Who said Seychelles Islands were only for honeymoon ?
No time to get bored. Of course, you can easily book a luxurious hotel on a paradisiac beach and stay there during your entire vacation. This is not the way we like to travel and we want to show you that you have A LOT to do & see in Seychelles islands in 15 days without costing too much !
TIP N°1 : Since a lot of tourists are staying within their hotels with private beaches and pools (especially on Mahé island), you will enjoy the experience of being alone on the rest of the island !
TIP N°2 : The flights to Seychelles islands are limited to preserve the amazing nature & landscapes. When arriving to Mahe’s airport, get prepared as you’ll be asked the exact address & contact details of where you are going to stay. This is important because we were not aware of it and since we booked the flat on AirBnB, we did not know all these details and the controller called our renter.
TIP N°3 : YES, you’ll need a Gopro or a similar product. Even if most of the corals are unfortunately dead due to El Niño, underwater landscapes & fishes are amazing. We used Gopro HERO 6 and we were really satisfied about the results.
TIP N°4 : Seychelles islands are safe; just keep in mind that there are some wild beaches were you need to keep an eye on your stuffs (especially on Mahe since you’ll be alone most of the time). In the car as well, don’t leave any visible stuffs; to avoid any bad experience, when we rented the car in Praslin, the rear shelf of the car had been removed : nothing to hide in that case!
TIP N°5 : Just remember that you will drive on the left side of the road. Another detail if you want to enjoy evening barbecues on the beach, the dark night comes very quickly after 6.30 PM and the roads can be narrow (especially on Mahe) and not well illuminated.
MUST-DO : Your trip in 3 islands – Mahé, Praslin & La Digue. We recommend you to organize your trip with the following orders.
MAHE : the wild island
We spent 6 days in Mahé. Tourists usually stay there only on a very short period since they prefer to focus on beaches on Praslin and La Digue, but Mahé offers magic landscapes too.
How to visit Mahé ? You’ll need to rent a car to visit Mahé Island. We recommend you to take it directly at your arrival at the Airport. We used SIXT and everything was OK.
TIP : you don’t necessarily need to bring your car back to the airport. You can request to give it back at SIXT Agency near the port, next to the departure point to other islands such as Praslin : very convenient !
Where to sleep ? We booked an AirBnB near Eden Islands. Quite convenient too because it is close to Victoria (Capital City) where all the departures for other islands are located, but also because most of the time we ate at home in the evening and you will see that you don’t have a lot of supermarkets in general in Seychelles Islands. Still, there is one (SPAR) in Eden Islands that you can access easily (a bit expensive since all the products are imported).
MUST-DO activities in 6 days on Mahé : you will easily find a lot of things to do on this island
- Anse Royal / Anse Intendance / Grande Anse : We recommend you to make the tour of the island to experience the different beaches. Our preferred one definitely remains Anse Royal with its wild rocks and nice seabeds.
TIP :try to arrive early since there aren’t a lot of parking places. Also, we have been told that the beaches on the North of the island were amazing (near Soleil Beach), but we don’t know if it’s because it rained a few hours ago, the they were really not as magic as the ones recommended before in the article and the access was really difficult
- Morne Blanc trail : Starting a few meters from the Tea Factory, the Morne Blanc trail was one of the best experience in Mahé with crazy viewpoints and landscapes. Don’t forget to bring water, food and hiking boots with you. Also be aware of the fact the air is really wet so every effort is always harder there. TIP : Be careful as the Factory was closed for renovation during our trip. You can still access the viewpoint, but it was not possible to plan a visit
- Sunset and barbecue in Beau Vallon : You’ll need to experience the fish & sunset there and enjoy the magic landscape (just be careful as some wild dogs are coming late during the day)
- Jardin du roi Spice Garden : This wild garden represents the original French tradition of the 18th century spice trade; you’ll find vanilla vines, citronelle, cinnamon and other spices, as well as medicinal plants. The view is also one of the most instagrammable one, especially from the restaurant. We highly recommend you to eat there and have a fruit cocktail since a lot of the plates and drinks are made locally with the plants of the garden itself
- A boat day trip to do visit Cerf / Moyenne / Longue and Ronde islands : We took a fisherman boat (Calypso) at the port of Victoria to avoid the big touristic boats and it was really great. We took the full day to experience the turtles of Moyenne Island, the great seabeds around Ronde Island and the barbecue on Cerf island
- Victoria City : Capital City of Seychelles Islands, Victoria remains a must-do activity to see the Hindu Temple and buy spices at the local market.
TIP: we highly recommend you to visit Victoria during the opening hours of the market and to avoid it on Sunday.
- Police Bay : Wild beach, you won’t be able to swim here as it would be too dangerous between the rocks and waves, but the landscape is definitely worth to see
PRASLIN : THE BEST BEACH EVER
How to visit Praslin ? You’ll need to rent a car to visit this island. The agency SIXT on Mahé gave us their contact on Praslin and we have been able to rent the car directly from the port.
Where to sleep ? We booked an AirBnB near Anse Possession and we recommend the location.
MUST-DO activities in 4 days in Praslin : you’ll be able to mix beaches and tropical forest on this island
- Anse Georgette : This is without any doubt the best beach of our life with its white sand and crystal clear water with almost nobody ! We were lucky enough to come early and enter this amazing place without any efforts (except the 30mn walk inside the private golf to reach the beach). Indeed, we did not know at that time that there is a limited number of entrances as it belongs to a luxurious hotel and some of the persons we met during our trip could not experience it. We highly recommend you to plan your visit by calling the hotel in advance to secure your entrance
- Anse Lazio : This is the beach you imagine when coming to Seychelles islands : white sand, rocks, crazy water … just get prepared to the high number of tourists ! We recommend you to experience it too very early in the morning to get a complete other view of this great landscape.
TIP: be careful, there were micro-jellyfishes when we were there; thanks to our lycra shirts, we have been able to swim without difficulties
- Vallée de Mai : 19.5 ha area of palm forest which is often described as the “Garden of Eden” and has been part of UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. You cannot pass by Praslin without going to Vallée de Mai, especially because you will be able to discover the famous “coco-fesse” and “coco de mer” there
- Boat trip to Curieuse, St pierre, Chauve-Souris islands : we did a full-day boat trip starting from Anse possession including barbecue on Curieuse island. We had the chance to get closer to terrestrial turtles and to discover several different variety of fishes, but to be 100% transparent this is the boat trip we enjoyed the less from all the trip since we found it a bit too much touristic
- Sunset from Anse Possession : before leaving the island, don’t forget to experience the magic sunset from this place
Where to eat ? We often ate at home or we did barbecues on the beach thanks to the boat tour, but there is one address we definitely recommend : PK’s @Pasquiere Restaurant & Gastropub with fresh & local food
LA DIGUE : TOTAL ESCAPE
This is the best island to finish your trip, with its great landscapes and atmosphere. Cars are forbidden here (except for hotel managers or renters), so except when you arrive, you’ll need to rent bikes.
We booked our flat to Franck at O’ Soleil Chalets via Booking.com, located a few meters from Anse Severe and we highly recommend this place. Our renter was really friendly and helpful so you can directly ask him to pick you up at your arrival (10€) and rent the bikes on-site.
TIP N°1 : Withdraw money in advance. You won’t find a lot of banks and there was a problem when we were there so it was not possible to use the cash machines. Same for drugstore, you’d better buy the stuffs you want before arriving to the island as the pharmacy is a really small one and is often facing shortage.
TIP N°2 : Bring a flashlight with you as the night is coming really quickly (around 6.30PM when we were there) and you’ll be in the complete darkness very quickly as there are almost no lamppost.
MUST-DO activities in 4 days in La Digue : it was amazing to end the trip on this island. In any case, you definitely need to make the tour of the island.
- Anse Source d’Argent : You’ll need to pay a fee to access it (7,5€ per person & day), but it is definitely worth it. It is said to be the most famous beach of Seychelles Islands. Don’t hesitate to walk further and try to avoid touristic areas
- A Boat trip day to Petite & Grande Soeur, Félicité and Coco islands : You’ll find a lot of tour operators which organize boat trips at the port of La Digue to experience the 4 islands. We were skeptical facing the number of tourists and the price, but we took the full day trip and we definitely recommend you to do it !
TIP: there are less people who take the entire day so you will be less numerous on the boat and the experience of the barbecue alone on Félicité Island (not accessible to other groups or tourists) was simply amazing. This is how we saw wild turtles (near Coco Island), as well as black-tip sharks while we were eating
- Sunset on Anse Sévère : Anse Sévère remains a very nice and more family beach. This is one of the best spot to look at the sunset
- Anse Coco / Petite Anse / Grande Anse : After a sportive ride, park your bike at Grande Anse. From there, you’ll discover a wild long beach of white sand, however be careful; the waves can be high and strong so swimming is not always allowed. Anyway, the landscape is part of the must-do of La Digue. Put your sneakers on and find the quick trail to Petite Anse (around 15-20mn). We also recommend you to continue your walk to Anse Coco where you’ll be able to find natural swimming pool.
TIP: bring food with you since you won’t find a lot of things there & the walk is not always easy with the heat.
- Early wake up : The sun rises very early, but since you won’t find any cars, it’s just magic to do bicycle at that time of the day alone next to the water side
MUST-DO restaurants : We were told that La Digue island was the most expensive one. We did not experience it that way.
- Chez Jules. Even if we were lucky, we highly recommend you to book in advance to increase your chance to eat in front of the crazy view of Anse Banane.
TIP: don’t forget to withdraw cash in advance as credit card is not accepted and the place is a few km away from banks. - Gala Takeaway. Recommended by our renter. For sure the best tip we can give you to eat very cheap but excellent food everyday ! Get prepared to order inside by 40 degrees. Once served, you can either eat in the small garden or take the food at home.
- Gregoire’s Pizzeria. Good pizzas but we recommend you to order by phone and to take away your food as the service is really long.
SEYCHELLES TRIP IN MAHE, PRASLIN & LA DIGUE
You found this article useful or you are planning to go to Seychelles islands and need additional information ? Don’t hesitate to contact us.
