SUBIOS - (Sub Indian Ocean Seychelles) Diving in Seychelles

SUBIOS (Sub Indian Ocean Seychelles) Underwater Film and Image Festival was the brainchild of diving aficionado Mr. Philippe Blanchard.  In 1989, he together with Mrs. Maryse Eichler, Mr. David Rowat, Mr. Maurice Lousteau-Lalanne and a special committee put together a festival that would highlight Seychelles’ extraordinary marine world, showcase the islands as an ideal diving destination and also sensitise the local population to the beauty beneath the waves. Since that time SUBIOS has grown in stature, every year attracting filmmakers, photographers, journalists and ecologists from all over the world in a week-long celebration of Seychelles Underwater World. The festival includes not only photographic competitions but also features presentations by famous visiting speakers, SUBIOS dedicated events at hotels and a special schools programme to educate the nation’s youth concerning the beauty and fragility of the islands’ marine eco-systems. Over the years special guests special guests have included such names as Kurt Amsler, recognised as the "Grand Master" of underwater photography, Pierre Coton - one of the organisers of the Festival Mondial de de l'image Sous-Marine in Antibes, David Doubilet, a National Geographic magazine underwater photographer; John Boyle, Mark Shelley, Lawson Wood, Norbert Wu, who used to film with Howard Hall, as well as Piet & Karen Van ZyI from South Africa.   SUBIOS 2007 - 19th to 25th March 2007

Find out more about Diving in Seychelles Take a look at Cerf Island Resort's Diving Package Visit the official SUBIOS website

____________________________________________________   Subois – The Gardens Below   Since 1989, a handful of local diving aficionados first joined forces with government to conceive SUBIOS in order to highlight and promote Seychelles’ unique marine environment to visiting divers, the event has continued to prosper.  Today, the festival attracts photographers, film makers, divers, ecologists and journalists from all over the world to participate in an annual, week-long celebration of the beauty beneath the waves, reports Glynn Burridge.   Open air film screenings, presentations, parades, virtual treasure-hunts based on one of Seychelles’ most fabulous undiscovered treasures and a special Iron Man & Woman-styled triathlon event – all taking place in a festive atmosphere amid, or not far from, the wondrously decorated gardens of central Victoria: one might be excused for thinking that this is the stuff of carnivals and cavalcades.  That would not be far from the truth because that’s what the new-look SUBIOS 2006, ‘Seychelles Annual Underwater Film and Image Festival’, is partly about as it celebrates its new theme: The Gardens Below.   Between 6th and 12th March 2006, the recently formed Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), newly-appointed organisers of the event, intends to make a bigger splash than ever before.  Event organisers are gearing up for what they hope will not simply be an Underwater Film and Image Festival but a crowd-pulling extravaganza that will give our visitors a chance to appreciate Seychelles as an extraordinary diving destination and also to experience its way of life – its arts and crafts, music, culture, gastronomy and indomitable joie-de-vivre.   Never far behind the original SUBIOS initiative has been the desire to use the festival as a platform to sensitise the local population to their extraordinary marine heritage and to the fragility of its eco-systems.  Over the years this has been particularly successful among Seychelles’schools through a variety of presentations by guest speakers, SUBIOS- related displays and competitions as well as by the youth’s participation in such activities as glass-bottom boat rides, marine park visits and special introductory dives.   In this respect SUBIOS 2006 looks set to honour local tradition with a procession of school floats reflecting the theme ‘ The Gardens Below’ planned for the grand finale, together with numerous school displays, competitions and activities.   Come March 2006, the various SUBIOS venues will definitely be where the action is, so, for a week-long taste of Seychelles’ magnificent marine environment in all its glory and variety whynot come along and take the plunge?  You’ll certainly find yourself in good company – and with many different activities running throughout the main islands, there promises to be plenty to do.   If you’re an underwater photographer or film maker, then why not submit your entry to the SUBIOS film and image competitions?  There are prizes of return tickets to Seychelles and one week’s free accommodation and a total of four categories: ‘Best Image’, ‘Best Video’ and ‘ Best Image of Seychelles’, all open to visitors and locals alike.  If you’re a local then here’s your chance to win the prize for ‘Best Video of Seychelles’ – a return trip to a foreign Underwater Film Festival!.   If you’re a keen or would-be diver then Seychelles’ dive centres will be where you want to be during SUBIOS week, enjoying the special SUBIOS dive packages, the reduced rates on offer and the many dedicated SUBIOS events, film-screenings, presentations and themed soirees due to be held in certain hotels and other venues on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue.   Make sure you’re in central Victoria on the last two days of the festival when SUBIOS will combine with an authentic Creole atmosphere to weave a special spell over the itny capital’s streets and gardens.  Here’s where to enjoy the school-float procession or embark on that glass-bottom boat ride, shop for an authentic Seychelles souvenir or have a portrait or landscape painted for your right there, on the spot.  If examples of fine Creole cooking are what you’re after then you’re sure to find them, along with a great selection of local beverages, among the colourful dive-centre displays and the arts and crafts stalls.   As you bite into the golden crust of your samsoa, savour the succulence of a freshly grilled fish with breadfruit or enjoy the nutty  fragrance of kat-kat banann washing them down, perhaps, with adraught of good ol’ fashioned lapire (the way grandma used to make it) you’ll be serenaded by music form the festival’s several live bands.  You’ll also be well-entertained by the expositions in the National Library, by the subtle clues of the virtual treasure hunts as they are gradually revealed to you….. and by a great and vibrant Creole ambience.   Local hotels are expected to mark SUBIOS 2006 with discounted fares and rates, all helping to ensure that the festival will be one to remember and, it is hoped, the one  to launch SUBIOS onto the international round of underwater film festivals.