A Relaxing Honeymoon

We travelled with Turkish Airlines via Istanbul. From Mahé Airport, we continued on an exciting flight to Praslin. Along with around 20 other passengers, we enjoyed magnificent views of the Seychelles’ various islands and turquoise-blue waters. The flight took about 20 minutes. This saved us some time compared with the ferry, which takes around 90 minutes and first requires a transfer to the harbour.

When we arrived on Praslin, we received a warm welcome from the staff of the travel company Creole Travel and were taken directly to the harbour in a small bus. From there, the ferry crossing to La Digue took around 20 minutes.

Once on La Digue, it was another 10 minutes or so by car to our hotel, Patatran. Here too, the staff gave us a warm welcome with a drink and a refreshing towel.
The hotel is located in the north of this easy-to-explore island and has a small but lovely beach typical of the Seychelles. We stayed in a honeymoon villa on the hillside. These villas are very spacious and offer wonderful views of the sea. Overall, the hotel is not luxurious, but it offered good value for money. You should not expect too much from the changing evening menu, but the omelettes and pancakes at breakfast were excellent!

The hotel offers bicycle hire, which is a wonderful way to explore the whole island. We would recommend spending several days on La Digue so that you can enjoy all the beautiful beaches without any stress or rushing around. It is also worth remembering that, as we experienced, it can sometimes rain all day in the Seychelles, although brief showers are more common. It would be a great shame if this happened on the day of a planned excursion to La Digue.

First and foremost, of course, there is Anse Source d'Argent, although the beach can only be reached through the L'Union Estate & Anse Source d'Argent park, which charges an entrance fee.
With its granite rocks, this typical Seychellois beach is simply beautiful and ideal for relaxing, taking photographs, swimming and snorkelling.

The beaches in the south-east are also worth mentioning, as they are equally gorgeous. It is best to set aside a full day to enjoy the three beaches of Grand Anse, Petite Anse and Anse Cocos. You can still reach Grand Anse by bicycle, while the latter two are reached via walking trails that are adventurous in places, but beautiful. After we reached the final beach, we were unfortunately caught in the rain and returned to Grand Anse thoroughly soaked, before cycling back to the hotel later. We saw the funny side of it. After all, even when it rains, you do not get cold in the Seychelles.

After 5 days on La Digue, we took the ferry to Praslin. Once again, the transfer with Creole went perfectly. We stayed at the 4-star Coco de Mer & Black Parrot Suites for 6 nights. Everything here was a little more upmarket, and we received a warm welcome. There was no need to worry about check-in or anything else, as everything was explained to us in detail while we enjoyed our welcome drink. The standard rooms are very spacious and attractive. We had booked half board.
Breakfast and dinner were very good and varied. Creole cuisine was not always to our taste, although that is certainly subjective. The starters and desserts were usually excellent. The hotel also provides some pleasant entertainment during meals, as well as activities and facilities such as kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, a small gym and a small library. Bicycles and snorkelling equipment are also available to hire, although there is a charge. Massages and other treatments are available in the separate Black Parrot area, where the suites are located.

The hotel offers a complimentary transfer to Anse Lazio in the north of the island, which we used. This is another wonderful beach, particularly for swimming. Unlike on La Digue, where swimming shoes are almost always needed because of the coral, rocks and seagrass, entering the water here is very easy, and fish swim all around you.
Praslin also has other beautiful beaches, such as Anse Georgette, although we did not visit it.

One day, we walked from the hotel to the Vallée de Mai nature reserve. It was a wonderful adventure through Praslin’s park and jungle, providing an insight into the island’s flora and fauna. Admission was around €20 per person, and we did not use a guide. There are several information boards, which were sufficient for us. We chose the long route, for which around 3 hours is recommended. With several breaks and at a fairly leisurely pace, it took us about 1.5 hours. Afterwards, you can enjoy some refreshments in the restaurant or buy a souvenir from the souvenir shop.

On the way back, we once again experienced the friendliness of the Seychellois when someone offered us a lift, which we gladly accepted.

The hotel offers a complimentary jungle walk. We took part and would certainly recommend it. Our guide, Joseph, led us into the forest above the hotel, showing us various things and telling us a great deal about the Seychelles. At the end, we reached a small viewing platform with a wonderful outlook. The walk took around 1.5 hours and, despite the steep climb, was not overly strenuous.

We spent the rest of our time enjoying the hotel’s beautiful grounds. Whether on one of the three beaches, on the covered jetty known as ‘Fishermen’s Wharf’, or beside the pool, we could always find a sun lounger and usually plenty of solitude and wonderful peace and quiet. At lunchtime, the ‘Mango Bar’ by the pool usually provided us with a cool drink and a snack. In the afternoon, complimentary coffee and delicious biscuits are served here for all guests.

We then began our journey home by taking the ferry from Praslin to Mahé. However, the crossing is not for the faint-hearted. As the sea was very rough, we became seasick, as did around 30% of our fellow passengers. Once we were back on solid ground, the nausea subsided.
When we arrived on Mahé, Creole met us again and took us to Hotel La Roussette for one night. It is a small, family-run hotel with bungalows, where the owner still does the cooking himself. It is located very close to the airport, making it ideal for a stopover before a flight home or onward journey.
As our flight was not until the evening, we were able to make use of our final day and took the bus to the capital, Victoria, for less than €1 per person. There, we visited the botanical gardens,Seychelles National Botanical Gardens , and the market, Sir Selwyn Selwyn Clarke Market.

That evening, it was time to say goodbye to the Seychelles. As always, a Creole driver took us reliably to the airport. We then flew home with Turkish Airlines, travelling via Istanbul to Frankfurt.