Mahé vs Praslin vs La Digue

Mahé vs Praslin vs La Digue? For a first luxury trip to Seychelles with a week to spend, split your nights between Mahé and Praslin and keep La Digue for either a day across by ferry or two final nights. Mahé is the easiest base, because every international flight lands there and it has the widest choice of hotels and restaurants. Praslin has the best balance of famous beaches, the Vallée de Mai forest and polished resorts. La Digue is the slow island: bicycles, granite boulders and Anse Source d’Argent, with a short list of places to stay.

Quick answer: Mahé, Praslin or La Digue?

My short version: Praslin is the best single base if beaches are the point of the trip, Mahé is the better single base for four or five nights or for long-haul arrivals late in the day, and La Digue works best as an add-on. The three islands are close (Praslin is about 45 kilometres from Mahé, and La Digue sits a few kilometres east of Praslin), but every move involves checking out, a transfer and checking in again, so fewer moves usually means a better holiday.

Getting between the islands: ferries, flights and getting around

Cat Cocos ferry. The Cat Cocos catamaran runs from Victoria’s Inter-Island Quay on Mahé to Baie Sainte Anne on Praslin in about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, with several sailings a day; some continue to La Digue, and Cat Cocos also lists a Mahé–La Digue service of around 1 hour 10 minutes direct. Recent one-way fares for visitors have been roughly €54–€74 per person depending on deck and date, with business class costing more. Book ahead in high season, check the luggage rules for large cases, and pick the upper deck or business class if you are prone to seasickness, because the crossing can be lively from May to September.

Prices are indicative and were last updated in October 2026. Rates change with season, exchange rates and availability, so check live prices before booking.

Air Seychelles domestic flights. Small Twin Otter aircraft shuttle between Mahé and Praslin in about 15–20 minutes, with up to 20 or so flights a day in busy periods. One-way fares for visitors have typically been around US$70–US$120 per person. The big advantage is that you fly straight from the international terminal area, so you can connect from a morning long-haul arrival without going into Victoria. On a standalone domestic ticket, Air Seychelles currently lets you bring 23kg in the hold and 5kg in the cabin; if your domestic leg is on the same ticket as your international flight, your international allowance applies.

Praslin to La Digue. The Inter Island Ferry crossing from Baie Sainte Anne to La Passe takes about 15 minutes and costs around €19 per person each way, with the first boats from about 7am and the last from Praslin in the late afternoon. There is no airstrip on La Digue; the only other options are a private boat or a helicopter.

Getting around. On Mahé and Praslin, a hire car gives you the most freedom. Small cars typically cost around €45–€60 a day, driving is on the left, and the mountain roads are narrow and steep, so allow more time than the map suggests. La Digue has very few cars: you get around by bicycle (usually SCR 100–150 a day, around US$7–US$11), on foot or by electric taxi buggy, and most hotels arrange bike hire for you.

Mahé: the easiest base, with more range than you might expect

Mahé is the largest island and home to most of the population, the capital Victoria and the international airport. It is often dismissed as a transit stop, which undersells it. The granite peaks of the Morne Seychellois National Park rise above more than 60 beaches, and the hikes to Anse Major or up Copolia give you views that the smaller islands cannot. Victoria’s Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke Market is the best place to see local fish, spices and fruit, and the island has by far the most independent restaurants.

Best beaches on Mahé: Beau Vallon on the north-west coast is the long, lively beach with water sports and the Wednesday evening Bazar Labrin street market. In the south, Anse Intendance is wild and beautiful, though surf can make swimming difficult in the south-east trade-wind months. Anse Takamaka, Petite Anse and Anse Louis are quieter, and the Port Launay and Baie Ternay marine parks on the north-west tip give the best snorkelling from shore. Swimming conditions change with the season, so check which coast is sheltered in the month you travel.

The downside is size. A resort on the south-west coast can be 40 minutes or more from Victoria, so plan on a hire car or a driver for at least a couple of days.

Four Seasons Resort Seychelles: best for a hillside pool villa above a calm bay

Four Seasons sits on the hillside above Petite Anse on Mahé’s south-west coast, with 67 villas and suites plus private residences, most of them with their own plunge pool and ocean views through the trees. The beach below is one of the most sheltered on this side of the island, so swimming is usually easier here than at nearby surf beaches. Dining runs from the open-air ZEZ to the South-East Asian Kannel and a Japanese-inspired restaurant, and the spa sits high on the hill with sweeping views.

• Best for: a Mahé base with every service on site and a beach you can swim from, for couples or families
• Location: south-west Mahé at Petite Anse; the airport drive takes around 30–40 minutes
• Rates: garden view villas start at around US$1,750 a night in low season and around US$2,200 in high season, with breakfast, before service and taxes; festive dates cost far more
• Don’t miss: sunset from the hilltop spa and a morning swim before the bay gets busy

Good to know: the villas climb a steep hillside and you travel by buggy, so request a villa lower down if you want to stroll to the sand on foot.

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Anantara Maia Seychelles Villas: best for privacy and butler service

Anantara Maia has just 30 villas on a headland above Anse Louis, each with its own infinity pool, an outdoor sala and a dedicated butler on call around the clock. With so few guests, the beach and restaurant rarely feel busy, and in-villa dining is part of the routine for many couples. It is one of the closest of Mahé’s top resorts to the airport, which helps after a long-haul arrival. Choose it for seclusion; if you want lots of restaurants or a busy activity programme, a larger resort will suit you better.

• Best for: honeymooners and couples who want privacy over facilities
• Location: Anse Louis, west Mahé, around 25 minutes from the airport
• Rates: breakfast-inclusive stays start at around US$1,900 a night in low season and around US$2,150 in high season, before taxes
• Don’t miss: a private dinner on the villa deck arranged through your butler

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Constance Ephelia: best for families and active couples

As a base, Constance Ephelia gives you a whole estate of about 120 hectares at Port Launay, at the far north-west of Mahé, and two beaches that look onto the marine national park. Junior suites make up most of the rooms, alongside senior suites, family villas and pool villas on the hillside and by the beach. Between its five restaurants, a choice of pools, the kids’ club, tennis courts, zipline, dive centre and big spa, it is the most self-contained resort on Mahé. The snorkelling just offshore in the marine park is some of the best you can reach from a hotel beach on the island.

• Best for: families and couples who want plenty to do on site
• Location: the north-west corner of Mahé at Port Launay, roughly 45 minutes’ drive from the airport
• Rates: garden rooms with breakfast start at around US$500 a night, and junior suites at around US$630 in low season and US$700 in high season, before taxes
• Don’t miss: snorkelling in the Port Launay Marine National Park

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Praslin: the best balance of beaches, nature and resort time

Praslin is the second-largest granitic island, much quieter than Mahé, and it holds two of the reasons people come to Seychelles at all. The UNESCO-listed Vallée de Mai protects a forest of coco de mer palms, which produce the largest seed in the plant kingdom, along with the rare black parrot. Entry is currently around SCR 450 per person (roughly US$32), and an early-morning visit is cooler and quieter. Then there is Anse Lazio on the north-west tip, a curve of white sand between granite boulders with clear, calm water for most of the year.

Best beaches on Praslin: Anse Lazio is the headline, and at its calmest in April–May and October–November between the trade winds. Anse Georgette, on the grounds of Constance Lémuria, is often ranked alongside it; outside guests normally need to register at the resort gate in advance, and numbers are limited. Côte d’Or (Anse Volbert) is the long, gentle beach with cafés and boat trips to Curieuse, where giant tortoises roam freely and a boardwalk crosses the mangroves, and to St Pierre for snorkelling.

Praslin is also the most convenient base for La Digue: with a 15-minute ferry, you can be cycling to Anse Source d’Argent by mid-morning. Three or four nights gives you time for the forest, a beach day, a boat trip and La Digue without rushing.

Raffles Seychelles: best for a pool villa with island views

Basing yourself at Raffles means one of 86 villas terraced above Anse Takamaka on the north-east coast of Praslin, each with its own plunge pool and outdoor pavilion, and many with views across to Curieuse. Dining is varied for Praslin, with the Mediterranean-leaning Losean, seafood at Curieuse and several other bars and restaurants, plus private beach dinners. It is the most complete luxury resort on Praslin and suits couples who want a villa as the centre of the holiday.

• Best for: couples and honeymooners who want a private-pool villa on Praslin
• Location: on Praslin’s north-east coast at Anse Takamaka, a drive of around 20 minutes from Praslin airport
• Rates: from around US$850 a night for a hillside pool villa with breakfast, before taxes; high-season rates vary widely, so check live prices
• Don’t miss: a boat trip to the tortoises on Curieuse

Good to know: the hillside villas have the best views but involve buggy rides; ask for a lower or beachfront category if you want to walk to the sand.

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Constance Lémuria: best for golf and Anse Georgette on your doorstep

Constance Lémuria occupies a whole headland at the north-west end of Praslin, with three beaches (Anse Georgette among them) and the only 18-hole championship golf course in Seychelles, so you rarely need to leave. Most of its 105 units are junior suites; the rest are a few senior suites, pool villas and one presidential villa. There are four restaurants and five bars, a dive centre, a kids’ club and a spa, and resident guests have easy access to Anse Georgette without the advance registration outsiders need.

• Best for: golfers, families and anyone who wants easy access to Anse Georgette
• Location: north-west Praslin at Anse Kerlan, roughly 10 minutes by car from Praslin airport
• Rates: junior suites with breakfast start at around US$900 a night in low season and around US$1,100 in high season, before taxes
• Don’t miss: Anse Georgette first thing, while it is still empty of day visitors

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La Digue: stay for the rhythm, not a long resort list

La Digue is about five kilometres long, and the best way to see it is by bike. From the jetty at La Passe, it is a flat ride south through the village to L’Union Estate, where an entry fee (around SCR 150 per person) covers the old copra plantation, giant tortoises and the path to Anse Source d’Argent. Expect a chain of little coves framed by sculpted pink granite, with shallow, clear water behind a reef. It is at its best at low to mid tide and early in the morning, before the boats from Praslin arrive; at high tide some coves almost disappear.

Other beaches on La Digue: on the east coast, Grand Anse, Petite Anse and Anse Cocos are wilder and very scenic, but strong currents and surf make them unsafe for swimming much of the year, particularly in the south-east trade-wind months. Anse Sévère and Anse Patates in the north are calmer and good for snorkelling. The Veuve Reserve protects the black flycatcher known locally as the veuve, a rare bird found almost only on La Digue.

A day trip from Praslin shows you the highlights, but sleeping on La Digue gives you the island in the early morning and evening, when it is at its quietest. Two nights is the sweet spot. Accommodation is mostly small guesthouses and boutique hotels; there is one property here with the feel of a full resort.

Le Domaine de L’Orangeraie: best for a resort-style stay on La Digue

Le Domaine de L’Orangeraie climbs a granite hillside above Anse Sévère on La Digue’s north-west coast, a short ride from the jetty at La Passe. Its villas are built from natural wood and stone, many with sea views, and the higher categories add private pools. The Eden Rock spa sits on a granite outcrop with views to Praslin, and the resort has two restaurants, including the à la carte Combava. It is the closest thing La Digue has to a luxury resort.

• Best for: couples who want resort comforts with La Digue’s slow pace
• Location: a few minutes from La Passe jetty at Anse Sévère, on the north-west of La Digue
• Rates: breakfast-inclusive rooms start at around US$450 a night in low season and around US$650 in high season, before taxes
• Don’t miss: a treatment at the Eden Rock spa above the sea

Good to know: the resort arranges bikes, but the hills above it are steep; most of the island’s sights are on the flat coastal road to the south.

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Six Senses Zil Pasyon: best for a private-island finale near La Digue

Six Senses Zil Pasyon is on Félicité, a private island about four kilometres east of La Digue, not on La Digue itself. It has 30 pool villas plus larger residences, set among the island’s granite boulders, with a cliff-top spa and dining that leans on the resort’s own garden. Snorkelling around Félicité and the nearby Marianne and Coco islands is excellent. You can reach La Digue by boat for a day of cycling, but you return to a private island at night, which is a very different experience from staying in La Digue’s village.

• Best for: a private-island end to a Mahé and Praslin trip
• Transfer: about 20 minutes by helicopter or an hour by boat from Mahé, or around 25 minutes by shared speedboat from Praslin or La Digue
• Rates: villas with breakfast start at around US$1,050 a night in low season and around US$1,300 in high season, before taxes and transfers
• Don’t miss: a boat trip to snorkel off Coco Island

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For more on how Félicité compares with North Island, Desroches and the other private islands, see the Seychelles private-island resort guide.

Seasons and sea conditions

Seychelles is warm all year, so season affects which coast is calm and how comfortable the crossings are more than whether to go. The south-east trade winds, roughly May to September, bring cooler, drier weather but choppier seas, seaweed on some south- and east-facing beaches and a bumpier Cat Cocos ride. The north-west monsoon, roughly December to March, is hotter and more humid, with more rain and swell on north-west beaches such as Beau Vallon. April–May and October–November are the calm shoulder months, with the clearest water for snorkelling at Anse Lazio and around Curieuse. For a month-by-month breakdown, see the best time to visit Seychelles guide.

How to split five, seven or ten nights

Two practical rules help. First, if your long-haul flight leaves Mahé early in the day, spend the last night on Mahé instead of relying on a morning ferry or domestic flight. Second, a morning international arrival makes the domestic flight to Praslin the easiest same-day connection, because you stay at the airport. The Seychelles island-hopping itinerary shows a full day-by-day version of the seven-night split.

Where to stay: comparison and verdict

Verdict: if you can choose only one island, I’d choose Praslin for its mix of beaches, forest and resorts, with La Digue an easy day away. Mahé is the better pick for a short trip, a family stay or anyone who wants restaurants and hiking as well as a beach. La Digue is the island to add, not the one to build a first trip around, unless slow days on a bicycle are the whole reason you are going. For most first-time visitors, two islands over seven nights beats three islands squeezed into the same time.

Choose the islands first and the hotels second. The luxury Seychelles cost guide breaks down what a week on Mahé and Praslin typically costs, the best luxury resorts in Seychelles covers more hotels across all the islands, and couples planning a special trip can use the Seychelles honeymoon guide.

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