- Sea caves4
- Max depth40 m
- Water temperature22–28 °C
- Dive centres4
Diving and fills
Dive here with
Why come here
Mauritius and Réunion are not a cave diving destination in the usual sense, but they are a place to dive caverns, reef caves and basalt lava tunnels on a dive holiday in the Indian Ocean. All are daylit boat dives guided by a local dive centre: La Cathédrale off Flic en Flac, Roche Zozo opposite Mahébourg and Carpenter at Coin de Mire on Mauritius, and the maze of Les Grottes du Portail in Réunion's marine reserve. The water is 22–28 °C; count on sites to 30–40 m and on current at the islets. On Réunion the marine reserve's rules apply, and after a shark sighting diving there can be banned for a while.
Don't miss
- La Cathédrale (Flic en Flac): a large hall where daylight falls through arches and openings like through church windows, with gorgonians and black coral under the vault.
- Les Grottes du Portail: a maze of tunnels and caverns the ocean has cut into the lava over thousands of years.
On a rest day
- The 2004 lava tunnel (Sainte-Rose, Réunion): A dry lava tunnel of about 2.5 km in the 2004 lava flow: some two hours underground, easy to reach and suitable for beginners; a guide is recommended.
- Black River Gorges National Park (Mauritius): The largest national park in Mauritius, in the hilly south-west near Chamarel, with about 60 km of trails and the island's endemic birds, such as the Mauritius kestrel and the pink pigeon.
All 4 sea caves
| Site | Max depth | Type | Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carpenter (Coin de Mire)Backmount · Cavern | 18 m | Backmount | Cavern |
| La Cathédrale (Flic en Flac)Backmount · Cavern | 30 m | Backmount | Cavern |
| Les Grottes du PortailBackmount · Cavern | 30 m | Backmount | Cavern |
| Roche Zozo (Mahébourg)Backmount · Cavern | 40 m | Backmount | Cavern |
Certification requirements, configurations and trimix depths are estimates for planning. Always check them locally and dive within your training.
Dive centres and fill stations
4 dive centres, fill stations and instructors
Plongée Salée (L'Étang-Salé)
5 rue Motais de Narbonne, 97427 L'Étang-Salé, La Réunion
Rental: Full scuba gear (BCD, regulator, wetsuit, mask, fins, weights, cylinder) comes with the dive; a dive computer can be rented on top.
Dive centre in L'Étang-Salé, close to the Bassin Pirogue jetty. Guided exploration dives in the marine reserve, with underwater lava tunnels, arches and coral plateaus at 12–40 m; the instructor picks the site on the day, with at most four divers per instructor. Asks for at least Level 1 or Open Water. Fills and gases are not on the page: ask.
Scuba World Diving (Mahébourg)
Preskil Island Resort, Pointe Jérôme, Mahébourg, Mauritius
Guided dives: Roche Zozo (Mahébourg)
PADI dive centre based at Preskil Island Resort (Pointe Jérôme, Mahébourg) in the south-east. Dives inside and outside the lagoon, among them Roche Zozo (to 40 m) and sites named Lobster Cave, Purple Cave and Tunnel; asks for at least Level 1 or Open Water. Fills and gases are not on the page: ask.
Scubananas – Réunion Plongée (Saint-Leu)
23 boulevard de la Compagnie des Indes, 97436 Saint-Leu, La Réunion
Guided dives: Les Grottes du Portail
SSI dive centre in Saint-Leu on Réunion's west coast. Lists Les Grottes du Portail (20–30 m) among the sites it dives often, next to arches such as L'Arche de Noël and Ali Baba. Fills and rental are not on the SSI page: ask.
SeaUrchin Diving Center (Flic en Flac)
Flic en Flac, Mauritius
Guided dives: La Cathédrale (Flic en Flac)
SSI dive centre in Flic en Flac on the west coast. In SSI's dive guide it describes La Cathédrale, five minutes by boat from the port of Flic en Flac, as a dive for experienced divers. We found no page of its own on courses, fills or rental: ask.
Order: partners first, clearly marked as partner; then dive centres by distance from Flic en Flac and independent instructors by name. Not a recommendation: check what they offer yourself.
On this list, or should you be? Get a free partner card →Where to stay
Find a place near Flic en Flac, Mahébourg, Saint-Leu (Réunion)
Villages that work well as a base for the caves in this region. Find a place for your team:
- Flic en FlacBooking.com ↗
- MahébourgBooking.com ↗
- Saint-Leu (Réunion)Booking.com ↗
The links to Booking.com are affiliate links: if you book through one, DiveTripPlanner earns a small commission. You pay the same.
Practical info: rules, fills and emergency numbers
Emergencies
- On Réunion 112; chamber at CHU Sud in Saint-Pierre (ARS La Réunion list, Apr 2023). On Mauritius SAMU 114; chamber at the hospital in Candos near Quatre Bornes, 10,000 rupees per session; preferably go there with your dive instructor (Mauritius Tourism).
Access and rules
- Access and rules on Réunion: the west-coast sites lie in the Réserve naturelle nationale marine, about 40 km of coast from Cap la Houssaye to Roche aux Oiseaux. Standing on coral, disturbing or feeding animals and taking anything (coral, shells, dead ones too) is forbidden; you may not enter the fully protected zones. Only rubbish may be taken out. Control your buoyancy so you don't kick with your fins or stir up sediment, limit how long you light animals with torches or camera flashes, and choose mineral sunscreen, preferably applied after the dive. Anchoring is forbidden throughout the reserve: some sites have white mooring buoys (one boat per buoy, at most 12 m long and 10 tonnes); where there is no buoy, the boat drifts with someone on board to manoeuvre. Fines run to thousands of euros. Apart from the reserve's rules: check the weather beforehand and never dive alone (reserve management, Nov 2026).
- Access and rules on Mauritius: dive with a centre affiliated to the Mauritius Scuba Diving Association (MSDA); the boats tie up to mooring buoys instead of anchoring.
Gas and fills
- Gas: the dive centres include the cylinder and gear with the dive; which gases they fill is not stated anywhere: ask.
Water and season
- Water: on Mauritius 22–28 °C, diveable all year (dive.site); off L'Étang-Salé 23–28 °C with visibility up to about 7 m (Plongée Salée).
Safety
- Sharks on Réunion: after a confirmed shark sighting the prefecture can ban all swimming, diving and fishing for 48 hours within one nautical mile of the spot (draft order for 2022–2024, for the zones of Saint-Paul, Trois-Bassins, Saint-Leu and L'Étang-Salé). Your dive centre knows whether a ban applies.
Getting around
- Travel: two islands, each with its own international airport (Mauritius MRU, Réunion RUN); between the islands you fly. Don't fly within 24 hours after diving.
Good to know
- Read this first: Mauritius and Réunion have no cave diving in the usual sense. You dive caverns, reef caves and lava tunnels with daylight, always by boat and guided by a local dive centre that chooses the site. Bring a torch.
News
No recent news found about the caves in this region.
Searched automatically, last on 5 Nov 2026.
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