The Republic of Seychelles comprises 115 islands occupying a land area of 455 km² and an Exclusive Economic Zone of 1.4 million km² in the western Indian Ocean. It represents an archipelago of legendary beauty that extends from between 4 and 10 degrees south of the equator and which lies between 480km and 1,600km from the east coast of Africa.  Of these 115 islands, 41 constitute the oldest mid-oceanic granite islands on earth while a further 74 form the low-lying coral atolls and reef islands of the Outer Islands.

The granitic islands of the Seychelles archipelago cluster around the main island of Mahé, home to the international airport and the capital, Victoria, and its satellites Praslin and La Digue.  Together, thèse Inner Islands form the cultural and economic hub of the nation and contain the majority of Seychelles’ tourism facilities as well as its most stunning beaches.

Mahé, measuring 28km long by 8km wide, is the largest island and cultural and economic hub of the Inner Islands, and the international gateway to Seychelles. It is home to the international airport and the nation’s capital, Victoria.

The island is home to almost 90% of the total population (or approximately 72,200 people) reflecting Seychelles' diverse ethnicity and descent from African, Indian, Chinese and European populations, and is the seat of government and the chief centre of commerce.

With a backdrop of towering 1000m granite peaks, Mahé is an extraordinary treasure trove of flora that has evolved over centuries of splendid isolation.

Rare endemic plants found nowhere else in the world adorn Mahé’s mist forests in mountain strongholds, such as the Jellyfish Tree, the carnivorous Seychelles Pitcher Plant and the Seychelles Vanilla Orchid.

First visited by the British in 1609, Mahé was not visited again until Lazare Picault's expedition of 1742 when the gradual process of settling the island began, first by the French whose direct influence continued until 1814 and then as a British colony until Seychelles gained independence in 1976.

Mahé is the transportation hub for island-hops and day excursions to neighbouring islands and all other islands within Seychelles. All scheduled domestic flights by Air Seychelles originate from Mahé to the serviced islands.

Banyan Tree Seychelles

Bliss Hotel

Le Méridien Barbarons

Praslin, with a population of 6,500 people, is Seychelles’ second largest island. It lies 45km to the northeast of Mahé and measures 10km by 3.7km. A leisurely tour around the island by car will take approximately 2 hours.

Praslin is the site of the fabulous Vallée de Mai, one of Seychelles’s two UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The island features truly exquisite beaches such as Anse Lazio and Anse Georgette, both appearing on the top-10 list of world’s best beaches in recent years.

Prior to settlement of the islands by the French in the mid-18th century, Praslin's Côte d'Or was a favourite haunt of pirates.

The island was named Praslin after the Duc de Praslin, the French minister of marine in 1768 when the original 'Stone of Possession' was erected on the island in what is still known as Anse Possession.

Almost a century and a half later the visiting General Gordon (of Khartoum fame) became convinced that the Vallée de Mai was the original site of the Garden of Eden. This is where the legendary Coco-de-Mer, the world's heaviest nut, grows high on ancient palms in a primeval forest. The Vallée is host to six species of palm to be found only in Seychelles.

Praslin stands at the forefront of Seychelles’ tourism industry with a strong tradition of hospitality and wide range of accommodation facilities. It also provides a base for excursions to neighbouring islands, some of which are important sanctuaries nurturing rare species of endemic flora and fauna.

Black Parrot Suites

Coco de Mer

Indian Ocean Lodge

Les Villas d'Or

Close neighbour to Praslin and to its satellite islands of Félicité, Marianne and the Sisters Islands, La Digue is the fourth largest island in Seychelles.

La Digue takes its name from one of the vessels in explorer Marion Dufresne's fleet, sent by the French to explore Seychelles' granitic islands in 1768.

Apart from hosting the Seychelles' black paradise flycatcher, one of the rarest birds on earth, La Digue's biodiversity features such stars as the chinese bittern, cave swiftlet, waxbill as well as two rare species of terrapin.

La Digue's forests also contain a wealth of flora in the form of delicate orchids, tumbling vines of vanilla, as well as trees such as Indian almond and takamaka. Gardens blaze with hibiscus and nepenthes against a backdrop of swaying coconut palms.

La Digue is an island where time stands still and time-honoured traditions such as travelling by ox-cart and bicycle are still king. Traditional methods of boat building and refining of coconut products (copra) are still practised on La Digue.

The friendly atmosphere of this intimate island with its languid pace of life, traditional architecture and breathtaking beaches, such as legendary Anse Source d’Argent, is an absolute must for visitors.

La Digue has numerous and diverse accommodation for visitors, and its picturesque satellite islands are ideal for snorkelling and diving excursions.

Chateau St Cloud

Domaine de l'Orangeraie

Bird, Seychelles’ most northerly island is 100km or a 30-minute flight north of Mahé. The island was once known as Ile aux Vaches because of the dugongs (sea cows) that thrived there.

During the period of the southeast trade winds (May-September), Bird is colonised by more than a million sooty terns that each lay their eggs on their own exclusive square foot of territory. Bird also hosts populations of lesser noddies and fairy terns as well as white-tailed tropic birds, fodies, plovers and wimbrels.

Situated at the northern edge of the archipelago where the ocean floor plummets to 2000 metres, Bird has extraordinarily rich marine life in the form of hawksbill and green turtles, dolphins and even the occasional whale.

Once famous for its sizeable population of giant land tortoises, Bird now boasts 'Esmeralda,' the world’s heaviest giant land tortoise living in the wild, weighing in at over 300kg and reputed to be more than 200 years old. Incidentally, 'Esmeralda' is a male.

In the early 1970's, Bird turned to tourism, and with several conservation programmes in place, the Bird Island Lodge stands at the forefront of eco-tourism in Seychelles.

Twenty-four comfortable bungalows, excellent beaches, a reputation for good cuisine and a convivial atmosphere complement great opportunities for snorkelling, deep-sea fishing, and nature watching.

Bird Island

Situated within the Ste Anne Marine National Park, Cerf is Mahé’s closest neighbour and offers excellent swimming and snorkelling as well as memorable sunbathing on several great beaches.

Cerf is a popular picnic venue with Mahé residents on account of its fine beaches and good swimming.

Cerf earned its name from the navy frigate that visited Seychelles in 1756 to take formal possession of the island in the name of France.

The island once had a thriving coconut industry, the remnants of which are still evident in the form of lush coconut groves. Many exotic shrubs adorn its 116 hectares that is also home to a population of giant land tortoises and flying foxes.

Cerf is the only island in the marine park to have a small local population who commute to Mahé for their daily business, making the 4km trip in a matter of minutes.

A high standard of accommodation is available in three hotel establishments currently on the island as is the opportunity to savour mouth-watering Seychellois Creole cuisine.

Cerf Island Resort

Cousin’s close neighbour, Cousine is situated approximately 6km off the west coast of Praslin and offers an exclusive island experience with complete privacy found in very few other places on earth.

Cousine is a private nature reserve, home to five of the Seychelles endemic birds such as the Seychelles magpie robin and Seychelles brush warbler, as well as a variety of endemic fauna and spectacular marine life.

There are some large specimens of the giant land tortoise wandering the island, which is also a nesting site for the hawksbill turtle.

Cousine was once a coconut plantation but is now home to a superb resort that offers an exceptional experience within a private nature reserve.

With four individual Old French Colonial style villas, exclusivity is the order of the day as a maximum of only ten guests are accommodated at any one time.

Cousine Island

Denis lies 95km north of Victoria, Mahé and 45km from Bird Island, making it one of the most northerly of all the Seychelles' islands.

Like many Seychelles islands, in the heyday of the coconut industry Denis was a coconut plantation, whose population of between 70 and 100 persons were engaged in collecting guano (decomposed bird droppings), producing coprah (refined coconut flesh) and fishing.

In 1975 the island was purchased by Pierre Burkhardt, a French paper magnate who ran the island as a successful lodge with the marketing slogan “the island at the edge of the world.” The island was sold to Mason's Travel, one of Seychelles’ first local ground handling operators, in the mid ‘90s.

Denis' 350 acres is home to a varied vegetation and populations of sea and land birds including frigates, white-tailed tropic birds, whimbrels, doves, wood pigeons, cardinals and mynahs. The island is the recent beneficiary of a successful project to introduce endangered species of birdlife.

For fishermen it is ideally situated for deep-sea fishing expeditions on the nearby edge of the Seychelles’ bank where marlin, sailfish, barracuda, wahoo, dorado and tuna will thrill novice and seasoned fisherman alike.

Denis offers excellent nature walks as well as the facilities of tennis, diving, windsurfing, canoeing and of course sunbathing on its gleaming white beaches and its 5-star 25-chalet lodge is the perfect honeymoon getaway offering seclusion in comfort and with excellent gourmet cuisine.

Denis Island

Of all the islands in the Amirantes Group, Desroches is the closest to Mahé (230km southwest) and the only island in the group offering accommodation. This coral island measures 5km long and 1.5km wide, boasting 14km of immaculate beaches that fringe a lush grove of coconut palms interspersed by casuarina trees.

Desroches was named after a former French governor of Mauritius, and like many of Seychelles’ islands, was once a prosperous coconut plantation.

The island and its exclusive Desroches Island Resort are serviced by air from Mahé in a flight-time of approximately 50 minutes, and offers spectacular opportunities for deep sea fishing, fly-fishing and diving.

North lies only a few kilometres north of Silhouette and is the smaller of two visible in the distance from the beach at Beau Vallon on Mahé.

North was one of the very first Seychelles islands to be visited in a 1609 expedition under Captain Alexander Sharpeigh who found the island to have excellent ‘cokker nutts’ (i.e. coconuts) as well as a thriving population of giant land tortoises.

Widely regarded as one of Seychelles' most fertile islands, until recently North had been inhabited by smallholders producing vegetables, tending and harvesting the coconut plantations for shipment to Mahé, and engaging in fishing.

In 2003 Wilderness Safaris opened an 11-chalet, five-star resort on the island targeting the luxury eco-tourism market, promising visitors interaction with the island’s biodiversity at the same time offering a high standard of barefoot luxury.

The management is remaking the island into a wildlife sanctuary it dubs the “Noah’s Ark” project, a long-term plan to rehabilitate the island’s habitats to what it was before the introduction of human settlement, and to introduce endangered flora and fauna on the island to help preserve some of Seychelles’ precious endemic species.

North Island

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