A Dream Holiday in the Seychelles

On 21 October 2019, we flew from Frankfurt to the Seychelles with Emirates via Dubai. Our first destination was the island of Praslin. As we did not fancy the one-hour ferry journey after the long flight, we had booked a domestic flight from Mahé to Praslin in advance. On the way to our hotel, Le Domaine de La Reserve, we were already able to take in plenty of impressions of the island. Some of the beaches and the tall palms of the Vallée de Mai were particularly impressive.

When we arrived at the hotel, we were first given a warm welcome and a tour of the grounds. We were very impressed with our room, a Beachfront Deluxe Villa. The view directly from the room was simply wonderful, and we could hardly wait to explore the island.

The next day, however, we were very unlucky with the weather. There was no sun, just grey skies. We walked to Anse Volbert (Cote d'Or) and spent the day on the beach there. When the rain started, we took the bus back to the hotel and decided that buses would be our means of getting around the island, especially as there was a bus stop directly in front of the hotel. Unfortunately, the rain and grey skies became a constant feature of our holiday.

The following day, we took a trip to the Vallée de Mai. We travelled there by bus as well. We had never seen a jungle like it before. It was truly impressive. We followed the long route through the park on our own and worked up quite a sweat in the heat and high humidity.

As it became much sunnier around midday and the rain had finally stopped, we travelled straight from the Vallée de Mai to Anse Lazio. The bus stop is not directly by the beach, so there is still a 15-minute walk to get there. The route is steep in places, both uphill and downhill, but it is perfectly manageable.

Anse Lazio truly took our breath away. The beach was fairly empty despite the weather having become very good by then. We first cooled off in the sea. While walking along the beach, we discovered the Honesty Bar right at the far end and enjoyed some chilled drinks there. Make sure you walk all the way to the end of the beach. The path continues around the rocks and leads to several more small stretches of beach.

For us, a trip to see the tortoises on Curieuse was an absolute must. We had booked an excursion with a barbecue on the beach followed by snorkelling at St Pierre. In glorious weather, we set off from Côte d’Or beach at 9 a.m. First, we were taken by boat to Curieuse to see the tortoises. We had plenty of time to feed and stroke the animals. It was an unforgettable experience.

From the tortoises, we followed a signposted hiking trail for around 45 minutes to Anse St Jose. A delicious barbecue was already waiting for us there, after which we had some time to swim and relax on the beach. In the early afternoon, we travelled by boat to St Pierre for some snorkelling. We saw quite a few fish there. However, so many boats were anchored in the area that we had to be careful while snorkelling between them. Despite this, it was a very enjoyable excursion and one we would recommend.

We really enjoyed Praslin and spent five varied days there. We can also recommend our hotel without reservation. We had booked half board, and both breakfast and dinner were excellent. There was always plenty of choice. Meals were served on a jetty over the water, where we could always watch lots of fish and even spot small sharks and rays.

We had initially considered hiring a car, but we were able to reach everything by bus. The hotel provided a bus timetable, and the buses were always fairly punctual. At just 7 Seychelles rupees per journey, they were also incredibly inexpensive. And quite an adventure too.

After five days on Praslin, we continued to La Digue aboard the Cat Rose. We stayed at the Le Repaire Boutique Hotel. However, almost as soon as we arrived on La Digue, it started to rain and, unfortunately, did not stop for the rest of the day. Armed with large umbrellas, we went for another walk through La Passe. We immediately liked the atmosphere of the village. Compared with Praslin, it felt very relaxed and open. It seemed as though the entire island was getting around either on foot or by bicycle, and there was live music everywhere. We picked up something to eat from a takeaway and hoped for better weather over the next few days.

We then hired bicycles through our accommodation. The next day, we cycled east. We rode to the end of the road at Anse Fourmis and relaxed on the beach there. We had it almost entirely to ourselves and enjoyed the return of the lovely weather. We then stopped for a delicious juice at Chez Jules on Anse Banane. Our next stop was Anse Grosse Roche. Apart from a few large crabs, we had the beach entirely to ourselves. Then it was on to the next beach, Anse Patates. This became our favourite beach of the entire holiday.

For us, neither Anse Lazio nor Anse Source d'Argent could compare. It really is an incredibly beautiful spot. The bay is not very large, so it is never completely empty, but it does not feel overcrowded either. The snorkelling here was also very good, although the waves could sometimes be quite strong, which made it a little challenging.

To round off the afternoon, we stopped at Anse Severe, had another juice at one of the many juice bars and stroked two free-roaming Aldabra giant tortoises. We also really liked this beach, and there is plenty going on here. There are several stalls selling souvenirs, fresh juices and fruit.

In the evening, we had reserved a table at Snack Bellevue. The Creole food and the cocktail made with Takamaka rum were excellent, and the sunset with its dramatic cloud formations was unforgettable.

The following day, we visited L'Union Estate and then went to Anse Source d'Argent. It is the best-known and most photographed beach in the Seychelles. Perhaps that was precisely why we had such high expectations, but for us, the beach did not quite live up to them. It is, of course, a very beautiful beach, and the granite rocks are genuinely impressive. We did not see them on this scale at any other beach. However, we found the beach very crowded. A small tip: look for a spot at the far end of the beach.

It is less crowded there. The front section of the beach was always very busy. Particularly when day visitors from other islands or guided excursions arrive, it becomes almost impossible to find a space. The far end is quieter, and it is also a lovely place to snorkel, provided it is not low tide. We were especially impressed by the batfish.

Another highlight for us was the beaches along the Grand Anse, Petite Anse & Anse Cocos trail. All the beaches were very impressive, particularly with the high waves. Swimming is strictly prohibited here, and we would not have dared to enter the water anyway. We set off early, at around 8.30 am, so we were the first visitors at Anse Cocos. The short walks from Grand Anse to Petite Anse (around 10 minutes) and the slightly longer route from Petite Anse to Anse Cocos (around 25 minutes) were quite manageable, even though they are not signposted.

At the far end of Anse Cocos, there is a ‘pool’ between the rocks. It is a lovely place to cool off and also excellent for snorkelling. There were quite a few fish here, including some larger ones. Fortunately, we had brought our snorkelling gear with us. There is also a small juice bar at Anse Cocos, and the juices were delicious. On the way back, we were once again caught in torrential rain, which continued for the rest of the day.

On our final day on La Digue, we returned to Anse Patates, but around midday the torrential rain started again, and it then rained more or less continuously for the next three days.

Despite all the rain, we had a wonderful time on La Digue. Once again, we were more than satisfied with our hotel. We had booked an affordable basic room with breakfast only. The breakfast selection was small but very good. There was toast, bread, croissants and pastries, as well as cheese, cold meats, jam and fresh fruit.

Various egg dishes, French toast, bacon and porridge could also be freshly prepared to order. In the evenings, we mostly ate at takeaways and also treated ourselves to a pizza at our hotel restaurant once. It was delicious, but also very expensive. On the other evenings, we bought food from various takeaways. The food was always tasty, and we particularly enjoyed Rey & Josh Take Away (on the road towards Grande Anse).

Our next and final island transfer took place in continuous rain. We first took the ferry back to Praslin and then a domestic flight to Mahé. We were lucky that our flight was able to depart, as the morning flights had been cancelled due to the poor weather. Praslin Airport was therefore quite crowded, and the passengers were allocated across the available aircraft. Because of the weather, the planes flew at a fairly low altitude, and we spotted two whale sharks from the aircraft.

To round off our holiday, we booked three days at the Constance Ephelia Seychelles on Mahé. To our delight, we received a room upgrade and were given a junior suite with a sea view instead of a Tropical Garden Room. After our active holiday on Praslin and La Digue, we wanted to spend our remaining days relaxing completely at a resort. Unfortunately, it rained continuously on both the day we arrived and the following day. We were beginning to worry that we would not see any sunshine at all on Mahé. Some of the lawns and paths were completely flooded.

As we did not want to lie on the beach in the rain, we took the bus to Victoria. We visited the Sir Selwyn Selwyn Clarke Market and stocked up on spices, fruit and souvenirs. We then walked around the city for a while and visited the Clock Tower and the Hindu temple. We had actually planned to visit the botanical gardens as well, but when the sun finally came out, we returned to the hotel and at last headed to the beach.

The hotel has two beaches. We preferred the northern beach (Port Launay North Beach). The snorkelling here was also excellent, and we saw many fish around the reef. The weather was changeable during our final two days, but there was also plenty of sunshine, so we were still able to relax on the beach.

The hotel is very large. It is a 2 km walk from one end of the resort to the other. The hotel provides a complimentary shuttle service. The food, both at the breakfast buffet and the evening buffet, left nothing to be desired. We had never seen such a vast selection of different dishes before.

The planning and organisation through SeyVillas and the support provided locally by Creole all worked perfectly. All transfers were very punctual, and we were extremely satisfied with the local assistance. We felt very well looked after throughout.

All in all, we had an absolute dream holiday in the Seychelles. We came away with so many impressions and had so many wonderful experiences. We will definitely return one day.