Seychelles Travel Guide - La Digue Port

Seychelles Travel Guide

Seychelles is the closest place I’ve ever found to paradise. On the coast you’ll find idyllic, palm-backed beaches lapped by spearmint green waters none of which would look out of place in a National Geographic centrefold. Head inland and there are dark forests, national parks, secret waterfalls and wildlife so rare it numbers less than the people who accompanied you on the flight to get here. The food is magnificent – a mix of the cultural histories that give Seychelles its creole identity – and the people so laid back that you’ll find some locations barely touched by the hand of modern life. With British Airways starting direct flights from Heathrow in March 2018 now is the perfect time to experience paradise.

Becca and I visited in early October 2017, staying on the island of Praslin as well as taking day trips to Curieuse, St Pierre, Cousin and La Digue Islands. Below you will find details of where we stayed, where we visited and the wildlife we saw whilst we were here.

Hopefully, you will find this useful if you’re planning your own trip, or will just enjoy reading about our adventure.

If you need any advice or want some help planning a trip of your own just add a comment at the bottom or send me a message through the contact page.

Places of Interest in Seychelles

Seychelles Travel Guides

START HERE

THINGS TO DO

WHERE TO STAY

  • Anse Kerlan Beach Chalets
    • A fantastically run set of two private chalets booked through Airbnb. Owned by the wonderful Tatiana and Pascal they are set on an almost private beach about 5 minutes drive from the airport.
      The Most Romantic Seychelles Hotels
    • A list of the most romantic places to stay whilst in the Seychelles.

WHERE TO EAT

TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS

This will give you an idea of our costs and travel arrangements when getting to Seychelles. Things have changed a little now with British Airways flying direct flights from Heathrow in March 2018 cutting out the stopover in Dubai.

FLIGHTS

  • AIRLINE: Emirates/Air Seychelles
  • (Heathrow -> Dubai -> Mahé -> Praslin)
  • COST: £1,416 for main flights, £180 for island hopping flights

CAR HIRE

Concerned about the early morning transfer between Praslin and Mahé?
Click here and I will reassure you!

Useful Seychelles Travel Information

ℹ️ Information and Stats

LOCATION

Seychelles are a group of 115 Islands about 1,000 miles off the east coast of Africa and north of Madagascar.

POPULATION

The population of the Seychelles is around 95,000 with nearly 250,000 tourists visiting every year.

LANGUAGE

Three main languages are spoken on the islands. Mostpeople use English with tourists,French tends to be the language of business and Creole spoken in the home or socially.

TIME DIFFERENCE

The Seychelles is GMT +4.

THE FLAG

500px Flag of Seychelles svgThe flag of the Seychelles is one of the most unique in the world with the colours radiating from the bottom left hand corner in an unusual pattern. It is the third flag used by the country since its independence from Britain in 1976 and had been officially in use since 8th January 1996.

The bands symbolise a ‘dynamic new country moving into the future’. Blue for the sea and sky, yellow for the sun, red for the people, white for justice and social harmony and green for the land.

🌦️ When To Visit

High Season (Dec–Mar & Jul–Aug)

  • In July and August, southeast trades usher in cooler, drier weather but winds whip up the waves.
  • Spikes in European school holidays push prices up in July and August.
  • Extremely humid between December and February.
  • Cyclone activity elsewhere in the Indian Ocean may produce heavy cloud cover between December and March.

Shoulder (Apr, May, Oct & Nov)

  • Fewer visitors but temperatures still high.
  • Easter can be very busy.
  • Normally calm and windless periods, great for swimming and boat excursions.
  • Best months for diving visibility.

Low Season (Jun, Sep)

  • Accommodation prices slightly lower than high season.
  • The sea breeze provides plenty of natural air-con.
Seychelles Temperature and Rainfall Chart

💰 Costs

CURRENCY

The official currency is the Seychelles Rupee which at the time of writing was about 18 to the Pound. Pounds, Euros and Dollars seemed to be widely accepted on the island with all change being given in the local currency of the Rupee.

The Euro was the second most common currency and could be used to book most big excursions. Smaller shops, restaurants and petrol stations only accepted Rupees and many did not have card machines so make sure you keep cash with you at all times. Click Here for current conversion rates.

COSTS

  • Tipping is not generallyexpected here.

Costs felt pretty high in the Seychelles. The price of some things can be kept down, especially food by going self-catering or using some of the amazing creole takeaways (you can see a few on the ones we used in the articles above).

Keep an eye on prices in supermarkets as some things are far more expensive than in England (onions and milk for example) whereas others are much cheaper (coconuts, fresh fish!). I imagine this is down to import costs. There is also big variance between supermarkets. We saw a bottle of branded rum at 280Rs for 500ml in one supermarket and the same brand at 270Rs for 700ml just up the road.

Eating out can be expensive as can excursions to other islands.

Below are some ideas of costs:

  • Full day excursion to another island with lunch and snorkelling (per person): €90 (£80)
  • Car rental (per day): €40 (£35)
  • Creole food takeaway: 80Rs per dish (£4.50)
  • Bottle of average wine in local supermarkets: 150 Rs (£8.30)
  • 1 onion: 16Rs (88p)
  • 1 coconut: 10Rs (55p)
  • 1l bottle of UHT milk: 42 Rs (£2.30)

🚉 Getting Around

DRIVING

  • Cars drive on the left hand side
  • Speed limit on Praslin is 40 km/h
  • Your driving license from country of residence is valid for up to 3 months
  • The drink drive limit is 0.08 % of blood alcohol content, exactly the same as in the UK
  • The number plates are pretty cool (ahem!), just an S with up to 5 digits on IE S12345. People can keep them and re-register though, so enjoyed spotting the lowest number. We got down to one with 2 digits! If you were wondering (which I’m sure you were!) the red backed plates are government issue vehicles

Buses

Praslin only has three bus lines, but each line covers nearly all of the sites you’ll want to see as there are only a few roads. Tickets are bought from the bus driver, but be the fare stays the same no regardless of how far you travel (the same as using an Oyster Card on a bus in London).

Ferries

Ferries travel between Praslin and some of the other Seychelles islands several times each day. Tickets can be purchased online or in person, and the trips can be as short as 15 minutes, depending on which island you will be traveling to.

🔌 Modern Living

ELECTRICITY 

Plugs are the square pin British style.

WIFI

🚑 Health & Emergency

DRINKING WATER

  • Tap water is safe to drink unless there has been a recent cyclone when the sanitation system can take a few days to catch up. We just bought a 1 litre bottle each and kept refilling without any problems.

HEALTH INFORMATION

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