Alphonse Island tide times

Predictions: Open-Meteo Marine (MeteoFrance SMOC, 0.08° grid) — heights relative to MSL (not chart datum / LAT). Model-derived.

Model-derived from a global ocean grid. Useful indication; expect about ±45 minutes on average vs. a local harmonic gauge, individual stations vary widely. See /methodology for per-region detail. Not for navigation.

Conditions as of 08:00 local time. Refreshes daily.

Predictions: Open-Meteo Marine (MeteoFrance SMOC, 0.08° grid) — heights relative to MSL (not chart datum / LAT). Model-derived. · Not for navigation.

The angler tradition for major/minor fishing windows: major ≈3-hour windows around moon transit and opposition; minor ≈2-hour windows around moonrise and moonset. Times are Indian/Mahe local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Last spring tide on Tue 19 May (range 1.9m). Next neap on Sat 23 May.

Spring tides cluster around new and full moons (biggest swings). Neap tides land on quarter moons (smallest swings). See the spring tide and neap tide glossary entries for the why.

Alphonse Island is a small outer Seychelles atoll approximately 400 kilometres southwest of Mahé, accessible by a 90-minute light aircraft flight. A single exclusive resort occupies the island; accommodation capacity is intentionally low. The atoll consists of Alphonse Island and the adjacent St. François Atoll, separated by a shallow channel. Between them they hold some of the most productive and least-pressured saltwater fly fishing flats in the world. The tidal regime at Alphonse is mixed semidiurnal with a spring range of 1.5 to 2.0 metres. That range, modest by Indian Ocean standards, is ideal for flat fishing: on the spring ebb, the vast shallow-grass and sand flats of the St. François lagoon expose to ankle or shin depth, concentrating fish movement into defined channels and over identifiable feeding areas. On the spring flood, fish push up onto the flat over a wide front as the water rises. The precision of that cycle is what makes this fishery function: the flat is fishable only within defined tidal windows, and those windows change by roughly 50 minutes each day as the tidal cycle progresses. Bonefish (Albula vulpes) are the primary quarry on the flat — present in large schools that move predictably onto the grass flat on the flood and drop back to the channel edges and deeper water on the ebb. An experienced guide reads both the fish movement and the tide state simultaneously; guests without saltwater fly fishing experience can be coached to a functional casting standard on the first day, though fish at Alphonse are generally less forgiving than standard bonefish destinations because the water is extremely clear and the fish are alert. Permit (Trachinotus blochii, the Indo-Pacific permit) also work the flat, typically in smaller numbers than bonefish and significantly more challenging — cautious, fast-moving, and easily spooked on the clear sand. Alphonse is one of the few locations where permit are encountered regularly enough to target deliberately rather than opportunistically. Triggerfish — titan triggerfish (Balistoides viridescens) and moustache triggerfish (Balistoides flavimarginatus) — are present on the flat and the adjacent reef edge. Triggerfish on the flat are a specialty quarry: they feed with their heads down in the sand, tails visible, and require an accurate cast to land the fly in the feeding zone without spooking the fish. They fight harder than their size suggests and are notoriously unpredictable once hooked. The resort also operates bluefin trevally and giant trevally fishing on the reef edge and in the passes — a less tide-dependent activity than flat fishing and available across a broader daily window. Green and hawksbill turtles nest on the island's beaches, primarily between October and April. The island's seabird population includes red-footed booby, white tern, and lesser noddy. The birding is secondary to the fishing for most visitors but productive for a morning spent on the beach perimeter. Predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a gridded global ocean model. Accuracy is typically within plus or minus 45 minutes on timing and 0.2 to 0.3 metres on height — model-derived, not from a local gauge. The national authority is the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) and the Seychelles Maritime Safety Administration (SMSA).