bhrubin

Thanks for letting me know about the Wakaya change to 1 dive per person per stay, I hadn't realized that! Wakaya is close to some world class diving, so it's still worth it to us. Laucala is closest to the Great White Wall of all the luxe resorts in Fiji, and that is among the top 10 dives in the world, which is why we'd favor Laucala (and Fiji in general), not to mention Fiji is an easier 11 hr nonstop from LAX for us.

Seychelles diving isn't bad...it just isn't known for the bigger pelagics that we most enjoy seeing. For those who dive and enjoy seeing lots of different types of smaller fish in an aquarium feeling setting, I'm sure the Seychelles offers wonderful dive experiences. We just prefer the bigger critters. If we're already going to be in East Africa, we'd consider the Seychelles, but we'd be hard pressed to not simply go to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, which is another of the top 10 diving spots in the world (we were last there in 2001, and it was perhaps the best place we've ever dived thus far, along with Belize and its Blue Hole). And Zanzibar, especially off Menmba Island, is another amazing dive locale, among the best in East Africa, but with more likely sightings of the bigger pelagics we most enjoy.

obscure2k

bhrubin offers an interesting perspective on travel to the Seychelles. I traveled there in 1996. The trip began with a safari in Kenya. From there we flew to Mombasa and boarded a small cruise ship (Sea Goddess, now Sea Dream) and sailed from Mombasa to the Seychelles. Fantastic voyage, BTW. When we dropped anchor on a few of the islands, they were pristine and beautiful and there were NO luxury hotels and very few tourists. It was heaven. Not all of the islands we visited offered great snorkeling. I believed we visited LeDigue, Praslin and we ultimately docked in Mahe. We spent the night in a hotel in Mahe. Very nice, isolated, lots of sea turtles hanging out on the beach.
I am also from Southern California, and IMHO it is not worth the rigorous journey to go to the Seychelles, unless possibly doing what we did; safari first. Given the concerns about piracy, I don't even know if that cruise is offered any more. Some of our ports were Zanzibar, Comoros Islands, Madagascar.
IIRC, it took us nearly 24 hours to fly home.

bhrubin

Still, it sounds like you had quite the extraordinary adventure...particularly at a time when that was far rarer and much more difficult to accomplish. So kudos!

I think the Seychelles and places like Mauritius (and even to some extent the Maldives) are of particular appeal to people living in Europe and Asia, looking for a different and more "exotic" or unusual island/beach getaway. And for some Americans, I think they offer the same exotic getaway appeal--especially those who simply want a new destination or a chance to try another luxury resort locale. For the same reason, Americans find Hawaii, Mexico, and the Caribbean to be of massive appeal...since they are not too far...while some of us still like to go a bit further afield to find something less mass appealing and more special. But in the end, too many of these places are just beautiful hotels that look or feel a lot alike to me with a beautiful beach and nice clear blue water with fish.

So I disagree with the previous poster who thought it cliche to say that "resort X could be anywhere." I find most beach resorts, especially of the FS/RC type, to feel very similar in a variety of locales around the world. Obviously, this is my personal opinion, and I respect that many others will disagree. To each, their own. For us, simply going to another pretty beach isn't quite sufficient, no matter how lovely the villa/accommodations might be...at least for any distance with no other destination to justify it. It helps to have unique architecture that is native to the specific area. It helps to have amazing diving or other things to do. But for more than a weekend, I'd need a lot more than a beautiful resort and great accommodations/villa to warrant me going around the world.

obscure2k

"But for more than a weekend, I'd need a lot more than a beautiful resort and great accommodations/villa to warrant me going around the world."
^
Hawaii for a few days from So Cal is still a great, easy getaway with some beautiful beaches. I like that I can leave LAX at 8:30 and be on the beach by noon.

instyleprincess

Agree....especially traveling to such a remote place like Seychelles, I'd expect to experience something really unique. I went to Seychelles 3 years ago from Asia, it was still quite a long trip, probably the most tiring I've had, because I had to transfer twice and the connection time was really long. For me, the long journey was totally worth the trip. I'd choose Seychelles over Maldives every time for the island-hopping experiences and for its culture. I met quite a few locals when I was there, and it is something that Maldives lacks IMO. But I know not everyone is particularly interested in the culture aspect if they are simply looking for a beach hideaway.

bhrubin

Actually, that's good to hear about the culture you experienced in the Seychelles. Most seem to want to just luxuriate in a resort/villa--nothing wrong with that--but we'd need more. We only are planning the Maldives in 2017 because of the diving--from the FS Explorer for 7 nights, we should have excellent dives and plenty of them with the big pelagics we want. Otherwise, the Maldives is not of much interest to us. And OW bungalows in the Maldives have terrible air con issues usually, so that also is a big issue for me.

So maybe the Seychelles will hold some interest for us when our travels bring us closer. But for now, I'd still assume we'd hit Zanzibar before we hit the Seychelles.

Pausanias

Did you get to Aldabra? That's the ultimate Seychelles island. We spent 2 days there on a cruise - big sharks, mantas, everything, and the most amazing birds as well. And just swimming off the beach at the NPHQ there were dozens of friendly little sharks. One of my best trips. Ever.

bhrubin

The Aldabra atoll is closer to Madagascar than to the Seychelles! We actually considered trying to include diving it on our most recent visit to Madagascar, but it was too difficult to incorporate a live-aboard on the trip. But you're right--the diving there is supposedly amazing. Unfortunately, it's so remote (which is why the diving is so amazing) that it's impossible to reach unless youre on a cruise or live-aboard.

Mickidon

FWIW, I asked a family friend, who recently honeymooned at both NI and FS, for a brief comparison. Overall, chalk and cheese:

-Mahe had the feeling of a developed Caribbean island, albeit a luxurious one. Lots of resorts, a wide road and a general busy-ness. As for the resort, they found it lovely, but
certainly not worth a trip on its own. Getting around the resorts took buggy transfers,
service was not top of the line and they found a bit of false snobbiness. When pressed on this, they arrived very late and wanted to go to one of the restaurants for a quick dinner before it closed. The check in attendant arranged a ride for them to go directly, even before seeing their room. Once there, they were turned away because the gentleman was wearing dress shorts. It was attire acceptable at many resorts and, if the dress code was going to be an issue, she should have alerted them before they got there and had to turn around and go back. An opening gambit like that sets the stage for disappointment. In general, they didn't love it, nor did they dislike it.

-North Island was, for them, the ultimate splurge. The villa was too large, which didn't bother them but seemed unnecessary for a couple. Then isolation of being on this island with so few people was a treat. Food and service excellent. Diving was not that great, but it could have been a time of year or weather thing, as they only went once.

After hearing about both, I think I might consider NI on its own but FS only if on the back end of a safari.

Larkin

We have been diving all over the world - Maldives, Fiji ( including Wakaya), FP, Australia, Zanzibar, etc and found the Seychelles to be very good -- not as good as parts of Fiji, but much better than Zanzibar for example. I'd highly recommend the Seychelles over Zanzibar all around - more beauty, more luxury, better diving. As for food You can as someone stated write ahead to North Island with your preferences and can even talk to them when you're there and they will do anything they can do to make you happy.

MacMyDay

Thanks for everyone's feedback on this. We've had some quotes back from AMEX and as much as we could have longer holidays elsewhere, we're going to go ahead and book it in April next year. I'll write up a trip report on it once we've been. I expect you'll all be waiting in anticipation for the next 10 months.

Kagehitokiri

even a 'mini' report would be great. make sure to be in touch re preferences, possibly including talking to chef. they will most likely stock things for you as well, including alcohol up to certain price.

at $5K+ per night, how often do virtuoso/etc agents split commission with client?

Big_Foot

Seriously? Zanzibar sucks, why would you even consider going there?
A dirty place with no reason to be there...
Seychelles are great, way better than Maldives to us. We are going back
next Spring and returning to the FS, but also hoping to hit Six Senses.

sfoactuary

I was tempted to stay at North Island during our stay last year, but the price tag was just too much to swallow at the end of the day. We ended up at the FS which was great but not as memorable and amazing as our experiences in Maldives.

I'm glad I went to Seychelles once but can't really see myself returning, it's very similar to Hawaii which I can get to in 1/5 the time and 1/10 the price.

Nonetheless, very excited to see a TR for North Island!

Kagehitokiri

activities (like diving) and accommodation design - separate from overall property

(small) property size and or private islands, as well as density - part of property
how much one might value these kinds of factors will vary
mexico has some small secluded properties, hawaii does not