La Digue and Praslin – Something for Everyone

We spent two weeks in the Seychelles in June 2018, visiting the islands of La Digue and Praslin. After landing on Mahé, we had planned to take the 9.00 ferry to La Digue, which we had booked through Seyferry. However, our flight landed late, so we missed it. Seyferry’s website advertises free rebooking, so we assumed we would be able to take the next ferry without any problems. Rebooking onto the next ferry to Praslin was indeed possible, but we were then suddenly asked to pay again for the ferry from there to La Digue, apparently because it is operated by a different ferry company. This is not made clear on the Seyferry website.

With SeyVillas, by contrast, everything went smoothly. After a rather choppy 75-minute crossing, we finally arrived on La Digue, where we were collected directly from the harbour. We stayed for 5 nights at Buisson Guest House with Charles and Doris. After an incredibly warm welcome, we immediately felt at home. The room was lovingly furnished, and the guest house is set in a beautiful garden with a covered terrace where breakfast is also served.

It is difficult to do La Digue justice in words. This small island is a true paradise. Wherever you head to the sea, you will find a beautiful, almost deserted dream beach that is always different from the others in some way. One might have a leaning palm tree you can sit on, as at Anse Severe; another might have some unusually shaped rocks; while elsewhere the backdrop consists of La Digue’s wild, overgrown hills.

For snorkelling, we found Anse Severe and Anse Patates particularly excellent. Conditions vary depending on whether the tide is in or out; you can ask for the tide times at the tourist information office by the harbour. At low tide, the water is calmer and shallower, and in some places even too shallow for snorkelling. At high tide, for example, you can swim beyond the edge of the reef at Anse Severe and still see plenty there.

Giant tortoise Overall, we had never seen so many different and colourful fish. Our snorkelling highlights were two sea turtles, one at Anse Source d'Argent and one at Anse Severe. Life on La Digue feels much more relaxed than anywhere else. Most people get around on foot or by bicycle, and you only occasionally see a car. There hardly seem to be any fences, either. You come across plenty of chickens, cats and dogs, as well as the occasional goat or cow and, best of all, giant tortoises! The tortoises are not only wonderful to look at; they usually do not mind having their long, wrinkled necks stroked either. If you give them leaves to eat, they lift their heads inquisitively, giving you the chance to take some unique photographs.

On Praslin, we stayed at Le Relax St. Joseph Guest House in Grand Anse. The room was beautifully furnished and very spacious, with plenty of seating both indoors and outside. As you will read everywhere, seaweed washes ashore at Grand Anse in June, but this vast bay is still well worth visiting. It is fascinating to watch the water recede at low tide, when you can wade through the shallow, calm, turquoise water all the way to the edge of the reef, which is exactly what we did. At high tide, by contrast, the water covers the entire beach. At one point near the airport, it almost reaches the road and becomes rougher and darker due to the seaweed and churned-up sand. From this very spot by the airport, we watched a beautiful sunset at high tide.

Sunset at Grand Anse We travelled around Praslin by bus, which is certainly an experience not to be missed. You pay SR 7 when boarding, regardless of how far you are travelling, and then the occasionally rather speedy journey begins. The road past the Fond Ferdinand nature reserve was particularly steep and narrow in places, making the journey quite an adventure. During the first two days, we always had to wait a very long time for the bus. We later realised that this was because the buses run much less frequently at weekends. Once we had obtained a bus timetable from the reception of the hotel associated with our guest house — definitely ask for one! — travelling by bus was straightforward, as the buses run very frequently during the week. On Praslin, we particularly liked Anse Volbert (Cote d'Or) and Anse Georgette. To visit the latter, you need to register with the Constance Lemuria Resort at least one day in advance and then walk across the golf course to the beach. There are plenty of waves along the entire south coast in June, and the south-east monsoon makes the water rough, so the north coast is better for snorkelling. We even saw a ray in the shallow water at Anse Volbert (Cote d'Or).

While there, we were also persuaded by King Creol to book a boat trip to Curieuse Marine National Park and St. Pierre, which ultimately did not take place. We spent an entire day trying to recover our deposit, even though we had made sure that the operator was licensed. In the end, we only got our money back with the help of our hotel, and we are extremely grateful for their exceptional efforts. We would advise everyone to book such an excursion in advance, or at least to research operators with good online reviews beforehand.

On our penultimate day, we flew to Mahé in one of the small propeller aircraft so that we could spend our final night there before flying home the following morning. Even Praslin’s small airport is worth seeing, but the flight itself was many times more interesting. With fantastic views of Praslin, Cousin, Cousine and finally Mahé, the flight passed very quickly. It was no comparison with the long, choppy ferry crossing, which made both of us feel ill. It was hardly any more expensive either, once you add the cost of the taxi or shuttle bus from the airport to the harbour to the ferry fare.

We spent our final night at MARL Self Catering, a pleasant and fairly large apartment that we had chosen mainly because of its proximity to the airport. However, we realised that we could easily have stayed there longer, at least with a hire car, as it is some distance from the nearest beach. We then spent another lovely day on Mahé at Anse aux Pins and visited the capital, Victoria, before heading home the following day with a touch of sadness.

Anse Aux Pins Overall, the Seychelles are a true paradise, and La Digue in particular really captured our hearts (image 9). David and Larissa