Mauritius & Seychelles
 

Hi, I'm planning my honeymoon for November and I wanted to see if anyone out there has been to any of these places - Mauritius/Rodrigues and Seychelles. I would like to get recommendations on hotels and what to do. I also am confused about how to spend my time there. I have 21 nights to play with. Besides Mauritius and Rodrigues, I want to go to Mahe, Praslin, La Digue and one outer island in Seychelles. I'd like to see the cities, but for the most part, I just want to go scubadiving and hang out by the beach. I was thinking 5 nights in Mauritius, 2 nights in Rodrigues and 14 nights in Seychelles (3 in Mahe, 5 in Praslin, 3 in La Digue and 3 on an outer island). Is this a good way to split my time there? I'm also flying coach on American from San Diego to London Heathrow and business on BA from London to Seychelles. How's the business class on BA 747-400?

[This message has been edited by californiagrl (edited 03-17-2003).]

You will have a honeymoon to remember. I have been to the Seychelles three times but not in the last 10 years;been to Mauritius also. Mauritius is a teeming island of great cultural interest with lots of resorts sprinkled around. I used the Southern Sun chain of hotels on my trip to Mauritius. Not sure what they are called now.

The Seychelles will blow you away particularly if you like underwater sports and beach time. No people problems there as there are only 60K people on all the islands and the capital is a nice backwater. Again can't give you ideas on hotels but it is paradise particularly on outer islands.

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AC*SE,Delta Platinum,HH silver,Falcon,BA,six continets

I spent two weeks on Mauritius on my honeymoon a few years ago and loved every minute! Almost all of the hotels are half-board (breakfast and dinner) and all-inclusive as far as water sports go (including waterskiing).
BA Holidays had some good hotel deals, as did Kuoni (we got one week hotel free, though we had to pay for meals). Some of the hotels are incredible (and incredibly expensive). Try these websites for starters and then link to the hotels you might like:
http://www.southtravels.com/africa/mauritius/
http://www.maurinet.com/hotel1.html
http://www.kuoni.co.uk/CountryInfo/c...ius_frame.html
Mauritius has plenty to see and do, including shopping (great buys on fabric--we brought home material for drapes, tablecloths, pillows, etc.)

{edited to fix links}

[This message has been edited by eefor jfp (edited 03-18-2003).]

Just stay away from the Merville beach hotel in Mauritius

Nigel

Thanks for the responses. It sounds like I'm going to have a great time. I can't wait!!! Any hotel in particular that you recommend either in Mauritius or Seychelles? What part of the island should I stay in Mauritius? North, west or east?

I'm considering going to Alphonse or Denis islands in Seychelles. Any info on these?

I haven't heard anything about Rodrigues. Have any of you been there? Is it worth going to or should I just extend my stay in Mauritius?

[This message has been edited by californiagrl (edited 03-18-2003).]

Rodrigues is a small and fairly primitive island. The appeal, in my opinion, is more for backpackers and for those who really want to get away from the crowd. If you want to be pampered, by all means extend your stay on Mauritius. (This is more from information we got on Mauritius, rather than from personal experience since I haven't been there.)

[This message has been edited by eefor jfp (edited 03-18-2003).]

Hotels in Mauritius depends on your budget, there's a real spread of quality and if you want the best you usually have to pay for it. Beware of advertisements where they class themselves as 4 stars or over unless you know different from info provided from others who have stayed there or they're part of a top quality chain.

Nigel

I have never been to Mauritius, but I can give you some infos on the Seychelles:

Mahe, being the biggest island in the inner Seychelles, has the most hotels. They tend to be bigger than the hotels on Praslin and La Digue. The beaches on Praslin and La Digue are more spectacular than on Mahe, and even those beaches are top notch! Nice and well-known hotels on Praslin are L'Archipel, La Reserve, Paradise Sun and the deluxe Lemuria Resort. A real treat is the Chauve Souris Island Lodge, a small lodge on a tiny island just 100 meters away from Cote d'Or.

On La Digue, you have three nice hotels: La Digue Island Lodge, Hotel L'Ocean and Patatran Village. La Digue Island Lodge is the poorest beach, but is only a relatively short distance away from Anse Source d'Argent. Both other hotels are close to Anase Patate on the northern tip of the island. I personally really liked the Patatran. It has a spectacular setting and it is comfortable although it is only a three star hotel.

Perfect for honeymooners are the deluxe private island resorts of Fregate, North Island or Ste. Anne. Those islands belong to the inner Seychelles, they can therefore easily be reached. Another spectacular option is the Banyan Tree Resort on Mahe.

If you have 21 day, I would argue against the Mauritius/Rodrigues/Inner Seychelles/Outer Seychelles combo. Skip Mauritius and Rodrigues and concentrate on the Seychelles. I suggest spending at least 5 nights on Praslin, at least 5 nights on La Digue, 7 nights on one of the outer islands and 2 or 3 nights on Mahe.

You better get a home equity loan on your mansion to pay for lodging at the Club Vacanze.

http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/wink.gif

Looks like we won't be staying in Club Vacanze! =)

Skip Mauritius? I thought Mauritius is a higher ranked island than Seychelles... I wish I had more time. I guess I can stretch my vacation but I'll have to stay in more budget hotels.

My fiancee and I both like the more primitive types of places, so maybe we should go to Rodrigues. We went to Bocas in Panama two years ago and we had the best time. No TV or radio. We had a blast. I guess it would have been better if the place had A/C! I was thinking of staying a few nights in a top notch hotel like Oberio and then staying in budget hotels for the rest of the time in Mauritius. Same thing for Seychelles...

Go to Mauritius CG, the Volcanic scenery is amazing and the people friendly. Well apart form the British Airways station manager < G >


Nigel

Here's another link for hotels in Mauritius and Rogrigues. The page gives you pricing overview for a dozen or so Mauritius hotels plus a link to the Cotton Club on Rodrigues.
http://www.mauritiusmagic.com/maur_resorts.htm

Beergut, why didn't you like the Merville Beach. I know it's not the most luxurious hotel around, but we certainly found it quite affordable. The rooms were adequate, the staff was very friendly, buffet food was good and there was plenty of equipment for watersports.

The one below is from the link in the previous post.

Seychelles & Mauritius
If one of these islands by itself is extraordinary, putting two together will overwhelm!
These are the two most beautiful destinations in the Indian Ocean, and quite frankly,
that’s like saying the two most beautiful destinations in the world.

Combination Packages Pairing these two Paradises
The Resorts at the Ends of the World takes you to distant corners...to resorts whose special appeal is in their utter remoteness, their charming and unabashed sense of civilization in the realm of the unlikely and of their welcoming hospitality at the end of a very, very long road.

I stayed a tthe saint Geran and trust me the prices thye are asking now were nowhere near what I paid.What an expensive place but a great property.

I have no experience with them, but I've read of local liveaboards in the Seychelles. It could be a great way to visit remote sites you otherwise couldn't reach.

When I was still working in the travel industry, we had the saying that Mauritius is a 2 star destination with 5 star hotels, while Seychelles is a 5 star destination with 2 star hotels (well, the quality of the Seychelles hotels have changed a lot, but the rest should still be valid!). If you ask travel people in Europe, most will rank the Seychelles way above Mauritius in terms of beauty, unspoiled waters, superior beaches etc.