Snorkelling Rodrigues Island, Mauritius – One of the Healthiest Reefs I’ve Seen

We visited Rodrigues Island in December 2025, flying across from Mauritius, and spent some time exploring the underwater life around the island. We had previously visited Mauritius in December 2024, and from what I personally saw on both trips, Rodrigues felt noticeably healthier underwater.

One of my favourite places was Saint François Beach. The shallow seagrass areas were epic to snorkel over and full of interesting little animals and fish. I came across hermit crabs, little dragonfish, bat fish, horned boxfish, juvenile lionfish, porcupinefish and plenty of other reef life. The darker channel offshore was also amazing, with deeper blue water and schools of fish moving through it.

Another major highlight was Rivière Banane. You take a small boat from the beach out to the reef, and it ended up being one of the healthiest coral reefs I have personally seen. There was a huge amount of living coral, lots of soft coral, and most of the reef still appeared alive and in good condition.

What really stood out to me was the overall amount of marine life and the condition of the reef. Compared with what we saw around Mauritius in December 2024, the ocean around Rodrigues seemed to be in a much healthier state during our December 2025 visit.

Rodrigues also has great variety. You can spend time snorkeling over very shallow seagrass looking for smaller creatures, then head out to the reef and suddenly be surrounded by coral and schools of fish.
If you fly from Mauritius to Rodrigues, I would definitely recommend trying to book a daytime flight. Seeing the island, lagoon and reef system from above is incredible.

I absolutely loved Rodrigues. For snorkeling, underwater filming and marine life, it was one of the biggest surprises of the trip and somewhere I would definitely go back to.
#seacreature #lifeofthesea #oceancreature