Pure Relaxation – Soaking Up the Sun in Paradise

For our honeymoon, we wanted to escape the winter and enjoy ourselves in truly beautiful surroundings. After some consideration, we settled on our destination.

On a Wednesday evening, we set off on our honeymoon with a direct Austrian Airlines flight from Vienna to Mahé. As we had chosen to take the ferry rather than the domestic flight to La Digue, we had a stopover of around 6 hours in Victoria. We were able to check in our luggage straight away, so we used the time to explore the capital of the Seychelles.

LA DIGUE

On La Digue, we stayed at Domaine Les Rochers. The accommodation is run by Paula and Costas and is the most beautiful apartment complex we have ever had the pleasure of staying in. The garden is well maintained, the enormous modern apartment is cleaned meticulously every day, and a fresh fruit basket is left in the kitchen each day – we have never stayed anywhere like this in Europe. The staff, as well as Paula and Costas themselves, are friendly and extremely attentive, always on hand immediately to answer any questions. We are convinced that this is the best accommodation on La Digue if you are happy to prepare your own breakfast.

Domaine Les Rochers We spent our first day on La Digue settling in, strolling through the small village, sampling curries from the countless takeaways and visiting Anse Patates and Anse Severe – the latter would become one of our favourite beaches on the island.

The friendliest residents of La Digue

DAY TRIP TO PRASLIN

We took the first ferry to Praslin and then caught the bus to Anse Lazio. This was where our hike to Anse Georgette began. The weather was glorious, so the sometimes steep and narrow path turned into a rather sweaty workout. However, Anse Georgette rewarded us for our efforts. It is a stunning beach on Praslin – the most beautiful of those we were able to visit there. We returned via the golf course at Constance Lémuria Seychelles and then continued by bus to Vallée de Mai. We walked through an incredibly diverse and impressive palm forest and, of course, marvelled at the famous coco de mer. In the late afternoon, we travelled back to La Digue. We were glad that we had taken the bus, as it really was an experience in itself.

Vallée de Mai

BACK ON LA DIGUE

...we hired bicycles for the rest of our stay. One particularly memorable experience was the hike to Anse Cocos. When we reached the beach, it was completely deserted, and the small natural pool was wonderful – our absolute favourite beach in the Seychelles.

Anse Coco – deserted and beautiful after a short hike We visited Anse Source d'Argent on just one day, but went twice – early in the morning for breakfast on the beach and again in the evening for sunset. Between those times, there were too many tourists for us. Cycling through the vanilla plantation was a lovely start to a beautiful setting. The rock formations are truly impressive. Unfortunately, we did not find it particularly good for swimming, and a nearby river flowing into the sea makes the water quite brown in places.

Anse Source d'Argent We also visited Grand Anse and Petite Anse – both are also very beautiful bays, and in winter the swimming here is quite good too. A lovely recommendation from our accommodation was the sunset dinner at Nid d'Aigle. You are collected from your accommodation and taken by taxi to the Snack Bellevue restaurant at Nid d’Aigle, where you are served a wonderful Creole menu and excellent cocktails. All this comes with a stunning view stretching as far as Praslin and, in fine weather, a beautiful sunset. Fruit bats fly past, and the atmosphere is unique.

Another restaurant we tried was Chez Jules at Anse Banane. The food was excellent and the view was beautiful – unfortunately, it was a little further away, so we only went once.

MAHÉ

On Mahé, we had reserved a car from Edens Cars at the ferry port, a small Kia Picanto in which we planned to explore the main island. But first, we wanted to check into our new accommodation. We received an extremely warm welcome at Kempinski Seychelles Resort Baie Lazare and were shown to our sea-view room, which was pleasantly spacious and had a lovely view. Water was provided in the room every day. The breakfast buffet was more like brunch than breakfast, such was the range on offer. For dinner, we could choose between the buffet, which changed daily, and the restaurants. The resort’s own beach was a wonderful place to relax, and it was possible to find several secluded spots. Here too, we were almost too well looked after with cold drinks and snacks. We hired stand-up paddleboards, went snorkelling and truly relaxed. When it was not low tide, the water was a pleasant depth and suitable for swimming.

Kempinski Resort Seychelles – view from Mount Kempinski As we would have found a beach-only holiday a little boring after a while, we were glad to have our car. Otherwise, you are somewhat restricted, although the hotel does also offer excursions.

We explored the north of the island, which we liked considerably less than the south. The well-known Beau Vallon was also a little disappointing for us because we found it too touristy. Sun loungers crowded the beach, and souvenir stalls lined the shore one after another. It can certainly be lovely, especially with children, as there is undoubtedly more on offer, but we prefer holiday destinations that are quieter and more unspoilt. We also returned to Victoria and visited the Sir Selwyn Selwyn Clarke Market to stock up on spices and vanilla essence. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at Mission Lodge Lookout and enjoyed the view over the south of Mahé.

View from Mission Lodge Lookout Our second excursion took us to the Takamaka Rum Distillery and Anse Intendance. At the rum distillery, we joined the informative guided tour followed by a tasting. It was a lovely outing in historic surroundings. Visually, Anse Intendance surpassed our ‘local beach’, Baie Lazare, although it is certainly nowhere near as suitable for swimming.

Overall, our honeymoon was perfect. We had 3 rainy days, but we had expected that in late January and early February. Apart from that, the weather was always perfect. The accommodation was wonderful, although we would particularly like to highlight Domaine Les Rochers once again – highly recommended! We were able to relax completely while still discovering plenty. We did not regret visiting only 2 islands over the course of 2 weeks – this allowed us to get to know each one properly. If we fly to the Seychelles again, we will definitely return to La Digue. It was here that we were best able to get to know the culture and the people, and to adjust to the stress-free, slower pace ourselves, which did us a world of good.

We would also book through SeyVillas again. Everything was completely straightforward, and it was clearly the best value.