Honeymoon: Seychelles

If you, in this moment, close your eyes and try to envision the most iconic honeymoon destinations there are, I am confident that Seychelles with their white sandy beaches, iconic granite stones and the green tropical surroundings, will be one of them. They are known for their luxurious location, consequently one of the richest country in Africa turism can offer. Even though it is a great tourist attraction, the beaches remain from getting too crowded, which is it’s virtue that, of course, comes with its cost. In this blog I present you our findings, explorations and the plan of our honeymoon trip, organized by the help of Nomago Travel.

You haven’t booked your honeymoon trip yet?

Read my blog post “Where to for The Honeymoon?”. It just might help you decide where to go. You can also check “The Online Honeymoon Catalog”, which contains and concisely presents some of the most beautiful destinations.

We had high expectation of Seychelles, it was of our Honeymoon after all. They ceased to disappoint. The beginning of the trip had a sour note, since it was raining a bit, but since we were accompanied by the sun and the sea at all times, the rain didn’t stop us from finding some dreamy beaches. In two weeks time we visited 4 different islands. Three very popular ones (Mahe, Praslin and La Digue) and a little, private island called Desroches. Most of the time we were completely alone at the beach. We didn’t even take our phones with us, which is unfortunately the reason this post lacks a few photos, but I did however take more “mental” photos because of that. The islands weren’t exciting just because of the paradise like beaches but also because of the hospitality and the environment awareness of the extremely open and kind habitants of the islands.

Where are the Seychelles?

The Seychelles is an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, located 1.600 km east of Kenya, Africa and north-east from The Madagascar island. In the past the area was inhabited by the Arabian seafarers, after them came the British colonists and later on the French. The first European man to set foot on the islands was no one else but the famous explorer Vasco da Gama, who first sailed there in the year of 1502. They are a great cultural mix, which is what makes them so interesting.

Main islands of Seychelles Sejšelov:

Mahé, Praslin, La Digue, Silhouette, Frigate, North Island

Language:

officially English and French (some locals speak Creole)

Time zone:

UTC+4

Currency:

Seychelles rupee (15 SCR = 1 EUR)

The Weather of The Seychelles:

Jan and I have visited many areas of the world and we can say that nothing beats the lush greens of the Seychelles. The air of the islands is moist and humid. It rains quite frequently, mostly in the months between November and February. The temperatures yearly-range around 27-30°C. It practically never falls under 24°C.

When to visit Seychelles?

According to the weather the Seychelles are most suitable to visit from May to October (the hotels are then fully booked and the price gets quite high). You can expect lots of rain between November and March. Rain aside they are appropriate to visit all year long since the temperatures are always constant.

How to get to Seychelles?

The most likely arrival is at The Victoria – Seychelles Airport, which is approximately 8 km away from the Victoria capital city. Nomago Travel helped us find the most ideal flight. We flew from Ljubljana via Istanbul and then directly to Seychelles. The whole journey was no longer than 13 – 15 hours.

How to get around the Seychelles

For the exploration of The Mahe and Praslin islands we chose rent-a-car with which we could easily get around across the islands. The rent it self was quite expensive (40-45 €/day). The other options were taxi (very expensive), bus (cheap alternative, but less flexible – 5 SCR), bike (which we took at the La Digue Island) and by foot. We cycled across La Digue and The Desroches islands (where the Four Seasons hotel guests get choferes around with golf carts). To get from Mahe to Praslin there are two options – a short flight with Air Seychelles or a ride with a high speed Cat Cocos boat (surprisingly enough the price is almost the same). You can also get to La Digue island with the boat, to get to the island of Desroches however you do need a plane ticket – it is the most distant of all.

How to organize your time and choose locations?

It all depends on your holiday preferences and desires. We chose an exuberant travel plan, which consisted of 3 nights on the island of Mahe, 6 nights on the island of Praslin, 2 nights on the island La Digue and 3 nights on the Desroches island. We wanted a great combination and balance between enjoying the beaches and exploration of the destinations. Many people chose to visit the combination of the popular islands, other chose only one where they spend the whole vacation enjoying under the same palm tree.

The Seychelles Hotels

When booking we had in mind the fact that Seychelles are a luxury destination. The prices are high accordingly. The average price for one night for two people equals to 120€, for a 5 star hotel you can expect to spare a thousand per night. There aren’t a lot of hotels and apartments and they are mostly booked, especially during high season. Keep in mind that you also pay for the luxury of wonderful sandy beaches, where you sometimes don’t spot another soul. Prices can therefore be high, depending on the chosen accommodation. For 350€ you can get a pretty luxurious holiday across the globe, but on Seychelles it’s only a great accommodation, not something you would rate “superior”. We recommend 2 accommodations we assure you won’t go wrong. These are Vila Coconut Climb on the Mahe island and the luxury 5* resort Four Seasons Seychelles Desroches.

The Seychelles Cuisine

Creole food is the local cuisine and it’s a sort of a mixture between African, British, French and Indian cuisine. The most of the menus consist of curry, rice, fish and a lot of spices and seasoning. For my taste there is a lack of variety, but the additional classical “european” restaurants provided what was missing. The average cost for a meal in a restaurant is between 20-40 €, the cheapest option is take-away, which sums up to 4-7 €. I consider myself a great gourmand and I have to say that the food on the Seychelles let me down (it honestly can’t compare to Mexican or Thai food, it lacks variety). I was however delighted with the luxury hotel service of the Four Seasons Hotel on the island of Desroches.

I would definitely recommend Seychelles as an ideal destination for two, whether it is for your honeymoon, anniversary or just a luxury vacations where you can dip your fingers and toes in the white sand, nap under a palm tree, explore the sea world or the green tropical areas of the Seychelles Islands.