Sedimentation is assumed to affect communities of reef building corals by inhibiting larval settlement, however there has been no quantitative evidence to support this supposition. The effects of varying rates of sedimentation (0.5 to 325 mg cm^-2 d^-1) on settlement rates of Acropora and millepora larvae were examined experimentally in aquaria. Settlement and juvenile orientation onto conditioned cut coral plates were recorded after two days. Higher sedimentation rates reduced the number of larvae settling on uppersurfaces, but total numbers of settled larvae were not significantly affected by sedimentary regime. While total settlement was unaffected by sediment under the confined experimental conditions, it is likely to be reduced under field conditions, since accumulation of sediment on upward facing surfaces will greatly reduce the overall amount of suitable substratum available.