The Seychelles archipelago scatters 115 granite and coral islands across 1.4 million square kilometres of the western Indian Ocean, yet only three host permanent settlements. The rest remain uninhabited nature reserves, accessible only by boat. The inner islands — Praslin, La Digue, Curieuse, St.
Pierre, Moyenne, and the six islets of St. Anne Marine Park — lie within a 45-kilometre radius of Mahé, close enough for day excursions but remote enough that their beaches and forests remain largely untouched. Catamaran charters became the standard mode of access in the late 1990s, when Seychelles expanded its marine protected areas and sailboat operators secured concessions to land on Curieuse and Moyenne. Unlike monohull vessels, catamarans draw less than a metre of water, allowing them to anchor in shallow lagoons without damaging seagrass beds.
A seychelles catamaran trip typically departs from Côte d'Or on Praslin or Bel Ombre on Mahé, crossing open water to reach outer anchorages where hawksbill turtles feed on sponges and parrotfish graze on coral rubble. St. Pierre, a granite dome 300 metres in diameter, rises 15 metres above the tideline and is ringed by elkhorn coral and schools of blue-striped snapper. Curieuse, once a leper colony, is now home to 300 Aldabra giant tortoises that roam freely through takamaka and badamier groves. Moyenne Island, privately purchased in 1964 by newspaper editor Brendon Grimshaw, was reforested with 16,000 trees over four decades and declared a national park in 2008. The marine park conservation fee — 300 Seychelles rupees per adult — funds patrol boats and mooring buoys that prevent anchor damage.
Sailing excursions in Seychelles operate year-round, though the southeast trade winds between May and September create choppier conditions and reduce underwater visibility. The calmer northwest monsoon, from November through March, brings glassy lagoons and plankton blooms that attract manta rays to shallow reefs. Most island-hopping tours include snorkeling gear, a Creole barbecue prepared on board or ashore, and a naturalist guide who identifies endemic species: the Seychelles sunbird, the Wright's gardenia, the coco de mer palm. Operators limit group sizes to 12 passengers to meet park authority regulations and maintain a low-impact visitor model. The result is a marine environment where hard corals still cover 60 per cent of the substrate, a figure rarely seen elsewhere in the Indian Ocean.
7 hr
