Tell me about the Seychelles?

[GetupGetoutside]

Thinking about a holiday for DH and I in March flying BA direct.
We love small, quiet boutique hotels.
Great beaches, snorkelling, boat trips.
I've looked at TripAdvisor but the boards there are very quiet.

Not been for 20 years, but did it twice and loved it - closest to paradise I've ever been.

Island hopping is well worthwhile as there is a distinct flavour to different islands. Bird Island is still the most memorable place I've ever stayed. For a base, I preferred Praslin to Mahe, but you could do both, plus a couple of small islands in a two week stay.

@WhenIsTheEasyBit thank you.
Island hopping looks the way to go. I like the look of Praslin and La Digue with a small island for a few days.
Did you use flights or the ferry for Praslin?
Did you hire a car or use taxis/bus?

We hired a car on Mahe (well, a Mini Moke- more like a toy car!) just for a few days. From memory, our hotel had a shuttle to the ferry to get across to La Digue and to the airport for Bird.

Would love to go back. It's beautiful, with a lovely laid back feel. If you avoid the big hotel chain places, it should be perfect for you.

We had a few days on Mahe at Ansye Royale. Lovely snorkelling and we hired a little car to go to some beautiful beaches in south west. Also went to Bird Island which was incredible for birds and snorkelling though accommodation and food a bit basic (but worth it for a few days). Going back again and looking at Praslin and La Digue, preferably self catering to keep costs down. Anyone got recommendations?
You do need to be careful to time visits and different areas right as some are more sheltered at different times of year.

We visited Praslin an Mahe mid September...stayed at Constance on Praslin and Constance on Mahe..both hotels in stunning locations, although Lemuria was definitely the best and food was top notch
www.constancehotels.com/en/hotels-resorts/seychelles/lemuria/
Hired a car on Praslin to explore and visit some beautiful beaches and ate at a wonderful beach restaurant and then visited the Valle de Mai national park ...it was great fun driving on Praslin as there's a 40km speed limit and some crazy hills!
The flight from Mahe to Praslin was amazing..only took 15 mins in a tiny plane but we got incredible views
The scenery is breathtaking...well worth visiting
We booked through Trailfinders in Chester and flew Emirates from Manchester

I've just got back from a fortnight on praslin. It's fabulous. We've done lots of tropical island holidays and Seychelles trumped them all. Any questions I'm happy to help. BA service was good. We stayed at the Constance but the mainland Constance also gets excellent ratings. It was quite ££ though definitely worth the money. Food was incredible!

I have been to Male, Praslin and La Digue. All beautiful but if you are scared of spiders, they are everywhere. Palm spiders - harmless but huge!

Thank you for the comments.
I think we'll do Praslin, La Digue with a couple of days on Mahe at the end.

We went in 2016 and it was incredible. Its not a mass tourist place so everywhere has a boutique feel.

We flew to praslin and did 3 nights there, boat to la digue for 2 nights and then boat and plane to mahe for 3 nights then home.

If you hunt on trip advisor there's a guy called Robert who does a jungle hike to get to one of the best beaches in the world that is on la digue. Well worth doing.

We’re going on Friday - Bird, Praslin, La Digue then Mahe. I’ll report back - slightly nervous re weather but am sooo excited 😊

@AvonCallingBarksdale, how was your trip? Any advice welcome

@coralnailsinsummer, it’s our last day today . We’ve had an incredible time here - will post with more detail when I’m back home on a laptop. If we could stay longer, we would!

So we did 2 days on Bird Island, which was fab, some great snorkelling, all meals included and great experience arriving on the 12 seater plane. Then we had a week at Larchipel on Praslin. Lots of water sports - great service in the hotel. Visited Vallée de Mai. Then La Digue Island Lodge on La Digue. Cycled everywhere and trekked to Anse Cocos, beautiful beach. Lots of gorgeous beaches there. Final 3 days at Carana Beach, Mahé. Victoria the capital is worth visiting as well as the National Park. Buses and bicycles cheap as anything - most other things v pricey. Weather was great. We all loved it - some honeymooners but lots of European families too. Amazing place