Cerf Island: A Small, Relaxing Paradise
To celebrate her 80th birthday, my mother decided to treat me, my wife and our two daughters, aged three and five, to a very special trip together. ‘You choose where,’ she told us, and so, after countless suggestions from traditional tour operators specialising in ‘tropical beach’ destinations, we finally discovered SeyVillas online. They seemed extremely well organised and offered some of the best options, often at affordable prices.
Valeria immediately won us over with her kindness and genuine manner, recommending a stay on Cerf Island. Given the unusual make-up of our group — with 77 years between the youngest and oldest travellers — we reluctantly decided against travelling around La Digue and the other ‘more famous’ islands, which would have been difficult to reach for travellers who were either ‘too young’ or ‘too old’. Staying in one place was certainly the right choice, as we loved the island. What is more, Cerf proved to be the perfect base for visiting Mahé and the islands of St Anne Marine Park.
When we arrived at Mahé airport, we were met by a picturesque ‘Creole’ minibus with a smiling driver, who took us to the Eden Island jetty in just a few minutes. We had just enough time to buy a few groceries for lunch at the nearby supermarket before the legendary James arrived with his boat, Caronte, which shuttles back and forth to Cerf several times a day. If you wish, he can also take you out to the reef in another boat to see the colourful fish and tour St Anne Marine Park.
It took us 15 minutes to reach the Habitation jetty from Eden Island. We had been concerned about the onward journey to our accommodation, Tropical Sanctuary, as I imagined we would have to ‘drag’ our luggage along the beach for goodness knows how far. But then came a surprise: three men unloaded all our luggage from the boat and headed towards the beach. One of them welcomed us. It was Matías, the very young son of Cathy and Jean-Marc, the exceptionally kind owners and managers of Tropical Sanctuary.
Once we arrived, the place turned out to be even more beautiful than it looked in the photographs! The villa with its pool was very welcoming, with a lovely veranda just a few steps from a magnificent beach... all to ourselves!
From then on, the days passed far too quickly, unfortunately... Every evening and every morning, we were thoroughly spoilt by Matías, an accomplished chef who was standing in for the ‘more famous’ Cathy. We only met her during the final two days, as she had been away on a trip. He prepared special dinners and breakfasts, served beneath a covered poolside terrace.
Jean-Marc, who only seemed rather ‘gruff’ at first, taught me how to open coconuts, which grew in abundance on the island and around our villa. In the mornings, he took the girls to collect freshly laid eggs in a lush garden filled with unusual plants.
One day, using the canoes provided free of charge by Tropical, the whole family, apart from Grandma, enjoyed a wonderful trip around Cerf Island. On another day, we even went snorkelling with our young daughters!
We spent another wonderful day touring St Anne Marine Park by boat with James, including an excursion to Moyenne, the island of giant tortoises, where we also enjoyed a lunch of grilled fish and meat.
On another day, Cathy arranged a hire car for us, and we used it to explore Mahé. We first visited Victoria’s colourful market
All in all, it was a wonderful holiday ‘on the other side of the world’, as my daughters would say, and one that will be difficult to forget.
Thank you, Mum! Thank you, Matías, Jean-Marc and Cathy! Thank you, SeyVillas! We will be back soon!
