Mahe is the largest of the Seychelles islands and encompasses the country’s international airport as well as its capital, the surprisingly quiet and peaceful town of Victoria, home to roughly a third of the national population, as well as many good restaurants and entertainment venues. Mahe has a mountainous interior characterised by dense tropical forests and stony outcrops, while its coast is blessed with some 75-odd beautiful beaches. The best known of these is the idyllic, white-sand Beau Vallon, fringed by deep bays that offer excellent swimming, snorkelling and scuba diving.
Just a one-hour flight south of Mahé, in the outer islands of the Seychelles, lies the breathtakingly beautiful private island of Alphonse. This mile-long coral island forms part of a pristine, untouched atoll which is surrounded by expansive hard white-sand flats and is renowned for providing some of the world’s best fly and deep-sea fishing opportunities. Due to its crystal-clear warm waters, unbleached and largely untouched corals, great visibility and a diverse range of marine life, the island also makes an excellent destination for diving and snorkelling enthusiasts. Other popular activities include stand up paddle boarding, canoeing, kayaking, windsurfing, tennis, nature walks, bird watching, cycling or simply relaxing on the island’s idyllic palm-lined beaches surrounded by exquisitely lush natural forests.
A small, uninhabited coral island located southwest of the main island of Mahe, the Astove Atoll is a picturesque paradise that forms part of the Aldabra Group in the Outer Islands of Seychelles. A clear, aquamarine ocean surrounds a lush landscape fringed by post-carded perfect beaches, and beneath the waves lies an underwater wonderland filled with exotic marine creatures and untouched coral reefs captured in the world-famous documentary 'The Silent World' by renowned ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau. The Astove Wall is the island's undisputed highlight, where a dramatic 90-degree drop creates the perfect dive site often described as looking down into the Grand Canyon. The Astove Atoll is one of the world's leading saltwater fly fishing destinations and hosts a massive variety of species, including bonefish, dogtooth, triggerfish, barracuda, milkfish, and yellowfin tuna.
Dotting the Indian Ocean and forming part of the Outer Islands of Seychelles, the Cosmoledo Atoll is a remote and well-preserved raised coral atoll within convenient proximity of the World Heritage Site of Aldabra. The atoll is one of the last conservation areas in this part of the world and is famous for its sand dunes, expansive flats, mangroves, grasslands, and a gorgeous fluctuating lagoon, as well as for being an Important Bird Area and an excellent fishing destination. It is home to one of the largest colonies of booby, as well as bluefin trevally, bohar snapper, barracuda, milkfish, and an array of triggerfish. The exquisite powdery beaches here are nesting grounds for Hawksbills and Green Turtles.
