New Year in the Seychelles

Our trip to the Seychelles began in Munich. We booked the flight ourselves, although in hindsight it would actually have been a few euros cheaper if we had also booked the intercontinental flight through SeyVillas. After a stopover of around 3 hours in Doha and 2 flights of 5.5 hours each, we landed on Mahé at around 8.30 am on Boxing Day. Upon arrival, you are asked to complete the usual immigration documents. You should allow a little extra time for the subsequent passport and document checks. In our case, the whole process took 1.5 hours before we were finally able to leave the airport. We booked all our transfers in the Seychelles through SeyVillas. Accordingly, after passport control, we were met at the airport by a member of staff from the local travel company, ‘Creole Travel Services’. We then took a bus straight to the jetty, the local harbour. Once there, we were rather annoyed to discover that there was no longer any room for us on the next ferry, so we had to wait until 5 pm for the afternoon ferry. We had booked the trip back in early August, but unfortunately had overlooked the departure time on the transfer voucher we received 2 weeks beforehand. We had assumed that SeyVillas would organise the transfer with a reasonable schedule. I would at least have expected a separate email drawing our attention to this, so that we could potentially have rebooked onto a domestic flight, which we had already planned to take on our return journey anyway.

To pass the time, we quickly changed in a toilet, checked in our luggage for the afternoon ferry and then took a taxi to Beau Vallon. The beach was lovely and gave us a good first taste of the other beaches we would visit in the Seychelles. The ferry journey to Praslin took just over an hour. There, we had to change to the next ferry to La Digue. Our luggage was transferred to the second ferry automatically. In general, it has to be said that you cannot necessarily rely on the schedules of local transfer companies. The locals are all very friendly and helpful, but they do not allow themselves to be rushed. This means that, for example, the ferry may simply depart a little later. It was rather frustrating, however, when we used the local buses on Praslin. One bus was 1.5 hours late! Nevertheless, taking a bus in the Seychelles – in our case, on Praslin – is certainly something we would recommend. It is nothing like the bus journeys we are familiar with in Germany. Depending on the driver, it can be quite an adventure and feel more like a rollercoaster ride.

La Digue

In the end, it was 6.30 pm by the time we arrived on La Digue. Fortunately, staff from our hotel, Le Domaine de L'Orangeraie, were already there to meet us. The hotel itself was very good. Breakfast was always served in the buffet restaurant. The omelettes in particular are highly recommended! The atmosphere at breakfast was also very pleasant. It was wonderfully peaceful, and because the seating area was right beside the sea, we could listen to the sound of the water. In the evenings, we could dine either in the à la carte restaurant or the buffet restaurant. Each evening had a different buffet theme – Creole, Mediterranean, Indian or barbecue – so we chose the buffet restaurant on all 4 evenings. In our opinion, the food was very good, although it was certainly not cheap. The least expensive bottle of wine on offer cost €65, while a small beer cost around €10. The cocktails were the only thing that did not quite convince us in terms of taste. They were considerably cheaper and better at our second hotel on Praslin. Overall, however, it was a very good hotel with lovely rooms and friendly, helpful staff.

La Digue itself is an island best explored by bicycle. During one of our cycle tours, we saw a total of 7 giant tortoises right on the roads. They particularly enjoy having their necks stroked.

Giant tortoise We visited almost every beach on La Digue. Unfortunately, the only one we did not manage to reach was Anse Cocos. Our favourite was Grand Anse. The white sandy beach, turquoise sea, beautiful famous rock formations and lush, mountainous jungle scenery in the background were truly a dream.

Grand Anse, La Digue Praslin

We chose Praslin as our second island. Compared with La Digue, everything was a little busier. However, it also gave us a more realistic impression of everyday Seychellois life. Our hotel, Coco de Mer & Black Parrot Suites, was also very lovely. The hotel’s own beach was beautiful and peaceful, and the view from our room was superb.

View of Praslin from the hotel roomPetite Anse, La Digue The food was almost as good as at the hotel on La Digue, but it was less varied, as Indian cuisine was served on most of our 4 evenings. Breakfast was also tasty, although it did not quite match the standard of the first hotel. The staff here were always friendly and helpful as well. All in all, it was a good hotel and reasonably priced, considering that it is on an island where virtually everything has to be imported. On Praslin, we visited the beaches Anse la Blague , which was a little quieter, Anse Volbert (Cote d'Or), which was lovely but quite busy, and Anse Lazio. In our opinion, Anse Lazio was the most beautiful beach.

Anse Lazio, Praslin Our hotel offered a complimentary bus service to this beach. The bus travelled across a large part of the island, so we were also able to see other beaches and wonderful scenery along the way. On our final day, we visited Vallée de Mai. Its jungle trails, rare plants and wildlife offered a welcome change from the beaches.

On our final day, a member of staff from ‘Creole Travel Services’ collected us by bus once again and took us to Praslin Airport. The 10-minute flight to Mahé was a lovely way to end our holiday in the Seychelles before we flew back to Munich with Qatar Airways, once again via Doha. You should also allow plenty of time at Mahé Airport. We had already checked in online and only wanted to drop off our luggage, but we still had to queue for 1.5 hours.

All in all, our holiday in the Seychelles was a wonderful experience, with magnificent natural scenery, and one we remember very fondly.