Maldives vs Seychelles for a Luxury Honeymoon

Maldives vs Seychelles? Choose the Maldives if your honeymoon is about the villa: one private island, a deck over the lagoon and a week of doing very little together. Choose Seychelles if you want scenery and a sense of journey: granite beaches, forested hills, Creole food and two or three islands linked by ferries and short flights. For a five-to-seven-night recovery after the wedding, the Maldives wins. For a ten-night trip with some exploring, Seychelles is the richer choice, and usually the cheaper one.

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Maldives vs Seychelles: the quick comparison

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

Budgets are for two adults excluding international flights. Weighing up a third option as well? My honeymoon islands shortlist for first-timers widens the comparison.

Landscape and beaches

The Maldives is a chain of 26 atolls made of low coral islands, few of them more than a couple of metres above sea level. The view is almost always the same in the best way: white sand, palms and lagoon water in every shade of blue, with the reef a short swim away. Beaches are soft and powdery, and the shallow lagoons are calm for most of the year. What changes from resort to resort is the reef quality, the width of the beach and how far the water villas sit from the shore.

Seychelles looks nothing like that. Mahé, Praslin and La Digue are granite islands with steep green hills, rainforest and huge sculpted boulders running down to the sea. Beaches have strong individual character: Anse Source d’Argent on La Digue, framed by pink-grey granite; Anse Lazio and Anse Georgette on Praslin; Petite Anse on Mahé. Swimming conditions vary by coast and season, and some beaches collect seaweed when the southeast trade winds blow from May to September, so the right beach changes with the month.

Which has the more romantic setting?

The Maldives creates romance through privacy and simplicity. You wake above or beside the water, swim from your deck, have breakfast facing the lagoon and stay barefoot until dinner. Because the islands are low, sea and sky fill almost every view. The classic romantic moments are built for two: a private dinner on a sandbank, a sunset dhoni cruise with spinner dolphins, a meal on your own deck.

Seychelles creates romance through discovery. In one trip you might cycle La Digue’s lanes, explore Praslin’s Vallée de Mai (a UNESCO-listed palm forest where the coco de mer grows), follow the coast path on Mahé to Anse Major, and cross by boat to Curieuse for its giant tortoises, none of which the Maldives can offer. Evenings can be spent at a beach restaurant away from the hotel. The trip has more texture, and more shared stories, but also more planning.

Villas and resort style

The Maldives leads on overwater villas. They range from simple lagoon rooms to vast residences with pools, slides and retractable roofs. Beach villas are often the more private choice, with shade and a strip of sand. The resort model is self-contained: transfers, dining, diving and spa are all arranged by one hotel, which is easy after a wedding but means a poor resort choice affects the whole trip.

Seychelles has almost no overwater villas. Its luxury rooms are hillside and beachfront villas with plunge pools, wide decks and dense planting, often more secluded than a Maldivian water villa. Resorts are generally larger in land area, and on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue you can leave them to eat, swim at another beach or explore. Private islands such as Félicité and North Island bring back the Maldives-style seclusion, at a higher price.

Getting there, transfers and island-hopping

Maldives. You land at Velana International Airport near Malé and continue by speedboat, seaplane or a domestic flight plus boat. If your resort is in North or South Malé Atoll, its speedboat will pick you up whatever time you land. Seaplane resorts are stricter: flights operate in daylight only, with arrivals into Malé needed by about 3.30pm, and Trans Maldivian Airways limits each passenger to 20kg in the hold and 5kg in the cabin. Seychelles has nothing comparable to plan around. Transfers are booked through the resort and can add roughly US$1,700–US$2,700 per couple for a seaplane. Read my speedboat vs seaplane guide before matching flights to a resort.

Seychelles. International flights land on Mahé, where resorts are a road transfer away. Praslin is a 15-minute Air Seychelles flight or about 1 hour 15 minutes on the Cat Cocos fast ferry, with one-way fares from around €55 per person. La Digue is a 15-minute ferry hop from Praslin, and bicycles are the main way to get around once there. Private islands are reached by helicopter or boat. Hiring a car on Mahé or Praslin gives you the most freedom; driving is on the left on narrow, hilly roads.

I’d use no more than three bases in Seychelles and allow at least eight nights. A balanced honeymoon is three nights on Mahé, four on Praslin with a day trip to La Digue, and a private island to finish. My Seychelles island-hopping itinerary sets out the order, and Mahé vs Praslin vs La Digue explains what each island is like.

Weather and the best time to go

Both destinations are warm all year, around 26°C to 31°C. For a January to March wedding, the Maldives has the clearer advantage. For April, May, October or November, Seychelles is at its best, and the Maldives is still good in April. For each month in turn, compare the best time to visit the Maldives with the best time to visit Seychelles.

Cost: which is cheaper?

Seychelles is usually cheaper for the same level of comfort. A seven-night Seychelles honeymoon for two typically comes to US$8,000–US$13,000 excluding international flights, while a comfortable Maldives week is more like US$16,000–US$20,000, and smart-luxury Maldives stays start around US$10,000–US$15,000. Three things widen the gap in the Maldives: you can only eat at your resort, transfers cost extra, and the taxes stack up, with 17% GST, a 10% service charge and the US$12 per person nightly Green Tax. Seychelles has 15% VAT and a nightly environmental levy of up to SCR 100 per person at larger hotels, but you can eat out, use public ferries and choose breakfast-only rates. At the very top, North Island costs around three times as much a night as Soneva Jani. Full breakdowns are in my Maldives cost guide and Seychelles cost guide.

Best Maldives resorts for this honeymoon

Baros Maldives: best for an easy, intimate island

For couples who want the Maldives side of this comparison at its simplest, Baros offers about 75 villas on a leafy North Malé Atoll island, a reef just off the sand and a boat ride short enough for evening arrivals. Its restaurants include the overwater Lighthouse, and the Piano Deck at the end of a jetty hosts private dinners. Honeymoon benefits apply to stays of four nights or more within six months of the wedding.

• Best for: a shorter Maldives honeymoon, around five nights, if you’d prefer to skip the seaplane
• Transfer: 25 minutes by speedboat
• Rates: Deluxe Beach Villas from about US$650 a night from May to October and about US$900 in high season, plus taxes and service
• Don’t miss: a private dinner on the Piano Deck

Check rates for Baros Maldives

Gili Lankanfushi: best for overwater living

Nothing in Seychelles matches the overwater experience here: even the starting Villa Suite at Gili Lankanfushi covers about 210 square metres, putting it among the biggest standard water villas anywhere in the Maldives, and comes with an open-air lounge and a large sundeck. The style is barefoot and unhurried, each villa has a personal host, and the boat-access Crusoe Residences sit alone in the lagoon. It gives you the full overwater fantasy just 20 minutes from the airport.

• Best for: honeymooners for whom the overwater villa is the reason to pick the Maldives
• Transfer: a 20-minute speedboat from the airport
• Rates: a Villa Suite from about US$1,000 a night in low season (May to October) and about US$1,500 in high season, plus taxes and service
• Don’t miss: a sunset dhoni cruise

Check rates for Gili Lankanfushi

Soneva Jani: best for a statement water villa

Soneva Jani in Noonu Atoll is the resort to choose if the villa itself is the honeymoon. The Water Retreats come with a private pool and an enormous deck, and many categories add a lagoon slide and a retractable bedroom roof for watching the stars. An observatory and an open-air cinema add evening plans. It costs more a night than Six Senses Zil Pasyon on its private Seychelles island, though far less than North Island, and needs at least six nights to justify the seaplane.

• Best for: a seven-night honeymoon on a top-end budget
• Transfer: around 45 minutes by seaplane, daylight only
• Rates: a one-bedroom Water Retreat from about US$2,600 a night in low season (May to October) and about US$3,500 in high season, plus taxes and service
• Don’t miss: sleeping under the open roof on a clear night

Check rates for Soneva Jani

For more Maldives options, including adults-only and all-inclusive islands, see the luxury Maldives honeymoon guide.

Best Seychelles resorts for this honeymoon

Four Seasons Resort Seychelles: best Mahé base

Four Seasons sits above Petite Anse, a sheltered bay on Mahé’s quieter southwest coast. Its 67 villas are set into the hillside among granite boulders and forest, each with a plunge pool, and the higher ones have wide views over the bay. The beach is one of the prettiest on Mahé, and the rest of the island is easy to explore by car. It is a strong start to a multi-island honeymoon.

• Best for: privacy with the freedom to explore Mahé
• Transfer: about 30 minutes by car from the airport
• Rates: Garden View Villas from around US$1,750 a night in low season (May to September) and around US$2,200 in high season, with breakfast, before 10% service, 15% VAT and the nightly levy; festive dates run to about US$3,900
• Don’t miss: sunset from a hilltop villa deck over Petite Anse

Good to know: the higher villas mean steep paths and buggy rides, so request one lower down the hill if walking to the beach matters to you.

Check rates for Four Seasons Resort Seychelles

Raffles Seychelles: best for Praslin and La Digue

On Praslin’s northern coast at Anse Takamaka, Raffles has 86 villas, and every one comes with its own plunge pool and an outdoor dining pavilion. Many face Curieuse and the open sea. It is well placed for Anse Lazio, the Vallée de Mai and the ferry to La Digue, and its rates are lower than most Mahé five-star resorts.

• Best for: the central stop of a Seychelles island-hopping honeymoon
• Transfer: 15-minute flight from Mahé, then a short drive; or the Cat Cocos ferry
• Rates: Hillside Garden View Pool Villas from around US$850 a night in low season (June to September and mid-January to March), with breakfast, before 15% VAT and the nightly levy; high-season rates are on request, and festive dates reach about US$2,200
• Don’t miss: a morning at Anse Lazio before the day-trippers arrive

Check rates for Raffles Seychelles

Six Senses Zil Pasyon: best private-island finale

Six Senses has the granite island of Félicité, roughly six kilometres off La Digue, almost to itself, with only about 30 pool villas tucked between the boulders. The spa is built into the rocks with views across to La Digue and Praslin. It gives you private-island seclusion with the main islands still close enough for a day out, which makes it the natural last stop.

• Best for: ending a Seychelles honeymoon with three or four quiet nights
• Transfer: a boat of 20–25 minutes from Praslin or 10–15 from La Digue, or a helicopter of about 20 minutes from Mahé
• Rates: Hideaway Pool Villas from around US$1,050 a night in low season (June to September and mid-January to March) and around US$1,300 in high season, breakfast included, before 15% VAT and the nightly levy; festive dates reach about US$3,450
• Don’t miss: a treatment in the clifftop spa

Good to know: budget for the boat from Praslin, at around €300 per boat each way for up to four people, so about €150 each for a couple.

Check rates for Six Senses Zil Pasyon

North Island: best for a no-limits splurge

North Island has just 11 villas on a private island north of Mahé, reached only by helicopter. Each villa is built from local timber and stone, with a plunge pool and outdoor showers, and one of them is set apart on a rock as a honeymoon villa. Stays are fully inclusive, with no fixed menus. It is one of the most expensive honeymoons in the Indian Ocean and one of the most private.

• Best for: honeymooners who will pay almost anything for seclusion
• Transfer: about 15 to 20 minutes by helicopter from Mahé, usually charged separately (price on request), so confirm it when booking
• Rates: a Beachfront Villa from around US$10,550 a night for two, full board with house drinks, before 15% VAT; rates vary widely by date, so check live prices
• Don’t miss: a picnic delivered to an empty beach

Check rates for North Island

More options are in the luxury Seychelles honeymoon guide and the best private island resorts in Seychelles.

Sample honeymoon itineraries

Maldives, seven nights. One resort, ideally a speedboat island if you land in the evening. Start in a beach villa, finish in a water villa, and plan one experience a day: a reef snorkel, a sunset cruise, a spa afternoon and a sandbank dinner.

Seychelles, ten nights. Three nights on Mahé at Four Seasons, with a drive along the west coast and the Anse Major walk. Then four nights at Raffles on Praslin, taking in Anse Lazio, the Vallée de Mai and a day on bikes over on La Digue. Three nights on Félicité at Zil Pasyon to finish with nothing to do.

Both countries. It can be done, but flights between Malé and Mahé usually connect through a Gulf hub, which costs a day. I’d only combine them with 14 nights or more, and I’d put the Maldives last so the trip ends with rest.

Verdict: who should choose which?

Choose the Maldives if you have five to seven nights, the dream is an overwater villa and you want to recover from the wedding with no plans at all. It also suits keen snorkellers and divers and anyone travelling between January and March. Pick the resort carefully, because it is the whole trip.

Choose Seychelles if you have eight nights or more, you like walking, driving and eating out, and you want the honeymoon to feel like a journey. It is the better-value choice, it suits April, May, October and November, and the scenery is far more varied. Accept some repacking and ferry timetables in return.

For pure indulgence, the Maldives wins. For a ten-day honeymoon with more to remember than the view from the deck, I’d choose Seychelles.

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