The Seychelles archipelago scatters 115 granite and coral islands across 1.4 million square kilometres of the Indian Ocean, yet fewer than a dozen support human settlement. The rest remain the domain of Aldabra giant tortoises, breeding frigatebirds, and hawksbill turtles that nest on beaches reachable only by boat.
Curieuse Island, five kilometres north of Praslin, shelters one of only two populations of coco de mer palms growing in the wild; the conservation fee that funds the Curieuse Marine National Park sustains both the giant tortoise breeding programme and the mangrove boardwalks that thread through Baie Laraie. St. Pierre, a single granite outcrop crowned by five coconut palms, offers drop-off snorkeling over Porites coral gardens frequented by octopus and juvenile blacktip reef sharks.
Seychelles boat tours link Praslin and Mahé to the inner islands that define the archipelago's ecological identity. The Ste. Anne Marine Park, established in 1973 as the first marine protected area in the Indian Ocean, encloses six islands within a no-take zone patrolled by the Seychelles Parks and Gardens Authority. Moyenne Island, privately restored over four decades by the late Brendon Grimshaw, now hosts endemic Wright's gardenia and a population of Aldabra tortoises introduced in the 1970s. Catamaran excursions to Ste. Anne depart from Mahé's eastern coast, while speedboat operators based at Côte d'Or launch daily to Curieuse and the granite outcrops of St. Pierre, where visibility exceeds thirty metres during the calmer months between April and October.
The conservation fee collected at Curieuse Marine National Park—300 Seychellois rupees per non-resident adult as of 2026—channels directly into habitat restoration and anti-poaching patrols. Tour operators hold permits issued by the SPGA, which caps daily visitor numbers to prevent trampling of nesting sites and coral damage from anchoring. Most island hopping tours include snorkeling equipment, a Creole barbecue lunch served on Curieuse's Anse St. José beach, and a guided walk to the restored colonial doctor's house that once served the island's leper colony. The granite boulders of Anse Lazio, visible from the northern approach to Curieuse, frame one of the most photographed coastlines in the archipelago, though the beach itself remains accessible only by land from Praslin.
7 hr
