands are shallow because the mountains sit on a submerged plateau. The visibility may be reduced at times because of tidal action stirring up the sand, or there can be a heavy level of plankton. But the upside to that is the number of whale sharks that pass by almost routinely.
Whale sharks are the biggest fish in the sea. They are so unique among sharks that they are the only members of their family, Rhincodonidae. They make an unforgettable animal encounter under water.
Big they might be, dangerous to divers they are not. Their cavernous mouths are used to gather up small fish and plankton in the same manner as baleen whales, hence the name.
They are known, however, to eat fish as large as mackerel and small tuna if these are unlucky enough to swim into their mouths. They have only tiny teeth.

ENDANGERED SPECIES
Whale sharks are docile and unaware of danger - they have no natural predator. They just swim in a stately way at 2-3mph, never far from the surface where the food is, hoovering up whatever they come across.
The only danger they represent to divers is perhaps an unintentional impact with that massive sweeping tail.
Their bodies can measure up to 18m long and normally provide a home to numerous shark suckers (remoras), some of which can themselves be of impressive size.
So too can kobias, fish that think they are dolphins but often accompany whale sharks. They act as unpaid bodyguards and can be quite aggressive in defence of their client!
Whale sharks are now subject to an uncontrolled and unregulated fishing industry without quotas and prized for both its liver oil and of course its fins, which are enormous. They might soon be an endangered species.

SPOTTY MONSTERS
Whale-shark tagging was started in the Seychelles and there is concern that this particular Indian Ocean population migrates in an anti-clockwise pattern, passing the coasts of western Australia, Indonesia, southern India and the Maldives as they rotate.
A whale shark fishery in southern India took out 500 animals last year and this is thought to be a danger to all the Indian Ocean's giant plankton-browsers.
A dive with one of these spotty monsters cannot be orchestrated, but I met divers who had swum with seven of the creatures at one time only the day before I arrived.
Fuel is expensive for the Seychelles dive centres, as is any imported product for which you have to pay in hard currency. Local people can get hold of US dollars only by way of the black market. That's why Seychelles dive sites tend to be close and boat-rides short.
The hard corals were destroyed in the great global-warming catastrophe of 1998 but there are still plenty of reasons to go diving in the Seychelles.
At Beau Vallon Bay, with the most popular beach on Mahe, you will find four dive centres sitting cheek by jowl. Each dives at the same locations but takes care not to do it at the same time.
Dive sites include the Two Barges, a sunken dredger and the Shark Bank.
At this latter site I enjoyed the company of thousands of yellow snapper that hung around in gin-clear conditions. It's a cluster of submerged rocks midway between Silhouette and Mahe.
Hundreds of schooling batfish occupied the mid-water, eagle rays cruised between the snapper and the batfish, and a great shoal of black-finned chevron barracuda passed through the scene on cue. What more could you ask of a dive than that?

TAKE THE BUS BACK
The dredger and the barges are close to the beach. If the boat isn't there when I come up, I thought, I can always take the bus back!
Conditions were more turbid because of the movement of the tides but I still managed to photograph a nurse shark, more clouds of yellow snapper, a tight group of 100 or so striped eel-catfish in a tight bundle, some golden African pompano, and a group of jacks waiting patiently to be cleaned alongside some bollards.
At a site under the lighthouse, where there was a bit of a current, I was surrounded by hundreds of crevalle jacks.
The Seychelles never had reefs of coral as such. The coral grew on the granite boulders that made up the undersea terrain.
Now it is mostly gone, but there are millions of fish in evidence. The algae-eaters such as the triggerfish have taken over from the coral-browsers, and there are still plenty of cardinalfish, porcupinefish and octopus in evidence.

boats moored at La Digue

voodoo anti-burglary measures


jellyfish


View of Praslin


striped eel catfish


batfish at Shark Bank
the Two Barges cleaning station

GETTING THEREAir Seychelles flies from many European cities twice a week, including London Gatwick. BA flies twice a week via Nairobi. Other services include Air France. The flight takes around 12 hours depending on the route. Inter-island flights by Air Seychelles. DIVING DETAILS:Recommended centres include Island Ventures, Seychelles Underwater Centre, Big Blue Divers (Beau Vallon Bay, Mahe) and Octopus Diving (Praslin). ACCOMMODATION: Contact the Seychelles Tourist Office, 020 8741 6262, www.aspureasitgets.com. MONEY: Seychelles rupee. Exchange hard currency locally. FOR NON-DIVERS:The most beautiful place on Earth - what more is there to say? BEST TIME TO GO:The Seychelles stand at 4° south of the equator in the Indian Ocean, out of the cyclone belt. Air temperature 29°C. The weather is stable throughout the year, although there is a notional wet season (Nov-Feb). Take a lightweight rain jacket. WATER TEMPERATURE:28°C within granitic inner islands. A 5mm suit will suffice. DIVING SUITABLE FOR: Everyone. COST:A five-night trip with diving costs around £1500 inclusive. Book with Goldenjoy Leisure, Aquatours, Crusader Travel. Most travel agents can help you.

PROS: The Seychelles waters teem with pelagic life. On the migratory route for whale sharks. Outstanding natural beauty.

CONS: Can be expensive. Often known as the best place with the worst hotels. Dive centres may be reluctant to go far if too few passengers are in the boat.