Seychelles

The largest island and where you land, at Seychelles International Airport on the east coast. Victoria, the small capital, sits below the forested ridges of Morne Seychellois National Park, which covers about 3,045 hectares, more than a fifth of the island (Seychelles Parks and Gardens Authority). Guided and self-guided trails such as Copolia and Morne Blanc start from the cross-island roads. Beau Vallon is the long west-coast beach in the north; the south has Anse Royale, Anse Takamaka and Anse Intendance, where the FCDO says beaches at the southern tip are not suitable for swimming at any time. Boat trips run to the Ste Anne Marine National Park, and Silhouette, mostly national park, lies off the north-west coast.

About 1 hour 15 minutes from Mahé on the Cat Cocos ferry or 15 minutes by Air Seychelles. The Vallée de Mai, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983, protects a palm forest where the coco de mer grows; the Seychelles Islands Foundation runs it and the neighbouring Fond Ferdinand reserve. Anse Lazio in the north-west is the beach most visitors come for. Day trips from Praslin reach Curieuse (giant tortoises and a mangrove boardwalk), Cousin (Nature Seychelles) and, between October and May, Aride (Island Conservation Society), all seabird and nature reserves.

A small granite island a short ferry ride from Praslin, landing at La Passe. A 2022 government transport policy stopped new vehicle imports here, and most visitors hire bicycles; the policy counted about 5,000, all of which must be licensed and insured. Anse Source d'Argent, on the west coast, is reached through L'Union Estate, which charges foreign visitors SCR 150 for a day pass. The east-coast beaches, Grand Anse, Petite Anse and Anse Cocos, are for looking at rather than swimming: strong currents and undertow. The Veuve Special Reserve protects the Seychelles black paradise flycatcher.

Two coral islands on the northern edge of the Seychelles Bank, each with a single lodge and an airstrip about 30 minutes' flight from Mahé. Bird Island is known for its sooty tern colony, which the island says has grown to around 700,000 pairs, with the birds arriving from March to May. Denis is a private island for staying guests only. Neither takes day visitors.

The coral islands of the Amirantes, Alphonse, Farquhar and Aldabra groups lie hundreds of kilometres south-west of Mahé. Desroches and Alphonse have resorts reached by IDC charter flights (35 minutes and an hour). Aldabra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982 with an estimated 100,000 giant tortoises, has no airstrip or jetty: visits are by liveaboard boat only, with Seychelles Islands Foundation permission and escort, and SIF says about 445 visitors a year.