The Only Guide to Seychelles You Will Ever Need

Are you planning a trip to Seychelles, but not sure where to start? Are you overwhelmed by all this information about Seychelles islands available online? Don’t worry, this will be the only guide to Seychelles you will ever need: here you will find everything you need to know about travelling to Seychelles, from the best islands to stay in Seychelles to the best resorts, car rentals, places to eat and prices in Seychelles and more!

Seychelles on a map, currency in Seychelles and a couple of useful facts

Seychelles is a tiny island country in the Indian ocean located closer to Africa than to Asia (hence it’s part of the African continent). If you’re curious, where exactly is Seychelles on a map, here’s a photo.

The official languages in Seychelles are English, French and the local language called Seychellois Creole. The population of Seychelles is just under 100,000 people. The main island of Seychelles is Mahe and Mahe is also the Seychelles island with the most people living on it.

The currency in Seychelles is called Seychellois rupee (SCR) and for £1 you can get around £17.5 SCR while $1 USD gets your roughly 13.6 SCR.

Seychelles is actually one of the least touristic paradise destinations, only about 300,000 people a year visit Seychelles and 66% of them come from Europe.

How to get to Seychelles: flying to Seychelles islands

Seychelles is a very remote country, and it’s the easiest to get there by plane. Depending on where you’re flying from, it might be easier to get there from South Africa, Ethiopia Europe or the Middle East. AirFrance and British Airways often fly to Seychelles from Paris and London, and the flights aren’t usually costly. You can check the availability and the prices of the flights to Seychelles on Skyscanner.

However, the cheapest flight from Europe to Seychelles island that I’ve seen was with Ethiopian Airlines, and I only heard good reviews about this airline, so I would definitely give it a chance. If you’re flying from the US, you might want to check the flights with Emirates, Etihad and Turkish Airlines.

Are Seychelles expensive? How much does a trip to Seychelles cost

I always thought Seychelles are crazy expensive! But I was wrong. I was looking for a tropical destination to go for Christmas for ages. It seemed like all the long-haul flights were competing between each other to be the most expensive economy flight in history and so far Vietnam was winning with £1250 ($1600) for a return flight (and that’s not even premium economy) and that if you were to buy the flight 4 months before Christmas. I was checking Skyscanner EVERY DAY, until one morning, I saw return flights to Seychelles for £550 (that’s like $720) return for Christmas! I couldn’t believe my eyes, it was too good to be true. But I also hesitated for a second before buying the ticket because I thought I wouldn’t be able to afford to stay in Seychelles (for some reason, I thought it’s more expensive than the Maldives, on the same level with Bora Bora). Oh, man, I was wrong.

Are Seychelles really expensive? Yes and no. Seychelles islands can be really expensive if you want, but you can also go there on a tight budget and enjoy your time in Seychelles. If you’re interested in enjoying Seychelles on a budget, head to my post about my itinerary for 5 days in Seychelles on a budget, where I talk about prices in Seychelles and affordable places to eat in Seychelles (Mahe, Praslin and La Digue) and you will find a list of amazing affordable properties in Seychelles.

However, if you’re not in the mood for checking the post, I’ve listed some prices in Seychelles for you here.

Prices in Seychelles & budget for a trip to Seychelles:

Accommodation: We stayed 3 days on Praslin and 2 days on Mahe, and we spent around $650 for 5 nights during the most expensive season in Seychelles. Besides, the apartments were even bigger than our flat in London. If you’re not going during the high season, you can totally stay in great apartments for $80 per night.

If you’re a luxury seeker, you will find amazing resorts like Six Senses, but prepare to spend 5-digit figures there.

Food in Seychelles was also affordable. I was scared that it would be $130 for two tiny dishes like in the Maldives (we were in a resort there, hence the prices – read more about how much we ended up spending in the Maldives), but luckily, it wasn’t! You can totally buy groceries in various shops and cook them at your apartment. One day we even got a giant frozen crab for something like $8. We also ate in local takeaway stores – you can get a lunch box with fresh fish and rice for like $3, which is a bargain! However, if you go to restaurants, it’s not that cheap anymore – you can easily spend $70-$130 for two in a restaurant in Seychelles.

Our budget for a trip to Seychelles

In total, our budget for Seychelles was around $3200 (£2400) for two people including flights, food, hotels and everything else. We spent 5 full days in Seychelles, and we spent another 2 days flying from London to Mahe via Paris.

However, if you visit Seychelles island outside the busiest times (Christmas and January), book your accommodation in advance and, most importantly, stay on one island only, you can reduce this cost to just £1600-1700, which is a great price for a trip to Seychelles.

How to travel between islands in Seychelles?

If you’re planning to visit more than one island in Seychelles (I totally recommend it because the three main islands, Mahe, Praslin and La Digue are all very different), you have two ways to do that.

You can either travel between islands by yourself and explore them at your own pace or you can buy an organised day tour.

If you go with the first option, you can book ferry tickets online here and then even stay on another island overnight or for a couple of days.

Here you can find ferry tickets from Mahe to Praslin

And here you can find tickets from Mahe to La Digue

Finally, here’s a ferry from Praslin to La Digue

Second option is to buy a tour that brings you to other islands. For example, if you’re staying in Mahe, you can buy a day tour that visits Praslin and La Digue. The only downside that it could feel a bit rushed, but you will be able to see some of the main highlights.

The best time to go to Seychelles:

If you’re wondering, when to go to Seychelles and what’s the best time to go to Seychelles, I must tell you that it’s complicated. There’s no guarantee that during the “good months” you’ll have good weather. We visited Seychelles in December which is considered a bad time to go to Seychelles because of the high chances of rains and no sun, nonetheless, December and January are the busiest months in Seychelles. Guess what, we only saw rain twice in 5.5 days and only for 30 min or so. Most of the days were very hot and sunny.

However, if you’re still convinced that you should visit Seychelles in its prime time, the best month to go to Seychelles islands is probably April, May and around October. Again, it doesn’t mean that you can’t visit Seychelles during other months, e.g. in summer or winter and you’ll get bad weather. It’s just luck.

How long to go to Seychelles for? Optimal holiday length in Seychelles

If you’re thinking, how long to go to Seychelles for, it’s also an individual choice. We’ve spent 5 full days in Seychelles (read this post about my itinerary) and managed to see 3 main islands, relax, discover everything and enjoy the holidays. For some, however, this itinerary might be too intense and depending on how do you usually spend your vacations, you can decide, how much time you want to spend in Seychelles.

I would say, 1 week in Seychelles is enough, especially if you want to see 2-3 islands (e.g. Mahe, Praslin, La Digue or others). If you’re staying on a private island, you can spend 3-5 days there, it’s all up to you. I would probably get very bored if I were to spend 2 weeks in Seychelles, but that’s just me: I like changing places and a variety of things to do.

If you have spare 2 weeks to spend in Seychelles, the itinerary for 14 days in Seychelles should definitely include visiting Mahe, Praslin and La Digue and maybe a couple of tours to private islands.

Which island to visit in Seychelles (if you could only visit one)?

I’ve got a separate post about the best island to visit in Seychelles, and if you’re curious and need a lot of information, you can totally check it out.

Long story short, I would, of course, recommend you to visit at least 3 islands: Mahe, Praslin and La Digue, but if you have some budget or length of stay restrictions, I would recommend staying in Mahe, as it’s a great place to spend your vacation. If you have a bigger budget, you can definitely afford one of the resorts located on private islands, however, in this case, you won’t be able to enjoy what the other islands have to offer (in other words, you won’t be able to do any sightseeing in Seychelles).

Best hotels and apartments to say in Seychelles

If you have a budget for a resort, I would totally recommend you these well-rated resorts with amazing beaches: JA Enchanted Island (Round Island), Constance Lemuria (Praslin), Four Seasons Seychelles (Mahe).

If you’re on a budget, these are the best-rated apartments in Seychelles: Awesome Charlie D Villas (Mahe), Le Nautique Beachfront Apartments (Mahe), Island Charm of Praslin (Praslin). Actually, I even created a separate post about the best affordable hotels and apartments in Seychelles.

Who are Seychelles for? What kind of people travel to Seychelles?

Interested, who’s the typical traveller that goes to Seychelles? Well, I’ve seen a few different types of travellers: Millenials who want to explore the world, families with young children staying in self-catering apartments, older people who already raised their children and just want to relax in a tropical place and people who are very well off and came for a regular vacation staying in a luxurious resort.

Who I haven’t seen in Seychelles are the backpackers – as it’s very expensive to fly to Seychelles and then you can’t really hitchhike around – if you want to see everything, you need to pay at least 100 euros for a return very from Mahe to Praslin and other ferries as well. Seychelles definitely isn’t the destination for backpackers.

However, we managed to stay on a budget in Seychelles and didn’t overspend if you’re interested in some money-saving tips for Seychelles, head to this post.

Honeymoon in Seychelles: yay or nay?

Are you planning to spend your honeymoon in Seychelles? Well, why not! It’s a good location for an affordable honeymoon where you hire a car to explore different remote beaches and spend unforgettable time there together. However, there are also a couple of downsides of Seychelles as a honeymoon destination: head to this post to learn more, whether Seychelles is worth it for a honeymoon or not.

Best beaches in Seychelles for swimming

Seychelles have some really amazing beaches, and many of them are really beautiful. However, when it comes to swimming, not all of them are always suitable for swimming because of really strong currents / rocky entrances or seaweed. Some of the beaches I really liked and enjoyed in Seychelles are below.

Best beaches in Seychelles (in my humble opinion):

1. Port Launay Beach in Mahe
2. Anse Lazio in Praslin
3. Anse Takamaka in Mahe
4. Anse Source D’Argent in La Digue
5. Grand Anse in La Digue

Is Seychelles a good snorkelling destination?

If you’re going to Seychelles just because of snorkelling, you might want to pick another destination. Even though snorkelling in Seychelles is good, it’s nowhere close to the Maldives or Indonesia, for example. In fact, I was trying very hard to find really good snorkelling spots in Seychelles, and I found nothing in Praslin, only 1 place in La Digue and only 1 beach for snorkelling in Mahe.

All the good snorkelling spots in Seychelles are located around some small private or uninhabited islands and you need to purchase a special tour to go there. Again, you will be in a group and probably won’t be able to enjoy snorkelling at your own pace.

Where to snorkel in Seychelles? My favourite snorkelling spot in Seychelles was Port Launay beach in Mahe and my second favourite was Anse Source D’Argent in La Digue.

What to pack for Seychelles? Essentials to bring to Seychelles

Now, my favourite part: what to pack for Seychelles and what are the essentials that you must bring to Seychelles with you.

It goes without saying that you need to bring swimwear and bikinis, as you will be swimming a lot in Seychelles. I always buy my swimsuits on ASOS: they are affordable and I can have many instead on 1 expensive bikini.

I found the sun in Seychelles very aggressive, so I recommend bringing a GOOD SPF50 cream for your skin and at least SPF 30 for your face. I also used my BB cream from Erborian that also has SPF when I wasn’t going to swim.

Seychelles is an okay snorkelling destination (if you check the snorkelling section above, you will find out more about the topic): there are certain beaches with a lot of corals and fishes and I was happy that I brought my Helloyee snorkelling mask with me.

What else to pack for Seychelles?

I also brought my action camera to film fishes (it doesn’t require a special underwater case, which saves space in the luggage) and the drone – DJI Spark for drone photos.

We also bought a lot of small snacks, as we were renting a car in Seychelles and weren’t sure if we would have time for eating outside. Some snacks we brought included granola, protein bars and rice crackers.

What else to pack for Seychelles is totally up to you, but I would recommend some really comfortable sandals, especially if you’re going to go to the National Parks in Praslin and Mahe and if you’re going to rent a bicycle in La Digue.

Renting a car in Seychelles: is it worth it?

Finally, in the last part of this guide to Seychelles, let’s talk about renting a car in Mahe and Praslin: the two biggest Seychelles islands. If you want to explore Seychelles and visit a couple of beaches, restaurants and landmarks, I would definitely recommend you renting a car, as the public transport in Seychelles is not something you could rely on.

In Praslin, we rented our car through Capricorn Car rental. We got a very nice and new automatic car and the owner was really nice to us. On Mahe, we rented through a company which I wouldn’t recommend because of poor communication and old cars. Instead, try to book a car from a big international company in Mahe, e.g. try to find something through Rentalcars.com

The best tours to take in Seychelles

Finally, let’s talk about tours! We love tours as they allow you to learn more about the places from the locals and allow you to access places you wouldn’t be able to access on your own!

If you’re in Mahe, consider taking the Reef snorkelling safari at St. Anne Marine Park.

If you’re in Praslin, there tours are a great option:

Curieuse St. Pierre Anse La Farine Glass Boat Tour

Cocos, Felicite & La Digue Islands Tour

or Anse Georgette, Curieuse, St Pierre Private Boat Trip

It’s time to finish this guide to Seychelles – hopefully, you found a lot of information! If that was not enough, I’ve got more blog posts about Seychelles on Tripsget:

Are Seychelles worth it? How not to be disappointed in the Seychelles
Most Instagrammable locations in the Seychelles
Best island to stay in Seychelles: Mahe, Praslin or La Digue
Itinerary for 5 days in Seychelles and tips for Seychelles on a budget