Best Order for Trip to Seychelles -- Which Islands?
Oct 11, 2019, 4:46 pm
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Best Order for Trip to Seychelles -- Which Islands?
Were headed there as a family of 4 and now trying to determine best strategy to stay there ; We get in at 1PM on the EY flight, so is it better to position ourselves to go from Mahe to Silhouette Island - then to LaDigue Island --then to Praslin--and then head back to Mahe for our flight back, or another order? So counting the days getting there from the West Coast USA and the day leaving, we are really there for 11 whole days to enjoy Seychelles. We obviously want to make our flight back home from Mahe, so whats the best order to do this trip? Were booked already for the Hilton LaBriz and Im looking at LaDigue Island Lodge, but havent found a place at Praslin yet. . Any tips and suggestions welcomed!!
Oct 13, 2019, 12:19 am
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I also went there via EY and spent 10 total days (late in a September, no less), but it looks like my lodging budget was in a much lower range and I probably can't be much help there. Also can't be much help with Silhouette Island, though in looking at the Google images the beaches look like a junior version of La Digue and I presume it'll have the fewest number of people on it. Looks like there might be some good hikes as well.
Mahe had some nice things about it...was there when the regatta was at Beau Vallon (an excuse for beer/booze marketers to go all-out...I used the occasion to collect SeyBrew swag). There was also a reggae festival downtown, but the heat/humidity got to me even at night (and even being from Georgia). It's a hilly island that's not the easiest to drive and has some good beaches on the west side. Victoria is charming enough, and the Creole restaurant in the old house is close to a must-hit.
Took the ferry over and Air Seychelles back to/from Praslin...there wasn't anything direct to La Digue at the time, so you had to get a second ferry to/from Praslin.
La Digue was the real highlight, though. Riding a bike around, seeing the endangered birds, plus the Anse Source d'Argent park (so charming I went all 3 days, even though it costs to get in. Also great to stay for the sunset.)
Praslin also had a lot that was nice. Anse Lazio is the great bathing beach, Valee de Mai has the rare palm trees and coco de mer, and there are a number of good boat daytrips you can do. I went to the nearby island with all the large tortoises, mangroves and more beaches. With more time I would have done the daytrip to the bird-sanctuary island or one of the others. They do charge hefty admission costs for foreigners to those things on top of tour costs, though. Praslin has public buses but I rented a car for a day to do a full exploration.
Overall it's a really, really beautiful place that's hard to beat anywhere as far as beaches go. Also natural attractions. Sticking to a budget can be a challenge, but OTOH I've been to Tahiti and it's not quite as bad as there. With the guesthouses I was able to get private rooms (2 shared baths, 1 ensuite) on all 3 islands at under $50/night.
Mahe had some nice things about it...was there when the regatta was at Beau Vallon (an excuse for beer/booze marketers to go all-out...I used the occasion to collect SeyBrew swag). There was also a reggae festival downtown, but the heat/humidity got to me even at night (and even being from Georgia). It's a hilly island that's not the easiest to drive and has some good beaches on the west side. Victoria is charming enough, and the Creole restaurant in the old house is close to a must-hit.
Took the ferry over and Air Seychelles back to/from Praslin...there wasn't anything direct to La Digue at the time, so you had to get a second ferry to/from Praslin.
La Digue was the real highlight, though. Riding a bike around, seeing the endangered birds, plus the Anse Source d'Argent park (so charming I went all 3 days, even though it costs to get in. Also great to stay for the sunset.)
Praslin also had a lot that was nice. Anse Lazio is the great bathing beach, Valee de Mai has the rare palm trees and coco de mer, and there are a number of good boat daytrips you can do. I went to the nearby island with all the large tortoises, mangroves and more beaches. With more time I would have done the daytrip to the bird-sanctuary island or one of the others. They do charge hefty admission costs for foreigners to those things on top of tour costs, though. Praslin has public buses but I rented a car for a day to do a full exploration.
Overall it's a really, really beautiful place that's hard to beat anywhere as far as beaches go. Also natural attractions. Sticking to a budget can be a challenge, but OTOH I've been to Tahiti and it's not quite as bad as there. With the guesthouses I was able to get private rooms (2 shared baths, 1 ensuite) on all 3 islands at under $50/night.