Destinations

General Information

The Seychelles in the western Indian Ocean comprises 115 contrasting islands – some lush, mountainous and granite based, others flat and formed from sand and coral. The Inner Islands of Mahe, (which includes the international airport and capital, Victoria), Praslin and La Digue are the most populated and offer the widest choice of tourist accommodation.

The Seychelles’ exotic landscape was used to depict Tracey Island in the film version of Thunderbirds and while you may not be planning to fight the forces of evil on your holiday you can certainly find your own secret hideout, as several resorts are set on private islands.

If you’ve never visited the Seychelles before you’ll still probably know it for its iconic boulder strewn beaches and giant tortoises.

The huge granite boulders, smoothed by the ocean, are particularly found around La Digue. This is the least developed of the main islands and has a more relaxed feel with bicycle and ox carts the main form of transport. The most photographed beach in the world, with a proliferation of the famous boulders, is La Digue’s Anse Source d’ Argent.

Another notable Seychelles beach is Anse Lazio in the north of Praslin. It has some of the striking boulders along with soft white sand and is often cited as one of the world’s best beaches.

The Seychelles famous giant land tortoises are found in their thousands on Aldabra atoll, a World Heritage Site, but this is usually only open to scientists. You can however see these fascinating creatures in enclosures around tourist areas and on Curieuse Island, a day trip from Praslin, where there’s a breeding programme. Bird Island, North of Mahe claims Esmeralda, the world’s largest and oldest tortoise. It is also has one of the four bird sanctuaries in the Seychelles’ inner islands.

Nearly 50 per cent of the land mass of the Seychelles’s is given to national parks and reserves. Vallee de Mai on Praslin is the Seychelles’ second World Heritage Site. This prehistoric forest area is full of palms including the rare coco de mer found only here and on Curieuse. The species has male and female trees and the world’s largest seeds, weighing up to 15 kg.

If you like walking, the islands’ mountainous areas create other good opportunities, notably Mahe’s Morne Seychellois national park which overlooks Victoria. For natural wonders off land, the main dive sites of the Seychelles are to the North and Northeast of Mahe while the marine national park around Sainte Anne Island to Mahe’s East, offers word class snorkelling.

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