Island Hopping in Paradise
The journey to paradise
Our holiday began in a rainy November at Munich Airport. As our flight did not depart until shortly after midday, the relaxed holiday mood set in on the way to the airport, and our excitement grew with every kilometre that brought us closer to the Seychelles. We landed in Victoria on Mahé, which was already an impressive experience thanks to the airport’s location right by the water.
After collecting our luggage, we received a very warm welcome from Creole Travel Service and were escorted to our transfer vehicle. We were driven straight to the ferry terminal on Mahé, as our journey was beginning on Praslin. We had a short wait here, which we spent sitting in the sun at a nearby café. We had tickets for the upper deck and found seats right by the railing. The views of the sea during the crossing were truly unique. Before long, Praslin came into view. As we entered the harbour, we hardly knew what to photograph first, with several picturesque little hotels and apartments dotted along the coast.
We could hardly wait to reach our first accommodation and explore the island for ourselves. Once we arrived on Praslin, another member of staff from Creole Travel Service welcomed us and took us straight to our shuttle service. This brought us directly to our apartment. The drive through the jungle gave us a spectacular first impression of Praslin.
Arriving on Praslin (Or: Welcome to paradise)
When we arrived in the large courtyard of the Palm Holiday Apartments, the owner immediately came over to welcome us. He was very friendly towards us, and we felt at home straight away. The apartments looked as though they had only been built the day before. Everything was spotlessly clean, modern and beautifully furnished. There was a large terrace, a spacious bedroom, a modern bathroom with a wonderful shower and a small kitchenette for preparing our own meals if needed. After unpacking our suitcases, we set off to explore the surrounding area. On our way out, we quickly popped into reception to ask about an excursion to Curieuse, the tortoise island. Without hesitation, the owner called a tour guide he knew and booked us onto a tour for the following day. Delighted by how quickly everything had been arranged, we headed down the road straight to Fond de l'Anse (Grand Anse).
When we reached the beach, we were overwhelmed. It was deserted and truly beautiful. Although this beach did not have the famous granite rocks, compared with rainy Germany, it was exactly what we needed. We spent the rest of the evening here. Our tour began early the next morning. It was one of the loveliest excursions we had ever taken on holiday. The tortoises were simply unbelievably cool and relaxed, while the scenery on the way to the island was breathtaking. At last, we saw the granite rocks that we had previously seen countless times in photographs online. The photographs do not come close to doing the spectacular scenery justice. The water was a brilliant turquoise, and we could see all the way to the bottom. The palm-fringed beaches we passed by boat on the way to the island looked as though they belonged on a postcard. Simply indescribable. There were also three snorkelling spots along the way, by St Pierre Island and at Anse Georgette and Anse Lazio.
We spent the following days on Praslin exploring from the shore the beautiful beaches we had seen from the water. We hired a car for this, which was easy to arrange through our accommodation.
Each beach here seemed more beautiful than the last. Anse Lazio was easy to reach by car and, as an insider tip, we discovered that you could drive past the first car parks to a restaurant at the end of the road and park there for a small fee. The fee was returned to us as a voucher that could be redeemed at the restaurant. We enjoyed a day at the beach here and picked up some food on our way back.
For Anse Georgette, which is located within a golf resort, we had to register in advance, as only a certain number of people are admitted each day. We once again received this information from our accommodation, and they registered us by telephone straight away. We had to park the car outside the resort and then walk a short distance to the beach. This can be quite strenuous in hot weather. Anse Georgette was our personal favourite beach on Praslin because it looked as though it had come straight out of a film.
Simply picturesque: white sand, turquoise water, palm-fringed shores and those magnificent granite rocks. Before setting off for the next island, we took one final day trip to go diving. Then it was time to say goodbye to Praslin and continue on to La Digue.
Onwards to La Digue
Our transfer to La Digue once again went without a hitch. We were collected on time and taken to the ferry, then driven directly to our accommodation after arriving. We stayed at Villa Creole, which consists of four small villas and is close to the national park with its remarkable Anse Source d'Argent. The accommodation itself was fine for us, although it could do with some modernisation. The bathroom in particular was noticeably dated. However, we once again received a very friendly welcome and were given a small smoothie on arrival. As bicycles are the only way to get around La Digue, it was very convenient that we could hire them directly from the accommodation. We changed our clothes and immediately set off to explore the island. Naturally, our first stop was probably the most famous beach in the Seychelles, Anse Source d'Argent. We were not disappointed. The beach is breathtakingly beautiful thanks to its abundance of granite rocks. However, we both felt that it looked even more beautiful from the water than it did from the beach.
Unfortunately, the sand here was not quite as fine as on Praslin, so we had to take a little more care when swimming. The beaches were also not as wide as those on Praslin, which meant that visitors were gathered a little more closely together. We had already booked a tour in the well-known glass kayaks for the following day. We chose a Robinson Crusoe tour, which took us to the beach where the film was made. Unfortunately, it was before our time and neither of us had seen it, but that did nothing to detract from the beauty of the beach. We had tremendous fun paddling the kayak, and it was incredible to see the beaches from this perspective. Once we reached Anse Pierrot, we also learnt how to open a coconut, just in case we ever found ourselves stranded on a desert island like Robinson Crusoe.
We spent the remaining days on La Digue walking from our starting point at Grand Anse through the jungle to Petite Anse, Anse Cocos,Anse Caïman and a deserted, unnamed beach.
The walks were quite manageable in flip-flops if you watched your step, and the paths were fairly easy to find. As we set off quite early, we had the beaches entirely to ourselves, which felt really special. We had a drone with us and were able to capture lots of fantastic footage. We also really enjoyed swimming at the beaches here. There were some great waves, and we had a lot of fun.
The sand here was finer again, although there were few shady spots. We spent a whole day at each beach and simply enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere before continuing to our final stop, the main island of Mahé.
Final stop: Mahé
Our final stop began at the ferry port where we had arrived on our first day, followed by a drive of almost an hour to our accommodation. On Mahé, we stayed at La Villa Therese Holiday Apartments. These comprise two building complexes with several apartments. We were on the third and top floor of what was probably the newer building, with a beautiful view from the balcony down towards the sea. The rooms were similar to those at our first accommodation on Praslin and were very modern. Anse Royale, just down the road, was another lovely and very peaceful beach, so we spent our first day there. The accommodation staff recommended a takeaway down the road called ‘Leo’s Food Bus’. We were so impressed with the food that we actually came back every evening.
We once again had a hire car, which was arranged by our accommodation, and explored various beaches. These ranged from secluded beaches reached by hiking through the jungle and the island’s largest beaches to the beach at what is probably the most expensive hotel in the Seychelles: the Four Seasons on Mahé. The beach is free to access; you simply need to register beforehand, as on Praslin. Our favourites here were Anse Intendance and Petite Anse. Apart from a brief visit to the rum distillery, we simply spent our final days on Mahé relaxing on the beach and completely switching off.
Conclusion
This holiday was definitely one of the most beautiful, if not THE most beautiful, we have ever had. The breathtaking scenery, the beautiful beaches, the friendly people. We would return to the Seychelles at any time, and I think I have already convinced everyone I know that they simply have to visit at least once. The smooth organisation of the trip also played a major part in allowing us to enjoy such a wonderful and relaxing holiday.
