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Map of Praslin island, Seychelles

Exploring Praslin island, Seychelles

Just like we did on Mahé, we decided to do a round trip on Praslin island. Saturday September 27th we rented a car from a guy called Manuel of Prestige Car Hire, who was always hanging out near the Acajou hotel. He was also recommended by our Mason’s Travel contact. The rental price per day was €50 or €70 including insurance, which was a lot pricier than our rental car on Mahé.

Again the fuel tank was almost empty, so I had to fill it up first. About a 3rd of the tank this time, because Praslin island is even smaller than Mahé island. The car we got was a small, bright orange Kia with airco. All Seychelles rental cars come with airco. I think it’s standard on the cars, and everything else, even the most basic things like electric windows in the front doors, is optional.
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Cat Cocos ferry to Praslin

Thursday 25th September a Mason’s mini bus came to pick us up to drive us to the jetty in Victoria. We had the 10:30 ferry.  After arriving at the jetty I had to change my vouchers for 2 Cat Cocos return tickets from Mahé to Praslin.

There was just a short queue before the ticket desk, so within a few minutes I had our tickets. We still had 30 minutes before the ferry would take off, so we walked to the waiting room, which was housed in another (open) building.

Milano catwalk

Not much to do, but sip from a cold drink and watch our fellow passengers. One other italian couple really caught my (well, everybody’s) attention. He was a big, hairy guy with an enormous lens on his photo camera (would make many paparazzi jealous), and she was a beautiful and elegant model look-a-like complete with black mini dress, very thin high heels (the fashionable kind) and expensive Dolce&Gabbana sunglasses.  Not exactly the average ferry passenger, but these people definately make the world a more interesting place to live in!

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Barbarons to Port Glaud

After passing Boileau Bay we drove into an area of Mahé called Barbarons. All around us we saw green trees and long grass turning from green to yellow while the sun was starting to set. On our left side were glimpses of the glittering ocean, on our right steep rocky mountains covered with lush vegetation.

Le Meridien Barbarons

I had heard of Barbarons mainly because of the well-known hotel Le Meridien Barbarons. This resort is one of the lower priced resorts on Mahé, which probably explains why it is so well known.

While planning our honeymoon I had considered staying at the Meridien Barbarons until I read the many reviews. Some of them were really negative, which caused some doubt. But what really make me decide not to go there were the photos sent in by travelers who had actually stayed there.

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Driving along Mahé’s East coast

Part of the east coast from he capital city Victoria to the airport probably is the least attractive part of Mahé. Apart from the glimpses of the blue ocean and green mountains there isn’t much to see here.

Clear blue water

Around the corner at Ile du Suete, just after passing the airport, the landscape became much more attractive again. At Anse Royale we just had to stop and jump out of the car and run to the beach. It was incredibly beautiful. The water clear and turquoise blue. A bay with unspoiled yellow sandy beaches, granite rocks and green, lush vegetation with palm trees. Heaven!

Regrettably we had to leave this beautiful sight and continue our Mahé island trip. While driving we constantly got glimpses of small, secret and secluded beaches. Beaches with unknown names and just for the 2 of us if we had decided to stop.

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Mahe map

Exploring Mahé island

Wednesday September 24th we decided to explore the island. We rented a small car with a car rental agency called Camec for €35 for a full day. We were told this was one of the cheapest options on the island. Renting a car can be expensive in the Seychelles.

The idea was to drive to around the island clockwise, starting at Victoria, making our way down along the east coast and then cross the island at Quatre Bornes in the south to the west coast. I had heard Anse Takamaka should be beautiful, so after a stop there the route would go along Baie Lazare, Anse Soleil (the lunch cafe there was recommended by Stephane from Clef des Iles) all the way up to Port Launay. Check out the map of Mahé for a more detailed view.

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Clef des Iles: perfectly located on the beach

Clef des Iles was our first accommodation on Mahe. After a long night fligt we were picked up by a Mason’s Travel agent at the airport. He guided us to our driver who drove us from the airport to Clef des Iles in Beau Vallon.

When we arrived it turned out the self catering duplex accommodation was located right on the Beau Vallon beach! We knew it would be very close to the beach, but not this close. A great surprise. We received a very warm and friendly welcome by the owners Marquise and Stephane, a Seychellois/Swiss couple. They were truly interested in us and made us feel at home immediately.

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Anse Takamaka, Mahe

During our 12-day holiday on the Seychelles we wanted to see as much as possible, without racing all over the islands. So we made a holiday plan with the places we would stay at and all the things we wanted to do and see.

Planning your stay is already half the fun. Looking at all those photos, reading reviews, deciding what we wanted to see, and what was better to skip. Learning from other travelers experiences. The Internet is such a useful tool to prepare ones holiday or honeymoon!

Feel free to use our plan while making your own I included flight times to give you an idea of how much time these take.

Our Seychelles plan

21st September: flight BA439 Amsterdam to London 16.25 – 16.40
21st / 22nd September: flight HM001 Londen – Mahe 21.05 – 10.15
22nd – 25th September: stay at Clef des Iles, self catering accommodation at the Beau Vallon beach on Mahé
25th September – 1st October: stay at Acajou, hotel BB at Côte d’Or on Praslin
1st – 2nd October: stay at Jardin des Palmes, hotel HB at Anse la Mouche on Mahé.
2nd October: flight HM008 Mahe – Paris 09.15 – 17.30 and flight AF2240 Paris – Amsterdam 18.30 – 19.45
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Here it is: the first post on this brand new travel blog about the Seychelles! Very exiting!

On the 21st of September 2008 my wife and I travelled to the Seychelles for our honeymoon. We married on the 10th of September in Haarlem, the Netherlands. It was a perfect and sunny wedding day. So, this set some high expectations of our honeymoon as well.

For our honeymoon destination we were looking for a tropical, unspoiled paradise island. Due to the hurricane season in the Caribbean and wet season in the Maldives we narrowed our options down to:

• Mauritius
• Seychelles
• Zanzibar

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