Our Seychelles family holiday

Planning our Seychelles family holiday

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, our family wanderlust was at an all-time high. Our kids are now teenagers, so we’re quickly running out of years for precious family holidays, and we decided to just go for it. We chose to go island hopping in Seychelles during the Easter Holidays for 17 nights. April is an excellent time to visit in terms of the weather, so it seemed like the perfect choice.

We split our time across the three islands of Mahe, Praslin and La Digue. We love to explore, so we decided to self-drive on Mahe and Praslin, and then on La Digue we just hired bikes. We’ve been on some amazing holidays over the years, but in terms of excitement beforehand, this was on another level.

Arriving on the mainland

We always knew the islands of Praslin and La Digue would be the laid-back slices of paradise, but we also wanted to experience the main island of Mahe, where all international flights arrive. We flew with Emirates and, after a slick connection in Dubai, we arrived in Mahe. We were immediately greeted by a warm Seychelles welcome.

Having visited Zanzibar, to the west of Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, just before the pandemic, the first thing that struck us was the infrastructure. Seychelles is still officially Africa, but it’s clearly a prosperous nation and a cultural fusion of Africa-meets-Indian-subcontinent.

Self-driving in the Seychelles

Leaving the airport, we collected the keys to our hire car and set off south to our Mahe accommodation in Anse Royale. The roads are great - you drive on the left and it’s all very easy.

Why self-drive rather than just plonk ourselves in a lovely resort? When I looked into Mahe, it was clearly an island with loads to do. There are lovely beaches dotted around the coast, with spectacular hilly drives and walks across the interior. These things are right up our street. 

Making the most of Mahe

We booked self-catering accommodation on Mahe at the lovely Le Nautique, a beautifully appointed set of eight small luxury lodges right next to the water. There’s no pool, which in hindsight we would have preferred, but it’s exceptional value for money. 

The sea was right on the doorstep, with paddle boards and kayaks to explore the peaceful surroundings up to Anse Royale, which itself has a lovely beach. On our first day, we followed a graceful manta ray while snorkelling off the beach. Wow!

Self-catering in the Seychelles

Self-catering was really easy on Mahe. There was a well-stocked supermarket just up the road, as well as fresh fruit and fish market stalls.

We still ate out every evening, with nice restaurants like Kafe Kreol and Surfers’ Beach just a short drive away. These local restaurants were both brilliant for a fresh catch of the day (usually job fish), a local Seybrew beer or, my favourite, a fish curry!

Is it expensive? In a word yes, but no more than going out for a nice meal in central London or Paris (so quite pricey!). 

Exploring Mahe

Our highlights of Mahe included the stunning and unspoilt Anse Intendance. Further south, it’s a pristine beach sandwiched between a dense palm forest and a clear turquoise lagoon. Spectacular! The new Banyan Tree Resort redevelopment is nearby. Once it’s finished, I think this will be the best place to stay on Mahe.

During our stay, we also ventured right up into the far north to the Beau Vallon area. It’s a much busier ‘fly and flop’ coastline with some bigger hotels. This area wasn’t really for us, and if we’d just stayed here, our impression of Mahe would have felt very different. It’s definitely worth renting a car to explore the island. 

We also enjoyed hilly inland drives to the west coast, and the sunset at the Anchor Café was a real winner. We also loved the Jardins du Roi (spice gardens), while further north, the Copalia Trail was a brilliant 1km jungle trek to do with the kids. The views from the top were magnificent!

Sailing to Praslin

After 5 days on Mahe, it was time to really get our Seychelles island-hopping holiday underway. We dropped off our hire car at the Cat Cocos ferry port in Victoria and took the 1-hour boat trip to Praslin, home of the ridiculously beautiful Anse Lazio and Anse Georgette beaches.

Arriving in Praslin is a thoroughly relaxing experience. The pace of life here is a little slower than in Mahe and there’s an infectious island vibe to the place. Before having kids, my wife and I were fortunate enough to visit French Polynesia, and Praslin reminded us of the island of Moorea, which stole our hearts almost 20 years ago. We immediately loved it.

Staying on Praslin 

On Praslin, we stayed at the recently renovated Les Lauriers Eco Hotel and Restaurant, a small hotel in Anse Volbert. On our first evening, we enjoyed a magnificent Creole fish BBQ cooked by Edwin, our host, accompanied by the most colourful array of fresh zingy salads. The kids tucked in too, at the gorgeous restaurant set around the lovely pool.

We arranged to have our hire car delivered to the hotel the morning after we arrived on the island. From Les Lauriers, the journey up north to Anse Lazio was simply beautiful. It was a stunning drive to a perfect beach with incredible snorkelling just offshore. The beach itself was quite busy, but for good reason. 

Beautifully unspoilt beaches

Throughout our time in Seychelles, we wondered why it’s still so undeveloped, considering that it’s home to some of the world’s finest beaches. We chatted with the locals about it and it’s clear that there’s a fantastic sustainable development strategy in place. All of the beaches in Seychelles are public, building work is very modest and with a high ratio of local staff, there’s not a high-rise resort in sight. We were in awe!

Getting to Anse Georgette

While Anse Lazio was stunning, for us it was Anse Georgette that pipped the top prize on Praslin. Voted by many as the best beach on earth, it’s a tricky one to reach, but 100% worth the effort. While it is a public beach, you either need to trek a few miles in the heat or seek permission to pass through the grounds of the Constance Lemuria hotel. The hotel only allows a few non-guests through each day, so it’s crucial to ask well in advance. 

We parked our car on the road outside and the reward, after a 20-minute walk through the hotel grounds, left us speechless. It’s the most stunning beach I’ve ever seen. It was such a privilege to enjoy an afternoon as a family on this unique island paradise! Just a couple of locals are allowed to sell coconuts, fruits, and cocktails, and we couldn’t tear ourselves away. Take it from us, Anse Georgette is incredibly special and, given the restrictions on access, it was beautifully quiet too.

Seeing giant tortoises on Curieuse Island

During our stay here, we took a day trip to Curieuse Island. Just a short boat ride from Praslin, it’s home to 300 giant Aldabra Tortoises roaming wild on the island. This was a brilliant experience for the entire family, with super cute baby hatchlings in the nursery right up to the leathery oldies aged up to 120 years old. 

These tortoises aren’t just old, but also wise! They somehow knew to migrate to higher ground before the 2004 tsunami, which reached the shores of Curieuse Island from thousands of miles away. There’s a well-marked walking trail around the island and the day trip finished with a delicious rustic fish BBQ.

Island-hopping to La Digue

With heavy hearts, we left Praslin, taking the Cat Cocos ferry over to La Digue. Before we left the UK, I was more excited about La Digue than any other. It’s a remote island with only a few cars and it just sounded like bliss.

We stayed at the gorgeous Le Nautique, the sister property of the one on Mahe, with a lovely pool and restaurant. Our family room was just perfect, set on two floors and looking out to sea.  

Cycling around La Digue

La Digue is home to the famous Anse Source D’Argent, with its iconic boulders. For some, it’s the most beautiful beach on earth, and I can’t deny it’s stunning. However, my advice is either to get there early or arrive late for sunset. From mid-morning onwards, it gets busy with day trippers.

We hired bikes for our entire stay on La Digue. Exploring this gorgeous little island is easy, but only half of it is covered by road, which made cycling the perfect option.  That’s what I loved most about it, as the unpaved half of La Digue is a truly untouched paradise. Here, you’ll find one of the finest beaches on earth, called Anse Cocos.  

Discovering Anse Cocos

If we weren’t spoilt enough by now, a cycle across the island with the kids (via the lovely Mimi’s café) took us to Grand Anse beach, itself stunning. On foot from there, we continued to neighbouring Petite Anse, then, after a further 20-minute trek over a rocky trail, we reached the ultimate prize - Anse Cocos.

This is a simply magical stretch of beach, powdery white sand and the most beautiful turquoise lagoon stretching far out to sea. 

Again, there are no buildings here, just pristine palm forest like it would have been 500 years ago. You do need to take care with the kids, as the current here is quite strong, but it’s shallow enough to splosh about in the waves safely. We had the place almost to ourselves, and it felt like proper Robinson Crusoe stuff.

My final thoughts about the Seychelles

As far as family holidays go, island-hopping in the Seychelles is incredibly special. While it’s not a cheap destination, there’s a wide range of great accommodation available beyond the five-star glamour.

The whole experience was exceptional, so you absolutely get what you pay for. It was such a treat to experience this island paradise with our kids. We made treasured family memories, and we’d go back in a heartbeat.

Ready to plan your own Seychelles family holiday?

We have been planning one-of-a-kind tailor-made holidays for 20 years, so you can trust us to really know our stuff. Whether you’re after an island-hopping escape in the Seychelles or a Big Five safari in Tanzania, we can help. Simply give us a call on 1273 320 580 or send us a quote request by email.