Itinerary · 7 Days · April
Seychelles, An Island in Three Acts
Mahe · Praslin · La Digue | Apr-Oct (dry season) | Fly into Mahe (SEZ)
Most people who ask us about Seychelles are really asking whether it is worth it compared to the Maldives. The answer is yes, and for a reason that has nothing to do with price: the Maldives gives you one sandbar and a water villa and very little else to do. Seychelles gives you three islands with completely different characters, a UNESCO forest, giant tortoises walking free, granite boulders the size of houses rising from water so clear you can count the fish from the boat, and a local culture that actually exists. The ferry between islands takes an hour. The cost is lower. We would go back tomorrow.
Before You Go
The routing. All international flights land at Mahe (SEZ). Most visitors connect via Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, or Nairobi. Mahe is where you start and finish. From Mahe, ferries run to Praslin (1 hour) and from Praslin a short ferry connects to La Digue (15 minutes). The logical flow is Mahe first, then Praslin, with La Digue as a day trip from Praslin, then ferry back to Mahe for departure.
Ferry is the right call. Cat Cocos runs the main Mahe-Praslin service twice daily. Book in advance, particularly in peak season. The crossing takes about an hour and the open ocean between the islands can be rough, the sea does not care that you are on holiday. Take seasickness medication before boarding, not after you feel it coming. Anyone who is prone to motion sickness on any vehicle should treat this as non-negotiable. The La Digue ferry from Praslin is short enough that it is rarely an issue, but take the tablet anyway.
Best time to go. The dry season runs from May to October, with the clearest skies and calmest seas. April, when we went, sits just before the dry season, warm, occasionally humid in the middle of the day, but with no real rain and some of the best light of the year. Avoid December to February when the northwest trade winds bring rough seas and the ferry crossings become genuinely unpleasant.
Seychelles vs Maldives, the honest comparison. The Maldives is a fantasy of overwater bungalows and a very limited geography, one island, one beach, one pool, and nothing else to do. Seychelles has three distinct islands with different characters, a UNESCO World Heritage forest, giant Aldabra tortoises walking free, some of the most dramatic beach scenery in the world, and a local culture and town life that the Maldives cannot offer. The marine life, snorkelling, diving, glass-bottom boat trips, is comparable. The cost is meaningfully lower, particularly for accommodation, food, and inter-island travel. If you want to float in a pool and order room service for a week, go to the Maldives. If you want to actually be somewhere, go to Seychelles.
Essential Before You Leave
Pack reef-safe sunscreen, regular sunscreen is harmful to coral and increasingly restricted in Seychelles. Bring a rash guard for beach days. The sun at this latitude is serious. Mosquito repellent for evenings, particularly in forested areas. Walking sandals that can get wet, you will be crossing wet granite rock and sand regularly. Cash in Seychellois Rupees for local restaurants and taxis, though cards work at most hotels.
Day by Day
Mahe · Arrival
The Island That Does Not Announce Itself
You land at Seychelles International Airport on Mahe and the first thing you notice is the air, warm, green, heavy with the faint smell of ocean. The airport is small. Immigration moves quickly. Collect your bags, get your transfer to the hotel, and resist the urge to do anything on Day 1. Check in, find the nearest beach, and let the pace of the island replace whatever pace you arrived with. Beau Vallon on the northwest coast is the main beach on Mahe, a long curve of calm water, good for swimming, lined with local restaurants and a night market on Wednesdays. This is your evening.
Mahe Airport (SEZ)Beau Vallon BeachWednesday Night Market
First Night
Eat at one of the local restaurants on Beau Vallon beach. Grilled fish, octopus curry, and breadfruit chips are the things to order. The night market on Wednesdays has local food stalls and is worth being on the island for. Prices are reasonable by Seychelles standards, which means fair by Asian standards and very reasonable by European ones.
Mahe · Explore
Victoria, Eden Island and the Smallest Capital in the World
Mahe is not a passive island. Spend Day 2 exploring it properly. Victoria, the capital, is one of the smallest capitals in the world, a clock tower modelled on the one in Vauxhall, London, a lively covered market with local produce, fish, spices and crafts, a Hindu temple, and streets that take about forty minutes to walk end to end. It is charming rather than impressive, and genuinely local in a way that resort islands rarely are. In the afternoon, cross to Eden Island, an artificial island extension of Mahe with a marina of private yachts, upscale restaurants, a casino, and the feeling of a different world from the fishing villages twenty minutes away. It is worth seeing for the contrast alone.
Victoria CitySir Selwyn Clarke MarketEden Island MarinaBotanical Gardens
Botanical Gardens
The Botanical Gardens in Victoria are underrated. Giant Aldabra tortoises roam freely, the same species that lives wild on Aldabra atoll, one of the largest land tortoises on earth. You can walk up to them. They are completely indifferent to you and will continue eating whatever they were eating.
Mahe · Water Day
St Anne Marine Park and the Glass-Bottom View
Day 3 is your Mahe water day. St Anne Marine Park sits just off the coast, a protected marine area of extraordinary clarity, where the coral and sea life are among the most intact in the Indian Ocean. A glass-bottom boat or catamaran tour runs from the main jetty and takes you out to snorkel above the reef. We did not snorkel ourselves, but watched from the boat as others went in and came back talking about it for the rest of the trip. The fish density is remarkable, parrotfish, sergeant majors, moorish idols moving in formation over the coral. If you dive or snorkel, this is one of the best sites in the entire Indian Ocean region. A day trip to Moyenne Island, a small private island within the park run by a legendary eccentric who lived there alone for decades, adds giant tortoises and a strange, beautiful wildness to the afternoon.
St Anne Marine ParkGlass-Bottom BoatMoyenne IslandSnorkelling
For Divers and Snorkellers
Seychelles offers some of the best snorkelling and diving in the Indian Ocean at a fraction of Maldives prices. The Mahe coastal waters have good visibility year-round. For diving, book with a PADI-certified operator in Victoria or Beau Vallon. For snorkelling, any St Anne catamaran trip includes equipment. The marine life here, hawksbill turtles, leopard sharks, manta rays in season, is exceptional.
"The granite boulders of Seychelles are unlike anything else on earth. They did not arrive with a volcano. They were here before the ocean rose around them, remnants of the ancient supercontinent, smoothed by two hundred million years into shapes that look like sculpture."
Mahe to Praslin · Ferry
The One-Hour Crossing and the Island That Changes Everything
Check out of your Mahe hotel and take the morning Cat Cocos ferry to Praslin. The crossing takes about an hour. Take your seasickness medication 45 minutes before departure, the open ocean between the islands has genuine swell and the ferry moves with it. Book a window seat if you are prone to motion sickness, keep your eyes on the horizon, and it will pass. The arrival into Praslin is worth the crossing ten times over. The island is smaller, quieter, and feels as though it was designed by someone who had spent a very long time thinking about what paradise should look like. A hotel transfer meets you at the Praslin jetty. Check in, find lunch, and spend the afternoon at whichever beach is closest. There are no bad choices on Praslin.
Cat Cocos FerryPraslin ArrivalSeasickness Tablets
Getting Around Praslin
Keep a local car with driver engaged for your time on Praslin. There is a bus service but it is unreliable, infrequent, and will cost you half a day waiting. A hired car with a local driver costs a fixed daily rate and is worth every rupee, your driver will know which beaches are calm on which days depending on the wind direction, and will get you to Valle de Mai when it opens. Ask your hotel to arrange it on arrival.
Praslin · Anse Lazio and Valle de Mai
The Best Beach in the World and the Forest Before Time
Spend the morning at Anse Lazio. We are not given to superlatives, but Anse Lazio requires them. It is consistently listed among the best beaches in the world and it earns the description. The water is a colour that does not have a name in English, somewhere between aquamarine and the inside of a glacier, completely clear to several metres depth, warm enough to stay in for hours. The granite boulders frame the beach at both ends. There are two or three small restaurants at the beach itself serving fresh grilled fish and cold Seychellois beer. Arrive early, before the day-trippers from other islands, and you will have stretches of it nearly to yourself. The sunset from the northern end of the beach is spectacular. In the afternoon, visit Valle de Mai, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the only place on earth where the coco de mer palm grows wild. The forest is ancient and strange, the light filtered through enormous prehistoric-looking fronds, the coco de mer nuts (the largest seeds of any plant in the world, shaped in a way that caused considerable embarrassment to Victorian botanists) hanging from the trees. The Seychelles black parrot lives here and almost nowhere else.
Anse LazioValle de Mai UNESCOCoco de Mer PalmSeychelles Black Parrot
Valle de Mai Tips
Go to Valle de Mai when it opens, around 8am, the birds are most active in the early morning and the heat is manageable. The entrance fee goes to conservation. Budget two hours minimum. Wear comfortable shoes, the paths are well maintained but uneven in places. A guided walk adds context that is genuinely worth having.
Praslin · La Digue Day Trip
The Island With Almost No Cars and One Perfect Beach
Take the morning ferry from Praslin to La Digue, fifteen minutes across a stretch of water so calm and clear it barely qualifies as a crossing. La Digue is the third largest island in Seychelles and operates almost entirely without motor vehicles. The main transport is bicycle. Rent one from the jetty and set off along roads that feel like lanes in a village in France, past ox carts and granite boulders and houses painted in colours that have no right to work together and somehow do. The destination is Anse Source d'Argent, one of the most photographed beaches on earth, for good reason. The granite formations here are at their most dramatic, rising from shallow turquoise water in formations that look carved rather than natural. The booking for a La Digue Boat and Bike Tour through your Praslin hotel or a local operator is the best way to do this day, the boat ride adds perspective that the ferry alone does not give you, and the bike portion lets you explore the interior at your own pace. Return to Praslin on the afternoon ferry.
La Digue Ferry (15 min)Bicycle RentalAnse Source d'ArgentBoat and Bike Tour
La Digue Practicalities
Start early, take the first morning ferry from Praslin. The beach crowds build significantly by midday. Bring cash for bicycle rental, lunch at local beach shacks, and coconut water from roadside sellers. The island has virtually no ATMs. Sunscreen is essential, the granite boulders reflect heat and you will burn faster than you expect.
Praslin to Mahe · Departure
One Last Morning and the Ferry Back
Depending on your flight time, you may have a morning on Praslin before the ferry back to Mahe. Use it. Walk to whichever beach is closest to your hotel, sit in the water one more time, and eat a proper breakfast. The return Cat Cocos crossing takes an hour. From Mahe's inter-island ferry terminal, your hotel transfer or a taxi will take you to the airport. Seychelles International is a small airport, you do not need to arrive as early as you would at a major hub, but check your airline's recommendation. Most flights connect through the Gulf, so you are likely flying back the way you came.
Praslin MorningCat Cocos to MaheMahe Airport (SEZ)
What to Buy
Coco de mer products (the nut, carved objects, soap) from official vendors in Victoria, not the roadside stalls, where the provenance is uncertain and export can be restricted. Vanilla grown on the islands. Local coconut oil. Seychellois spice mixes. The Sir Selwyn Clarke Market in Victoria has the best selection at local prices.
Budget Signal
Per Couple
7 nights · Includes accommodation, meals, inter-island ferries, activities and local transport
Budget
Rs.2.5 – 3.5 Lakhs
Guesthouses and self-catering, local restaurants, no water sports or diving
Mid-Range
Rs.4 – 6 Lakhs
Good hotels on each island, all meals out, St Anne catamaran trip, La Digue boat and bike tour
Luxury
Rs.8 – 15 Lakhs
Private villas and boutique resorts, private boat charters, diving, helicopter transfers between islands
Common Questions
Is Seychelles really cheaper than Maldives?
Yes, meaningfully so, particularly for accommodation and food. The Maldives forces you into resort pricing for everything because there is no local economy to access. In Seychelles, local guesthouses, local restaurants, and local transport are all genuinely affordable. You can eat well at a beach shack on Praslin for a fraction of what a meal costs at a Maldives resort. The marine life and beach quality are comparable. For the same budget, Seychelles gives you more days, more islands, and more variety.
Is the ferry crossing really that bad?
The Mahe-Praslin crossing on the Cat Cocos catamaran takes about an hour on open ocean. On calm days it is perfectly comfortable. When there is swell, the boat moves. People who are prone to motion sickness in cars, planes, or boats should take medication before boarding, not after they start feeling ill, because by then it is too late. The La Digue-Praslin crossing is fifteen minutes and rarely an issue. Take the morning ferry where possible as conditions are generally calmer earlier in the day.
Do we need to snorkel or dive to enjoy Seychelles?
Not at all. The beaches alone, Anse Lazio, Anse Source d'Argent, Beau Vallon, are worth the trip without going in the water beyond swimming. Valle de Mai, La Digue by bike, Victoria market, the tortoises, the granite landscapes: there is more than enough for a week without any water sports. That said, if you snorkel or dive, Seychelles is one of the premier destinations in the Indian Ocean. The St Anne Marine Park visibility and marine diversity are exceptional. It would be a shame not to take at least a glass-bottom boat trip even if you do not want to enter the water yourself.
What is the best time to visit?
May to October is the dry season, clearest water, calmest seas, most reliable weather for inter-island crossings. April (when we went) is just before the dry season, still very good with fewer crowds and slightly lower prices. Avoid December to February when the northwest monsoon brings rough seas and the ferry crossings become difficult. The islands are close to the equator so temperatures are consistently warm year-round, between 24 and 32 degrees.
How do you get between islands?
Cat Cocos runs the main scheduled ferry service between Mahe and Praslin twice daily (roughly 7am and 3.30pm, check current timetables). The Praslin-La Digue service runs several times a day and takes fifteen minutes. Book ferry tickets in advance, particularly in peak season, the boats fill up. The alternative is inter-island Air Seychelles flights, which take about fifteen minutes Mahe to Praslin, are more expensive, and are worth considering on departure day if your international flight timing is tight.
Do you need a visa?
Most nationalities including India, UK, EU, US and Australia do not require a visa to enter Seychelles. A visitor's permit is issued on arrival, valid for one month. Ensure your passport is valid for at least six months beyond your travel dates and carry proof of onward travel and accommodation.
What to Pack · Seychelles
Reef-safe sunscreen, non-negotiable, standard sunscreen damages coral and is restricted in some areas. Rash guard or UV shirt for beach and boat days. Light cotton or linen for evenings. Good walking sandals that can get wet. Snorkel mask if you have one (rentals available but your own fits better). Seasickness tablets for ferry crossings. Insect repellent for forest areas and evenings. Waterproof bag or dry sack for boat trips. Cash in Seychellois Rupees for local payments.
Personal experience disclaimer. Everything on this page reflects our own travel experiences and is shared in good faith as personal opinion, not professional advice. Prices, ferry schedules, visa requirements and travel conditions change. Verify all critical details independently before travel. Atlas & Archives accepts no liability for decisions made based on this content. · All photographs, itineraries and written content are the original work of Atlas & Archives and are protected under copyright law.
Planning a Seychelles trip? We covered all three islands in seven days and know which ferry to take, which beach to arrive at first, and exactly what to order at Anse Lazio.
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