Seychelles

• Getting a feel of the destination is one of the enjoyable experiences of a holiday. Many places of interest are open for business, with new protocols and time of operation. There is still a lot of the destination to explore, it is important that visitors contact these places prior for confirmation.
• Seychelles offers a great variety of restaurants, spas and gyms.
• Destination Wedding – saying ‘I do’ in paradise can still be ticked off your bucket list. With new protocols in place, we will liaise directly with the venue’s wedding planner/coordinators or service providers so you can relax and have the wedding of your dreams.
• Sandy sanctuary – visitors can enjoy the pleasures of our white sandy beaches and turquoise blue seas.
• Nature trails – certain nature trails are open for public, while others remain closed. It is important that visitors contact the service provider to confirm time of operation.
• Cultural attractions – places bustling with creole spirit such as the Botanical Gardens, Mission Lodge and Victoria Market are still open to the public. To avoid any disappointments, we advise visitors to contact cultural establishments before visiting.

Getting Around

A unique Seychelles experience is the ever popular island hopping. Domestic flights and ferry services are operating as usual and offers conveniente and easy ways to get between the different islands. With relatively short travelling times between the islands and/or places of interest, different modes of transportation and with a regular network of air and sea transportation operating out of the principal island, Mahé, moving around in Seychelles is easy and hassle-free. This section features details of the main modes of getting around and exploring the Seychelles Islands.

The Culture

The Seychellois are a colourful and harmonious blend of different nationalities from across the globe, all of whom have brought something of their own customs and cultures to create a well-integrated, harmonious and vibrant modern island state with a distinct culture enriched from many continents. Where other nations live in fear of their neighbours, Seychelles has successfully woven disparate influences into a live-and let-live philosophy in which harmony has become a way of life.

In Victoria ( the world’s tiniest capital) a Roman Catholic cathedral sits beside an Anglican cathedral, a Seventh Day Adventist Church, a mosque, a Hindu Temple, and halls of worship for several other denominations. In terms of religious orientation, French Catholicism has proved the most influential, even surviving British rule and popular Mass and other parish feasts are colourful occasions for Seychellois to dress up in their Sunday best and socialise.

The Creole Language, an adaptation of 17th Century French with other words and expressions coming from Africans and Malagasises, is the lingua franca and has been elevated to national language status, earning the same respect that English and French receive. Today, Creole is a written language as well as spoken, resulting in an outburst of creativity in plays, poetry and prose. The Creole culture is today a major attraction for worldwide visitors who want to experience a unique way of life and is showcased every year by the colourful Festival Creole, an animated tribute to everything Creole including the many distinct forms of Creole music, dance, literature and poetry.

Creole architecture is another important cultural aspect of the islands where the designs of some of the grand old houses with their steep roofs represent an architecture adapted for comfortable living in the tropics. Houses have many openings to catch the island breezes. Modern architecture attempts to assimilate traditional styles. Yet another jewel of the cultural crown is cuisine and Creole gastronomy is born of this spectacular fusion of cultures and offers the subtlety and innovation of French cuisine as well as the piquant flavours and exotic culinary combinations of the East across a fascinating spectrum of textures, tastes, colours and ingredients.

What is the weather like?

Notwithstanding the many uncertainties associated with today’s global climate, Seychelles enjoys a year-round, glorious tropical climate and nearly 12 hours of sunlight due to its position just south of the Equator. All but its remotest, southern islands lie well outside the cyclone belt and the climate is such that there are no extremes of weather, with the temperature seldom dropping below 24°C or rising above 32°C. North-west trade winds blow between the months of October and March when the sea is generally calm and the weather warm and humid, with average winds of 8-12 knots.

Traditionally, in January and February the islands receive their life-sustaining rains, briefly filling the rivers and streams and teasing the vibrant foliage into rainbows of colour. Although this is recognised as Seychelles’ traditional rainy season, the rains tend to be less heavy than on, for example, the Indian continent, and may indeed, depending on the year, be very light. Between the months of May and September the south-east trade winds generally bring drier, cooler weather, and more boisterous and agitated seas – particularly on the south-eastern coasts of the islands, along with wind speeds in the region of 10-20 knots. Being a tropical island, however, means that, normally brief, tropical downpours can occur at any time of the year.

The Seychelles Landscape

Seychelles is an archipelago comprising of 115 islands dotted across 530,000 sq miles (1,374,000 sq km) of the western Indian Ocean. The 41 tall, granitic, Inner Islands together make up a total area of 247.2 km2. They cover a total of 54% of the total Seychelles land area where more than 99% of the Seychelles population lives and include the main, and largest, island of Mahé that contains the lion’s share of government infrastructure, services, retail and tourism facilities followed by Praslin, the 2nd largest island and finally La Digue.

The remaining 74 islands are the Outer Islands, chiefly low-lying reef islands, sand cays and, in some cases, spectacular atolls divided into five distinct island groups: Amirantes Group; Southern Coral Group; Alphonse Group; Farquhar Group and Aldabra Group; extending into the ocean in a general south-westerly direction and in a splendid arc heading for the east coast of Africa. Overall, these islands are situated four to ten degrees south of the equator and between 480 km and 1,600 km off the east coast of Africa.