Island Hopping: Praslin, La Digue & Cerf

Before our trip, SeyVillas informed us that, because of a change to our flight, we would no longer be able to catch the ferry from Mahé to Praslin, the first stop on our island-hopping trip. So our time in the Seychelles began with a real highlight: flying to Praslin in a small propeller plane. It was quite an adventure and a complete contrast to flying on an Airbus A380. A transfer then collected us from Praslin’s very small airport and took us to our first accommodation, the Village du Pecheur hotel. Incidentally, all the transfers worked perfectly! And there was none of the unpunctuality you sometimes encounter in other holiday destinations. All appointments, transfers, departure times and so on were met punctually, and often even ahead of schedule.

The beach by the hotel, Anse Volbert, was absolutely beautiful and deserted – as were almost all the beaches we visited.

On Praslin, we hired a car and drove from beach to beach. In the ‘Vallée de Mai’ park, we walked through the fascinating jungle landscape. The palms, which we had previously only known as houseplants in pots, were so enormous that we felt tiny beneath them. Every beach recommended by our guidebook that we visited (Anse Lazio, Anse Possession, Anse Takamaka, Anse Cosolation) was deserted.

After 5 days, we continued by ferry to La Digue. We stayed in the centre of the island at the Chateau St Cloud hotel – an absolute dream! The entrance area, with its reception and offices, looks like a colonial-era manor house. The grounds are beautifully landscaped with fountains and plants. The apartments are like small bungalows built on stilts in the middle of the jungle. There are quite a few steps to climb, but in return you get a wonderful view over the jungle canopy.

On La Digue, almost everyone gets around by bicycle or ox cart. We also hired bicycles from the hotel. Of course, they were not quite up to European standards, but they did get us around. We visited the cinnamon and vanilla plantation at L’Union Estate, where we also saw the giant tortoises for the first time. Just as we had explored Praslin by car, we cycled around La Digue in search of the island’s most beautiful beaches: Anse Marron, Anse Severe and, of course, Grand Anse, Petite Anse and Anse Cocos, with its legendary ‘Nature Pool’.

After a total of 5 days on La Digue, we took the ferry to Mahé and then crossed to Cerf Island in a small boat.

As eating out in the Seychelles is very expensive, we had booked all our accommodation on a half-board basis. This is definitely recommended, especially on this small island. Apart from two hotels, there is nothing else here – no supermarket, no restaurant, nothing. It is exactly the right island for slowing down and unwinding. We stayed at Villa de Cerf, which has just 4 rooms. There were 4 of us, so we had already booked half the hotel.

The chef, who came over from Mahé every lunchtime, prepared an outstanding 4-course dinner for us each evening. We felt as though we were in paradise. The boatman, who was also the gardener and pool attendant, arranged a guide for us for the day. He took us in a small boat to a beautiful reef teeming with fish. While snorkelling there, we saw many different colourful fish.

Despite a few rain showers, the weather was wonderfully warm. And one more thing can be said: the Seychelles has the warmest rain in the world!

The Seychelles is definitely worth a visit, ideally as part of an island-hopping trip.