A Holiday in a Natural Paradise

After many months of anticipation, the time had finally come! In April, we flew from Munich via Dubai to the Seychelles for 2 weeks. Our itinerary: 4 nights on Praslin, 5 nights on La Digue and 4 nights on Mahé. We had booked our flights, hotels and hire cars through SeyVillas. And it was brilliant!

Praslin – The Island of Palms

From Mahé, we continued to Praslin in a small 15-seater plane. As we had read beforehand that the ferry could be rather rough, we opted for the 15-minute flight. It was an exciting little adventure right at the start. Everything was completely straightforward, and we absolutely loved seeing the islands from above!

Once on Praslin, we collected our hire car directly at the airport. We would highly recommend having a car! The buses do run, but very irregularly. As soon as we arrived at our first accommodation, we met a German couple who had already been waiting 45 minutes for the bus. We were glad to have our own vehicle. It also gives you more flexibility when it rains. Even the drive from the airport to our accommodation was really lovely, as it gave us our first glimpse of the island’s wonderful vegetation. The road through the Vallée de Mai is a particular highlight!

Our accommodation, Hirondelle, at Anse Volbert (Cote d'Or) was fantastic! We had a room with a balcony and sea views. Everything was very clean, and the staff were extremely friendly and attentive. The room was very spacious! We had booked breakfast, which was prepared to order in our room each morning. It included fruit, toast, jam, fresh juice, coffee, pastries and egg dishes. Enjoying breakfast on our own balcony overlooking the sea was... simply wow!

Directly opposite was Anse Volbert (Cote d'Or). It is a beautiful, long beach with shallow water, which we can highly recommend! You can also book various boat trips from there. We opted for a day trip to Curieuse Marine National Park and St Pierre.

You can spend around 1.5 hours exploring Curieuse independently, discovering the beaches and seeing the many tortoises. Afterwards, we went on a 30-minute walk to the other side of the island, where we had lunch and visited a fantastic beach. On the way back, there was another stop at St Pierre for snorkelling.

One place you certainly should not miss is Anse Lazio. There is wonderful snorkelling by the rocks on the right, plenty of shady palm trees and lovely walks. Particularly towards evening, when there are fewer and fewer people around, you should not miss the magnificent sunset.

We also really liked Praslin’s many small beaches, where we were often completely alone. Simply set off by car and stop wherever takes your fancy. For example, Anse Marie-Louise, Anse Madge and Anse Takamaka. We had originally planned to visit Fond Ferdinand as our national park on Praslin, because of the many recommendations and the lower admission price. Unfortunately, there had been a lot of rain during our stay, and although we tried to drive to Fond Ferdinand 3 times in one day, the tours kept being cancelled because of the weather. So, on the next very rainy day, we decided to visit Vallée de Mai instead. We booked the German-language tour, which was very pleasant, although in our opinion it was not strictly necessary. There is plenty to discover on your own. The park itself is incredibly impressive, and you should definitely visit one of the two parks!

Our verdict on Praslin: the ‘Island of Palms’ truly enchanted us with its impressive natural beauty. The jungle atmosphere is unique. We would recommend hiring a car, as it allows you to reach many deserted beaches, drive through the jungle and simply enjoy more flexibility.

Dream beaches on La Digue

We then continued by ferry to La Digue. Here, we had booked Le Repaire Boutique Hotel near the harbour. The hotel has beautifully landscaped gardens and direct beach access with sun loungers. Overall, the hotel is very modern. The Italian owner and her staff are extremely attentive and friendly. Breakfast was served in the restaurant and included toast, jam, yoghurt, muesli, avocado, fruit and pancakes, with egg dishes available to order. We really enjoyed it! We had booked the least expensive room, without a balcony. The room was spacious, clean and modern. The only minor drawback was the lack of a balcony, as we found it difficult to dry our things. We would definitely book the hotel again, but next time we would choose a room with a balcony ????

We had booked bicycles through the hotel for our entire stay, which I would also recommend. It was completely straightforward, and on our very first day we cycled to the famous Anse Source d'Argent. Admission costs approximately €8 per person. The park surrounding the famous rock formations truly blew us away! Cycling through the palm forest and past the giant tortoises is a very special experience. And the beach itself is, of course, absolutely stunning! We were there in the middle of the afternoon, yet there were still not many people around.

The next day, we explored the north side of the island as far as Anse Banane. We particularly loved Anse Severe and Anse Patates. They are wonderful places to swim, snorkel, relax in a hammock and enjoy a fruit shake. The sunsets there are also enchanting and very ‘Instagrammable’.

The following day, it was time for Grand Anse, Petite Anse and Anse Cocos. We cycled to Grand Anse, then continued on foot to Petite Anse (approximately a 15-minute walk) and from there to Anse Cocos (a 30-minute walk through the jungle). Everything was a little hidden, but the friendly local people were always happy to help us. You need to be reasonably fit to reach the two beaches. All three beaches were very similar, with rough turquoise seas and seemingly endless stretches of sand. They are beautiful to look at, but I would not swim here because of the dangerous currents! At the end of Anse Cocos, there is a sheltered natural ‘bathtub’ where you can enjoy a lovely paddle ????

On La Digue, as throughout our holiday, we mostly ate at takeaways. We can particularly recommend Mi Mum and Gala Takeaway. Both offer plenty of choice, and the food was truly excellent!

Our verdict on La Digue: The bicycles give the island a truly special atmosphere. Cycling through the palm forests really puts you in a wonderfully relaxed, feel-good mood!

Mahé – the surprise package

Our final stop was Mahé. We took the ferry from La Digue to Mahé. It was certainly fast and bumpy, but still absolutely fine for us. The sea was still relatively calm at the time. Another hire car was waiting for us at the harbour on Mahé. Everything was straightforward, professional and very friendly. Thank you, SeyVillas. Given Mahé’s size, we feel that a hire car is essential if you want to see something of the island.

Our accommodation, The Beach House at Beau Vallon, was the simplest and least expensive place we stayed during our trip. You really should not expect too much in terms of facilities. However, we had the largest room, with a very spacious and lovely terrace overlooking the sea. It was clean, and the staff were very friendly! The breakfast deserves a special mention! There was toast, jam and fruit, plus eggs cooked to order or our ABSOLUTE highlight: pancakes with honey and bananas!

Beau Vallon itself is in the north of the island and was the most touristy place we saw in the Seychelles. It is also a lovely place for swimming, but by Seychelles standards it really is quite busy. On the plus side, there are plenty of places to eat. If you walk further to the right towards Sunset Beach, it becomes quieter and there are fewer and fewer people. We really liked it there. And once again, the sunsets were fantastic!

6092 Every Wednesday evening, there is a market at Beau Vallon with lots of food stalls run by locals. We really enjoyed it. You could happily eat your way around the stalls and watch the locals dancing and singing around the campfire. It was great fun.

Naturally, we spent one day exploring Victoria, visiting the market and wandering through the little streets. However, as the city really is very small, it does not take long to see, although it is certainly worth a visit.

We particularly loved everything around Anse Royale! Fairyland Beach was our favourite. It truly lives up to its name. There are lots of little beaches dotted along the coast. If you simply stop the car somewhere, you can suddenly find yourselves completely alone on a dream beach. Absolutely beautiful!

We also visited Mission Lodge Lookout for the views. The drive there is a little adventurous, but you get a lovely view from above over the western side of the island.

On our penultimate evening, we treated ourselves and went for dinner at the Paris restaurant at Le Méridien Fisherman's Cove. The restaurant is located on a jetty in front of the hotel, next to the Sunset Bar. It had a truly lovely atmosphere with live music.

On the day of our departure, we spent the evening on Eden Island. In our opinion, it is not a must-see. It is very modern and stylish, but it feels less typical of the Seychelles, and there is plenty of that sort of thing in Europe.

Our verdict on Mahé: yet another natural paradise! The beaches are every bit as beautiful as those on the two smaller islands! Next time, we would choose accommodation in the south-east or south-west because of the beaches, as it took us around 40 minutes to drive there from Beau Vallon. In our opinion, a car is essential on the island.

A few final tips:

-Take a torch, as street lighting is scarce at night
-Watch out for undercurrents! Check carefully in advance which beaches are best avoided for swimming at different times of the year.
-The takeaways offer delicious food at very reasonable prices, and they were definitely more than enough for us.
-Be prepared for rain. There is a reason the islands are so green.
And finally, a huge thank you to SeyVillas! Everything went incredibly smoothly, and we would definitely book another trip to the Seychelles through SeyVillas!