jgold

Hopefully this isn't hijacking the thread too much. We're currently looking into the following Seychelles itinerary:

Mahe 1 day
Bird Island 3 days
Praslin (Lemuria?) 5 days
Denis/Desroches Island 5 days

Has anyone stayed at either (or both!) Denis or Desroches Island, and is there a view toward which is better? My impression is that Denis and Bird are quite similar, with the main difference being the quality of the accomodations. I also generally hear that Desroches has better diving, although I've heard mixed things about that. We'd be traveling in September 2009 (so North Island is not even an option, not that it was one before).

Also curious if anyone has any other thoughts on this itinerary in general, whether Lemuria is "worth it," etc. One fact I just learned is that I can use 25k Continental miles for each of our round-trips from NBO-SEZ-NBO; so, that saves some money.

Also, for Mahe, people have generally recommended the Wharf Hotel for a short one-night stay, like we'll be doing, but given the sorry state of the dollar, I'm considering using Starwood cash & points to stay at the Meridien Barbarons. I'm not looking for a great hotel, just something centrally located for our one day in Mahe. If I'm in the boonies and have to spend a lot on cabs, then I may not end up saving that much with the Barbarons. Any idea if this is a good location? The Starwood Fisherman's Cove hotel is too expensive for the sort of short-term stay I'm looking for.

Thanks very much.