14-Day Island-Hopping Trip

Our 14-day island-hopping trip began on 10 October 2015 on the island of Praslin. We spent three nights at the Beach Villa Guesthouse. The accommodation is right by the sea, and the delicious breakfast offers plenty of choice as well as wonderful views to enjoy while starting the day. On our very first day, we were able to join the boat trip at short notice. At 9 am, we set off with a group of 14 people in the owner’s own boat. We went snorkelling at St Pierre before continuing to Curieuse Island to see the giant tortoises roaming freely.

At lunchtime, we enjoyed a delicious barbecue with fresh fish, chicken and salads. After a walk across the island, during which we learnt a great deal about its natural environment, we finally returned to the boat. We passed several beautiful bays, including Anse Lazio, and arrived back at the guesthouse in the early evening. The following day, we took the public bus to the Vallée de Mai World Heritage Site to have a closer look at the coco de mer. Afterwards, we visited one of the beautiful beaches that we had only seen from the water the day before.

The second island on our trip was La Digue. The atmosphere there was completely different from Praslin. We truly felt that our holiday had begun! We had chosen the Etoile Labrine, a really lovely hotel near Anse Source d’Argent.

We headed there as soon as we arrived and spent the rest of the day snorkelling and swimming. Once again, we had booked breakfast only, which was excellent and included pancakes with banana and chocolate sauce, among other treats. In the evening, we therefore went into the centre of the island for dinner. There are plenty of options across a range of price categories. We spent 4 wonderful days on the island, naturally exploring it by bicycle. The boat trip offered by the hotel was particularly enjoyable and is highly recommended.

There were only 4 of us on a large sailing boat, and we stopped at 3 snorkelling spots. It was the best snorkelling trip of our lives! We saw so much and were able to take our time. A spotter accompanied us and showed us many fascinating things in the colourful underwater world; the team were very friendly and exceptionally helpful. We enjoyed a delicious barbecue during the trip and a fruit platter on the return journey. Simply unforgettable!

Our next stop was the Beau Vallon Beach House on the main island of Mahé. We took the ferry back, and the transfer bus brought us to Beau Vallon . The beach is very beautiful, approximately 3 km long, and it is possible to swim or snorkel even at low tide. The Beach House is at the northern end of the bay, beside the beautiful granite rocks. Our room faced the beach and had a large terrace outside, where it was easy to strike up conversations and share experiences with other guests. There is a supermarket directly beside the hotel, the bus stop is not far away, and the promenade is just under 10 minutes away. From midday onwards, you can sample delicious food from various stalls there. There is also a wide choice of restaurants, but we preferred to try the local home-style cooking and were never disappointed. The portions were large, very reasonably priced and absolutely delicious. We also enjoyed chatting with the cooks before eating our meals on a bench by the beach.

The final island of our first trip to the Seychelles was the small island of Cerf Island. We were taken to the jetty on Eden Island, where we boarded a water taxi for the approximately 10-minute journey to Cerf Island. We spent three nights at the 1|Fairy Tern Chalet.

The owners collected us from the jetty and led us along the beach to the house. There are no roads there. It was wonderful! We had our own apartment with a terrace and access to the garden and, from there, the beach. The sea was fantastic, and we could go snorkelling straight away. We saw an incredible amount of marine life and were able to swim alongside a sea turtle for half an hour. Staying on such a small island and catering for ourselves was a wonderful experience. It was the perfect end to our trip!

There is one final thing I would like to say: the people there are very friendly and exceptionally helpful. We quickly got to know many people, both locals and tourists, and felt very much at home. Every island and every accommodation was special in its own way.

We would like to thank the SeyVillas team and everyone at Creole Travel Services for organising and arranging such a wonderful trip!