Picture-Perfect Beaches in the Indian Ocean

Mahé Our journey to our dream destination, the Seychelles, began at the international airport on Mahé. Once we arrived, we collected our hire car, a Kia Picanto. It took us a little while to get used to driving on the left and to stop turning on the windscreen wipers instead of the indicators.

Our apartment was around 20 minutes from the airport, and we quickly realised that we did not need the satnav we had been given. The island is not exactly small, but it is easy enough to navigate. On each side of the island, there is essentially just one road running up and down the coast, plus another four roads connecting the two sides. So we dropped off our luggage, changed into our swimming costumes and set off to explore. We drove along the coast until we found a secluded bay where we settled down.

Secluded bay in the Seychelles The water was wonderfully warm and the sand beautifully soft. We spent half a day there, then drove in the opposite direction and, shortly before dusk, found the Surfers Beach Restaurant where, after a short stroll along the beach, we enjoyed our first Creole curry. Delicious and full of spice!

Delicious crab curry We began the next day with a visit to Victoria Market. There, we stocked up on some fresh fruit for the day and bought a few souvenirs, including a selection of spices for the famous curry.

Market in Victoria We then took a guided tour of the local Takamaka Rum Distillery , including a tasting.

Takamaka Distillery Afterwards, it was time for the beach again, and we drove to a less famous but wonderful beach in the south of Mahé: Police Bay. We had this vast, stunning beach completely to ourselves. Wow! We felt like Tom Hanks in Cast Away.

Police Bay We rounded off the day with a cold beer and the sunset at Anse Soleil.

Anse Soleil The following day began early and promised to be a strenuous one. We climbed up to the summit cross of Glacis Trois Frères. The path was easy to follow as far as the official viewpoint, although this was only halfway up. We wanted to go higher, however, so we continued past the ‘at your own risk’ sign, following narrow paths and tackling a few climbing sections until we reached the summit cross.

In short, it was definitely worth it. We were rewarded with a magnificent view over Victoria and the islands just off the coast. Once we were back down, we headed to the nearby Sauzier Waterfall to cool off in its natural freshwater pool.

Sauzier Waterfall We spent our final day on an excursion to Sainte Anne Marine National Park. There, we went snorkelling and swimming, explored a small island and even fed tortoises.

At around midday, we stopped at a beach bar and filled up on the buffet. Afterwards, we still had a little time to relax before returning ‘home’ to Mahé later that afternoon.

Praslin The following day, we said goodbye to Mahé and took the ferry across to Praslin. We had arranged a hire car there too, which was a clever decision, as other holidaymakers told us that travelling by bus takes up quite a lot of valuable holiday time. We spent our first day on Praslin exploring the beaches, although it felt as though there were far fewer beautiful ones than on Mahé. However, you should definitely visit Anse Lazio and Anse Georgette. Both are breathtakingly beautiful, even if they are not quite so secluded.

Anse Georgette You should also make sure to watch the sunset from Zimbabwe one evening. This is an elevated viewpoint just before a communications tower. We had the place to ourselves and found a prominent rock that seemed made for watching the sun set over the horizon. A wonderful natural spectacle!

Sunset in Zimbabwe The next morning, we visited the Fond Ferdinand Nature Reserve. It is not as well known as Vallée de Mai, but is considered something of an insider tip. Admission is cheaper, and a guide accompanies you and introduces you to the different plants that grow there, including the famous coco de mer. Another thing we think you should definitely do while on Praslin is visit the tiny pirate island of St Pierre. It is the very picture of a Seychelles island and a wonderful place for snorkelling. If you are lucky, you may even see turtles or baby sharks! A small boat took us there and collected us again 2 hours later. It was a unique experience that we will not forget in a hurry!

St. Pierre La Digue The next morning was also our last on Praslin, and we took the ferry across to La Digue, the final stop of our holiday. We had barely stepped off the ferry when someone approached us to hire us bicycles. Apart from the refuse vehicles, delivery lorries, 5 taxis and a few electric golf buggies, bicycles are the only way to get around here. So we hopped onto our bikes and headed towards our apartment, while the bicycle hire company transported our luggage to the hotel on a cargo bike.

Cargo bike :-) Once we had settled into our room, we cycled around the island. It quickly became clear that La Digue is very manageable in size! We could cycle around ¾ of the island in approximately 30 minutes. The final ¼, at the southern tip, is wilderness, with no roads or paths. However, we explored this part of the island too on a guided tour on our penultimate day. Our guide, Robert, led us safely around the southern tip, and along the way we had to climb over several sections and wade through the water. At lunchtime, our guide prepared a wonderful fresh fruit platter, after which we had the chance to test our coconut-opening skills. We then continued our hike and returned to our starting point in the afternoon. For us, it was a successful and adventurous day out.

Hike to the southern tip That evening, freshly showered, we headed to Fish Trap, where we enjoyed dinner right by the beach. The sunset there was incredibly beautiful. We had rarely seen such a deep-red sky.

We spent the rest of our time on La Digue relaxing on its many beautiful beaches. These included Anse Source d'Argent, the most photographed beach in the Seychelles and the epitome of a tropical island paradise. Most adverts intended to evoke that idyllic ‘South Seas’ atmosphere are filmed here.

Anse Source d'Argent Conclusion We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday in the Seychelles. The islands offer wonderful, secluded dream beaches where you can spend the day relaxing. On the other hand, there are also plenty of activities if sunbathing becomes a little too dull and you are looking for some adventure. It was this idea – the combination of beaches and plenty of other activities – that inspired us to fly to the Seychelles…

We were not disappointed. It was exactly as we had imagined: a dream destination in the Indian Ocean!