10 Days of Island Hopping

At Mahé airport, we received a very warm welcome from the Creole representative. After a transfer of around 30 minutes, we arrived at our first accommodation, Row’s Villa, near the famous Beau Vallon beach. The friendly owner welcomed us with a drink. The accommodation was simple but had a fantastic new bathroom. At sunset, we went to the beautiful, long Beau Vallon beach and rounded off our first evening with a delicious cocktail.

The next morning, we took the catamaran to Praslin. The crossing is not for those with sensitive stomachs. Despite taking travel sickness medication (Reisegold and Superpep), I was sick, and I was not the only one! Once we arrived on Praslin, we took a taxi to our next accommodation, the Hirondelle guesthouse, right by Côte d’Or. We had booked a lovely self-catering apartment with a balcony and sea view. Once again, we were welcomed with a cool drink! The guesthouse is very well maintained and still feels quite new. The covered balcony was perfect, as it rained fairly often. You can buy everything you need for breakfast at the small supermarkets nearby. For us, the best beach was Anse Lazio.

Praslin, Anse Lazio We travelled there by bus and returned by taxi. We also took the bus to Vallée de Mai National Park. Although it poured with rain, the park is highly recommended. Several restaurants were just a few minutes from our accommodation. We ate twice at the same restaurant on the beach. Unfortunately, we cannot remember its name, but it was very close to a large hotel complex, and you could sit right on the beach.

After 4 days, we continued to the island of La Digue. The short crossing was pleasant. The island is car-free, although taxis are available for transfers to the hotels. We stayed in the north of the island at the Patatran hotel.

La Digue, pool at Hotel Patatran As well as hotel rooms, the property has small detached apartments, and we had booked one of these. When we checked in, we were first served a delicious alcohol-free cocktail, and our luggage was then taken to the apartment. The hotel is in a beautiful location, and other travellers were often envious when we told them that we were staying there. We had booked the accommodation with breakfast, which was very generous and varied. There was always fresh fruit and delicious croissants, and eggs or omelettes could be prepared just the way you liked them. The apartments were a little older, but the views and the hotel’s location were perfect.

La Digue, view from Apartment Patatran There are ideal snorkelling spots by the hotel beach, Anse Patates, or next door at Anse Sévère beach; water shoes are recommended. We hired bicycles for our entire stay (€10 per day). We had great fun exploring the island by bicycle. We regularly came across giant tortoises roaming freely.

La Digue, a wild giant tortoise At Anse Source d’Argent beach, you can enjoy wonderful snorkelling and the classic picture-postcard scenery. A trip to Grand Anse beach was also very worthwhile. We ate twice at the Italian restaurant LeRepaire – a little expensive, but very tasty!

La Digue, Le Repaire Restaurant There is a large supermarket roughly halfway between our hotel and Anse Source d’Argent beach. We always stopped there to buy a cool drink, snacks or some lovely wine to enjoy on the terrace in the evening. The 5 days went by far too quickly. We would have loved to stay longer.

The return journey by catamaran was a little better, but that was because we had stopped eating and drinking several hours before departure. The trip was a wonderful experience that we still remember fondly. All the transfers went very smoothly. The value for money was excellent. We would happily recommend the Seychelles, tour operator SeyVillas and the Creole representatives to anyone.