Snorkeling at Petite Anse Kerlan Seychelles [Reviewed + Rated] 

My husband and I have been hooked on snorkeling for years, so I created a simple rating guide to give you a quick idea of what each spot offers underwater which is based entirely on our firsthand experiences.

One thing to keep in mind: snorkeling conditions can shift quite a bit depending on the season, or even hour by hour. We saw this clearly in the Seychelles, where the ocean can go from calm and clear to limited visibility.

We snorkeled in early May and really lucked out with great conditions for the most part. From everything I’ve read, April, May, October, and November tend to be the sweet spots for the best snorkeling in this part of the world.

SeyVillas points out April and November are the BEST months, thanks to super calm seas and crystal-clear visibility. Just a heads-up though that these months can also be pretty warm since the trade winds calm down then.

Scroll down for my personal snorkeling rating system.

OVERALL SNORKEL RATING KEY

🤿 🤿 🤿 🤿 🤿   =   World-class snorkeling and worth traveling just for the snorkeling alone!

🤿 🤿 🤿 🤿   =   Incredible snorkeling and should be on your list of top things to do!

🤿 🤿 🤿   =   Decent snorkeling and worth the effort!

🤿 🤿   =   Worth consideration if you are running out of things to do!

🤿   =   Not worth it!

Praslin is home to some truly standout beaches, and one that really surprised us was Petite Anse Kerlan. Tucked between large granite boulders, this little cove has a calm, lagoon-like feel that makes it perfect for a relaxing swim.

The sand? Soft and powdery like flour. And the water was glassy and still during our visit.

Now, there is a small detail to know: access to Petite Anse Kerlan is through Constance Lemuria, a high-end 5-star resort.

Another jaw-dropping beach accessible through the same resort is Anse Georgette. It’s absolutely worth a visit. I’ve written a full review of our snorkeling experience there too, if you’re curious.

There’s some back-and-forth online about whether you still need to reserve through the hotel to get in. Some say you don’t anymore, but I wasn’t able to verify that 100%.

Here’s what worked well for us:

We stayed just next door at Terrace sur Lazio, easily my top hotel pick on Praslin! It’s only a five-minute drive from Constance Lemuria, which made accessing the beaches super convenient.

Since my husband and I are all about good food and wine when we travel, we booked a long, leisurely Creole lunch at The Nest, one of the resort’s restaurants.

Bonus: it’s set right on the rocks above Petite Anse Kerlan, so the views are a whole experience in themselves.

The staff at the entrance were friendly and welcoming. We parked just inside the guard entrance, took a short walk through the resort, and then settled in for a beautiful 3-course meal.

We paired it with a Sauvignon Blanc from Hemel-en-Aarde Valley (Trizanne Signature Wines), recommended by the sommelier and wow. Great pairing. Constance Lemuria is well known for its extensive wine collection!

A few years back, we did a wine tour through the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley in the Cape Winelands and absolutely loved it, so it was a fun surprise to see one of their wines on the menu.

The restaurant itself was in such a beautiful spot, tucked into the rocks with sweeping views of the ocean. It had a relaxed, romantic vibe that made the whole experience even better.

After lunch, we grabbed our snorkel gear and wandered down to Petite Anse Kerlan to snorkel and then hiked through the golf course to Anse Georgette for more snorkeling.

FYI. There are chairs and facilities at Petite Anse Kerlan, but they are for hotel guests only.

We snorkeled along the granite rock formations on both sides of the beach.

The left side (when facing the water from the shore) offered slightly better conditions than the right.

We snorkeled to the furthest rock as seen in the photo below.

In the center, there’s a patch of sea grass (see pic below).

As experienced snorkelers, we always bring our own gear, well-tested through countless snorkeling adventures.

These are the snorkel masks and travel fins we personally rely on.

When we visited, the water was incredibly calm, like glass. Getting in and out with fins and a mask was effortless. The seabed is soft and sandy, with no sea urchins or sharp rocks to worry about.

Full transparency. This snorkeling spot didn’t quite live up to expectations. We explored the rocks on both the left and right sides and saw only a handful of fish including:

• Moorish Idol
• Lined Surgeonfish
• Titan Triggerfish (I’ve spotted them before at Reethi Faru’s house reef in the Maldives and the Sofitel in Moorea, but this was my first time seeing them in the Seychelles) 

All the photos were taken with my go-to snorkeling camera.

There’s a patch of seagrass in the middle, and I was really hoping to spot a turtle (I’d read that others have spotted them at Petite Anse Kerlan), but no luck this time.

If you’ve seen any turtles or rays here, let me know in the comments below! 

Visibility dropped significantly at times, usually my cue to ditch the mask and just enjoy a leisurely swim instead.

If I were staying at Constance Lemuria, I could easily spend an entire day at Petite Anse Kerlan beach. It’s the perfect beach with peaceful, calm, gently lapping waves.

However, the snorkeling on the day we went in early May was underwhelming. Of course, as mentioned earlier, your snorkeling experience can completely vary depending on the time of year and even the time of day you go.

If snorkeling is a priority for you, I highly recommend checking out these spots instead (full guides are linked below):

→   Anse Georgette (saw a stingray!)

→   Anse Lazio (saw turtles!)

→   Sister Islands (saw a blacktip reef shark!)

→   Felicite Island (saw the smallest eagle ray I’ve ever seen!)

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Questions about our snorkeling experience at Petite Anse Kerlan?

Let me know in the comments below!