Island Hopping on Praslin, La Digue & Mahé

We spent our holiday in the Seychelles island hopping. We started with four days on Praslin, where we stayed at the Berjaya Hotel. We can highly recommend it. It was very clean and had a lovely garden with a pool. The hotel is in the north-east of the island, where there was no seaweed on the beaches in September. There is a bus stop right outside. On the whole, the buses run according to schedule. You do not necessarily need a hire car, as the buses can take you almost anywhere and are also very inexpensive. You always pay the driver directly in cash.

The most beautiful beach is Anse Lazio. It is easy to get there by bus, although there is still a walk of around 15 minutes from the bus stop to the beach. Alternatively, you can take a taxi. The taxi drivers will take you directly to the beach and collect you again at an agreed time. It is best to negotiate the fare in advance so that there are no unpleasant surprises at the end.

For us, the best restaurant was the little Italian place a short way up the road from our hotel. It offered by far the best value for money. The Black Pearl Farm on this island is definitely not a must-see.

Tip: Visit the small neighbouring island of Curieuse. Instead of taking a guided tour from the hotel, we asked a fisherman on the beach whether he could take us across. As the island is small and uninhabited, it is easy to explore independently, and this is also considerably cheaper than booking through the hotel. We agreed on a price with the fisherman, and he took us over in the morning and collected us again at the arranged time. On the way back, he even dropped us off at a lovely snorkelling spot at no extra charge.

There is excellent snorkelling on one side of Curieuse.

A short walking trail leads through a mangrove forest to the other side of the island, where the giant tortoises live. They roam freely along the beach, so you can observe them in their natural surroundings.

After these four days, we travelled to the neighbouring island of La Digue for three nights. The island is small and relaxed. You can reach everything by bicycle, which is the main form of transport on the island. There are taxis, but these are mainly used to take hotel guests and their luggage to and from their accommodation. Simply hire a bicycle and explore the island.

We stayed at the beautiful guest house La Diguoise, which has a lovely garden. The staff were very friendly and attentive. The food was absolutely delicious. We booked half board and can highly recommend it.

We spent our final five days on Mahé. Here too, we stayed at the Berjaya Hotel, which is a large, international hotel on this island. It is located on Beau Vallon beach, which is beautiful and spacious and, once again, had no seaweed in September. Every Wednesday, there is a local market where you can discover small handicrafts and sample local culinary specialities. Simply continue north along the beach and you can hardly miss it.

It is worth hiring a car on Mahé to explore the entire island. It costs around €50 for 24 hours. We recommend choosing an automatic, as traffic drives on the left in the Seychelles.

There are excellent walking opportunities throughout the Seychelles. On our final day on Mahé, we walked to Anse Major. Simply take the bus to the final stop and follow the walking trail from there to the small bay.

We enjoyed the snorkelling in the bay most of all. There was such an incredible variety of fish that we hardly knew where to look. One convenient thing about this beach is that, if you do not fancy walking back, you can take a water taxi to any beach or jetty. However, the walking trail was so beautiful that we decided to walk back. You have wonderful views across the coast and breathtaking nature all around you. Sturdy footwear is recommended, though. If you are planning to stay out for longer, ask the bus driver when the last bus departs, but still make sure you are there half an hour early. ;-)

We would return to the Seychelles at any time.

Katja & Tobias