As asked about cruise company I'm working for, will try to give you some more general info...
At the moment there is only one company (Silhouette Cruises Ltd) operating in the area of the Seychelles Outer Islands and does it as private cruise, for private guests, not as a regular/scheduled cruise, for 3-4 months a year(sometimes, office try to book a boat for couple of more weeks with 'regular' customers, just using opportunity that boat is already in the area). There are many issues related to operating a cruise on a such remote location (shortly speaking, somehow it is difficult/expensive to organize such a trip in Seychelles) and there is another BIG problem and it is called Somali pirates. Boat/company I used to work for on couple occasions/trips, called Indian Ocean Explorer was captured by pirates and taken to Somalia (ransom was payed for the crew by Seychelles government, 1000$/kilogram of body weight and boat is gone)...I managed to escape that as left boat two days earlier, together with guests...
So, for the last three years we have heavy armed security on board, doing watches 24/7...
Going to the Aldabra group (and staying there) is experience of its kind...Aldabra itself is amazing...my favorite diving spots/areas are Astove atoll with its famous wall, a couple of kilometers long, and deep as well and Cosmoledo (another ring of coral riffs and patches of sand in the middle of ocean, 80NM form Aldabra...)...could tell you stories and stories...
In case you've been around the Indian Ocean must be aware of bleaching and on how big scale it's been happening all over the I.O., but areas like those atolls I mentioned, due to its geography, currents, etc are still in fairly good to excellent condition...but, always that but, sharks are missing, big oceanic species I mean. There are SOME (not too many!) reef ones, all kind, even some sand tigers on the Aldabra... As mentioning Aldabra, all the time, one of best in-water experiences ever had, free diving in one of the small channels that connect lagoon with the open sea. Believe that saw every kind of fish that is in the Indian Ocean, literally...
That would be it, do not hesitate to ask anything...
Cheers
V.
