Reunion Island dive sites

The Le Port artificial reef project was initiated as a marine habitat restoration programme on Reunion's northwestern coast, where urbanisation and port development had degraded natural reef habitat. Engineered concrete structures of various designs were deployed between 12 and 30 metres depth to create substrate for coral attachment and shelter for marine life. The structures were designed by marine ecologists to provide different habitat types: overhangs for groupers, channels for current flow, and textured surfaces for coral larval settlement. Monitoring has documented rapid colonisation with significant fish biomass increases within the first years of deployment.

The artificial reef at Le Port complements rather than replaces natural reef diving on Reunion. The island's natural fringing reef, concentrated along the western coast from Saint-Gilles to Saint-Leu, offers classic tropical reef diving with natural coral formations. The Le Port structures provide different diving experiences: more concentrated fish aggregations in a smaller area, the ability to observe marine colonisation processes in real time, and interesting structural diving through engineered formations. Most visiting divers combine both natural and artificial reef dives during their stay.

Reunion has experienced bull shark incidents primarily in the surfing community, which led to beach activity restrictions on certain parts of the coast. The dive industry operates under strict safety protocols with professional operators. The artificial reef at Le Port is within designated safe diving zones on the western coast where shark encounters during organised diving activities are extremely rare. Dive operators use experienced boat crew who monitor conditions, and diving follows established safety procedures. The shark situation affects certain coastal water sports more than organised diving.