Astove

Astove lies 650 miles south of Mahe, just south of Cosmoledo, and 37 miles directly south of Aldabra. It is a limestone atoll atop basalt and covers two and half square miles. There are many romantic stories of lost pirate treasure buried on Astove. The island is surrounded by sheer coral walls covered with sea fans.

landscape of ironshore ruins

soft coral anemone with skunk clownfish and and soft coral undulated moray eel anemones fish over wall reef scene

anthias over hard coral Jewel fairy basslets, Pseudanthias squamipinnis

spotted lionfish African lionfish, Pterois mombasae

black damselfish Threespot dascyllus (Domino Damsel), Dascyllus trimaculatus

turtle overhead turtle resting Green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas

turtle over shallows Hawksbill turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata

potato grouperPotato grouper, Epinephelus tukula

reef scene with oriental sweetlips Oriental sweetlips, Plectorhinchus vittatus

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Last modified 12 December 2025