Seychelles - Blue haven that comes at a price

The first decision to make when you plan a trip to the exotic islands of Seychelles is which island to stay on.

Mahe is the most inhabited island and also your port of entry. A direct flight of about 4.5 hours from bombay gets you into Mahe. Post landing, in about 30 minutes to an hour you can be at your hotel. Mahe has the maximum number of hotel options to pick from and has restaurants and shops to explore unlike the other more remote islands. The Four Seasons is a top pick in the luxury segment. 

If you want minimal travel, and enjoy some hustle and bustle on holidays this might be the right island for you.

However, most people choose the Seychelles to “get away from it all.” Therefore, i suggest picking another island to base yourself on and enjoy the remoteness and serenity that will welcome you. The second most inhabited island is Praslin. A 15 minutes flight connects you from Mahe or you can take a 50 minute ferry ride. The ferry jetty is about 15 minutes drive from the airport whereas the flight connects directly from the international terminal (1 minute walk to the domestic departures). The flights are not expensive either so I recommend taking the closest flight connection.

On Praslin there are 3 hotels in the luxury segment. 

1) The Raffles (world class - every room has a plunge pool). The hotel has 3 restaurants, 2 bars and food options are terrific for vegetarians. An Indian chef from Delhi made us the most delicious Indian meal one night. The hotel is just opposite Curieuse Island, home to the giant turtles. We rented a speed boat for 5 hours and did a snorkeling excursion to Coco islands (40 minutes on the speed boat). We also visited Felicite island (1 minute boat from Coco).

2) Chateaux Relais - another boutique property - rates were around $600/ night. It’s a relatively smaller property - so the pool and spa areas are not very lavish. Again there is only 1 main restaurant so you are confined to dining there.

3) Constance Le Muir - this is a large resort with a 18 hole golf course, hiking trails, 3-4 restaurants, 3 beaches etc. The hotel has a gorgeous restaurant (the Nest) literally nesting above a beach. They have a beach bar too serving cocktails literally on the beach integrating service and luxury into the natural surroundings.

It’s a great hotel to stay at!

In terms of food they did not have a veggie friendly menu (the Raffles did). Also, in terms of size and scale, this is the largest property on Praslin. We enjoyed the Raffles given that despite its size there was a lot of privacy on the beach and in the pool. We found ourselves enjoying a private beach experience twice with Just 1-2 other people on the beach with us. This privacy and serenity is what we were looking for and were thankful to find it at the Raffles.

Felicite island (about 40 mins speed boat from Praslin) has been taken over by the Six Senses hotel chain. The entire island is the Hotel. (See more details in the what to do section below). While the hotel is gorgeous it is also ridiculously priced ($2400/ night / Room). The style is minimalist and there is only 1 main restaurant so you are confined to dining there.

The Hilton has a property on an exclusive island too - another 40 minutes ferry ride from Mahe (relatively more affordable).

Frigette island is also an island resort - this is a very high end and exclusive resort.

What to do:

Everything in the Seychelles is expensive. The hotels rates are double of what you would pay for a similar experience in the Far East (Thailand / Philippines etc.). Excursions and taxis when booked from the hotel are also ridiculously expensive so keep this is mind when picking number of nights. I recommend 3 nights at a nice resort with a focus on relaxing and disconnecting with the world. I don’t recommend using your time to go scuba diving or doing any hectic excursions. On Praslin you can visit the Valle de Mai and see the Coco Mer (largest nut in the world). It’s even proclaimed a world heritage site. We decided to skip this and enjoy the pristine beaches instead.

The 2 trips i do recommend are:

1. Excursion to Coco and Curieuse island. Coco is a very tiny island (uninhabited). There is nothing on the island per se. It’s just a visually stunning site (straight out of the magazines). Ensure you take your snorkeling gear to enjoy the teeming underwater life around there. Just across from Coco is Felicite island. If you pre book lunch at the Six Senses hotel they will permit you to dock there and wander around the hotel / island. This is one of the MOST expensive properties in the Seychelles. The hotels are not very welcoming of outside guests so best you book the meals well in advance. You can spend 3-4 hours on Curieuse island between playing hide-and-seek with the turtles and hiking up to the high point of the island - def visit!
2. La Digue island - there is one 4 star property on this island just as you walk out of the jetty. We stopped there for a meal and enjoyed a dip in their lagoon beach. It was an underwhelming property overall so don’t recommend doing an overnight stay on La Digue but def visit! The island has only 6 taxis so it’s essentially a cyclists paradise. If travelling with an elderly person def hire a taxi else rent a cycle soon as you reach and head straight to the beach at the edge of the island. The beach access is via a National park which the government runs so you need to pay an entry fee. Pay it. You won’t regret it. If you cannot cycle find a taxi to the beach - we walked thinking it was a short walk and thought we would explore the stores along the way (shopping is underwhelming in the Seychelles- don’t waste your time!). Once you reach the beach there is a small shack that serves drinks and full meals. A minutes walk from the shack takes you a mind blowing beach which is really shallow and ideal to wade in. We didn’t actually swim here (most people were not). It’s an ideal place to put on a cute beach dress, sun glasses in tow and click away. Wear beach fitted-slippers for the best experience so you can walk on the tiny pebbles and rocks as you wade through the shallow waters. (We didn’t have ours but were ok wading). Climb a small boulder for a great picture opp! There are a series of connected beaches so ensure you walk along the shoreline and explore till the end. There is a coconut vendor on the beach and a juice stall if you get thirsty. We intruded on a small Russian couple's wedding ceremony whilst on the island - yes, its that beautiful! 

Hotel taxis are very very expensive so try to book locally on every island- call Jude on 00 248 257 60 60. He was our driver on Mahe and can connect you with drivers on other islands too.

Happy de-stressing!