This is my second blog about Providence, the last one was April 2017. What an extraordinary amount has taken place in the past seven years for all of us, but it has been like time has stood still at Providence or has it?
Last time, I travelled on the MV Dugong, it was an altogether different experience on a bigger boat with more guests and staff, three to a cabin, three to a boat etc and therefore cheaper but the fishing, though different, was no less.
Providence is actually part of the Farquhar group of islands, but it is NOT Farquhar. Farquhar is 56 km south of Providence and is the southernmost atoll fished regularly in the Seychelles. Providence is the biggest atoll at 345 sq kms, 55 km north to south and 14 km east to west. There are two islands, Cerf and Providence North, with a massive lagoon system between them. From Cerf Island to the tip of Madagascar is about 320 kms. From Mahe to Cerf is 700 kms southwest!
Three things of significance have happened to Providence Atoll since 2017.
The 1300 metre airstrip was completed on 20th March 2019, almost exactly a year before the Covid disaster hit us all.
Blue Safari, perhaps better known as Alphonse Island Co, began to operate its fishing operation for just six rods at Providence in rotation with the MV Dugong commencing in January 2023 using the catamaran Quo Vadis as its mothership.
Perhaps the most significant event was in January of 2024 when the guides on Blue Safari’s Quo Vadis catamaran spotted a number of fishermen poaching in the lagoon and reported the incident to the Seychelles authorities. With the assistance of Blue Safari, the result was that 137 people were arrested, taken back to Mahe and then deported, and 8 boats was scuttled at Providence. They were unlicensed fishermen from Madagascar poaching the flats and a real example was made of them. If ever there was a demonstration of the good the presence of a fishing operation can do, this is it. Without the presence of the fishing operation, these very remote lagoons, easily accessed from Madagascar, would be entirely raped of so many species from sea cucumber to grouper, GTs etc. In the case of Quo Vadis, just three boats fishing the 345 sq miles is the difference between the destruction of a stunning, wild atoll with extraordinary numbers of marine species and desolation.
The trip was booked back in 2023 and let that be a warning to you – if you want to go to Providence on Quo Vadis you now need to plan an extraordinary amount of time ahead and even then, you are likely to go on a waiting list before you get your space. I was lucky to be the beneficiary of a very good friend of the team falling very ill at a bad time. This time I tried Qatar Airlines via Doha. I think that the calibre of the airlines (Emirates v Qatar) is different but comparable, but I actually preferred the Qatar schedule and process. On the outbound, we left at a civilised time like about 3pm. On arrival in Doha, we did not have to go through another security line before being allowed into the departure area for the next flight. That was hassle gladly avoided.
We arrived, a bit later than Emirates which meant arriving at the L’Escale Resort and Marina Hotel a little later which improves your chances of them having a room ready for you on arrival. In theory check-in is much later. That in turn means a good nap before lunch, a fine massage in the spa and then the traditional dinner at Bravo on Eden Island – it never looks like much, but the food has always been fabulous! After a good night of sleep, off to the Domestic check-in (not IDC Hanger like the old days) just a few minutes away and off we go via Alphonse Island direct to Providence. No more flying to Farquhar and boarding the boat there and then sailing the 56 km to Providence.
The Providence airstrip is in very fine condition, and we were soon walking to the beach followed by a short walk across a flat to the launch to go out to Quo Vadis. It is worth noting that the walks to the launch can vary from very short to a decent distance depending on the tides and consequently, it is worth having your flats boots (or crocs etc) handy for the walk out. The guides and crew will carry bags etc for you. Once at the launch, the journey to Quo Vadis was three minutes.
It was the arrival at Quo Vadis where the difference between the operations became apparent. Quo Vadis has a crew of four, a Captain, Chef and two crew plus our three guides. The whole crew therefore was greater than our party of six! As that party of six (we were actually just five due to another cancellation) one has the boat to yourselves and that is a real pleasure. There are three cabins so not sharing is not really an option unless you are prepared to buy two tickets and have your own room and boat/guide. The boat is very clean and spacious. The cabins were perhaps smaller than the photos suggest, and the beds are pretty close to each other, but they worked and were comfortable and cool. If you think you are going to be on the side the sun goes down, pull all your blinds down before going fishing to avoid the room heating with the evening sun.
If I had a criticism of Quo Vadis, it would be to try and find a way of allowing the breeze to make it through to the back deck which is where we spent a lot of time because we were eating, socialising and occasionally fishing off the back of the boat. We did not make nearly enough use of the foredeck where all the breeze was. On arrival, we were given the usual briefing and then had lunch and set up tackle.
On four of the seven nights we were there, the boat was surrounded by fish including plentiful GTs, shark etc. So much so that, although we caught a few each evening it seemed silly to thrash it because there were so many. However, there were times in the evening when baitfish and/or krill would appear to the blue lights of the boat in numbers and then we had to match the hatch or catch nothing.
We caught GTs on small crabs, small deceivers and even smaller little baitfish imitations which I really enjoyed. I am not certain how approving the guides were of our fishing out the back, but we were measured, and they were not asked to get involved in the releases etc. All the dinners were good, we had steak, chicken, fish, pork etc and it was all excellent given where we were. Breakfasts were made to order with some very good porridge and freshly cooked bacon and eggs prepared just behind where we were sitting.
Our first morning brought the second significant difference to the MV Dugong set-up. We jumped into skiffs not pangas and there were just two of us per guide and no plans of any significance to wade unless of course we wanted to. The guides firmly believed that we would see and therefore get far more ‘shots’ at whatever species using the boat and covering more ground. In contrast, we would have been wading from the pangas or rotating between three of us fishing from them.
In summary therefore, how does one choose between MV Dugong and Quo Vadis? Price is probably the number one consideration which is understandable. Opportunity is also a consideration at the moment – Quo Vadis has no space for 2026, maybe, just maybe in 2027. I dare say one could get on a trip with MV Dugong in 2026. The one offers basically a more luxurious experience with better food for a private party and a better guide/angler ratio while the other offers a humbler operation, maybe sharing three to a room, definitely three to a boat unless you pay a supplement BUT also, ironically, possibly cheaper access to a single room. Either way, the fishing and the guiding will be world class.
What did I learn on this trip? My main takeaways were how I handled a triggerfish when it was following. When fishing other atolls, one gets opportunities for triggers but not enough to learn from one’s mistakes. Fewer opportunities mean one is perhaps more ginger and careful about trying to not waste the opportunities. I was lucky on this trip and had so many encounters with triggers I was able to be coached and iron out my hesitance.
What I was doing is making decent casts, getting the triggers to follow and even allowing them to go down on the fly when I should. My failure was not stripping hard after the fish had gone down on the fly and my explanation was fear of spooking it if it did not have the fly. What I had forgotten was the armoury of teeth at the front end of a trigger which meant if the fish did not have the fly fully in its mouth, my stripping hard was only pulling against pearly white teeth, not tissue, therefore I was not pricking or spooking the fish. Once I was less cautious and gave the fly a good, long, hard strip my hooking and landing ratio went up dramatically and if I did not hook up, the fish would keep following and I would get another chance of a take.
I am not going to describe a blow by blow of each day but needless to say, as has been the case whenever I have had clients fishing Providence, the fishing was spectacular and everyone caught what they hoped to catch whether it be GT’s, milkfish, triggers, bumpies or barracuda! We caught them all and more including some really nice bones.
There was one special day fishing with John. We had a wonderful morning hooking two bumpies and landing one of them, a GT, and two or three triggers. After lunch things seemed to go quiet and John was quite happy to let me do the standing on the bow until things livened up! Finally, we stumbled on a GT but concentration had slipped and we did not see it early enough. Then we stumbled on a couple of triggerssame problem! I asked John if he felt things had livened up enough to bother his standing on the bow. He reluctantly gathered his 6ft 5in frame and up he got on the bow. As is so typical of John, the man who really does not care for GTs and much prefers triggers (I think he caught 7 triggers on the first day), it was only about a minute until Stu asked him to make a cast to his left… the rest is on the video below! This is a man at the peak of his fishing powers – he has done it all – he has nothing to prove – no targets – every day he is out there fishing is winning the Champions League, something he hopes his beloved Arsenal will achieve this season. It is extraordinary how successful fishermen who really dont care and dont have egos and targets are – if only we all had such a relaxed approach we would all be so much more successful!
My role was general dogsbody – keep John safe, wind the reel when he got cramp, keep an eye on the fish in terms of the coral heads, film etc but it was an absolute pleasure witnessing John landing this lifetime fish while giggling to myself that normally he has no interest in catching GTs at all!
We saw permit but did not land any. I think the starkest difference between Providence and the other atolls (I have fished them all) is how willing the fish are to take. Of course, there is the odd refusal but insignificant compared to other atolls, even the likes of Cosmoledo and Farquhar. The cause of failure to catch at Providence is rarely the fish refusing but angler cock-up! The reason has to be the size of Providence in relation to the number of rods.
There were various stories as to why it occurred but, on our week, MV Dugong and Quo Vadis were there at the same time which is not supposed to be the case, but we did not see them and to be honest, unless arranged, we never saw our fellow rods during the day either. For me, as stated so many times by my friend who was sadly missing from the trip, Providence is THE place. With thanks to Graham, Stu, Cameron and the Quo Vadis Team.
Comments 1
Thanks Tarquin. Lovely write up. Epic memories.