For a Moyenne or marine park day, stay on Eden Island: Eden Bleu Hotel is a short walk from the boats. For a beach holiday, stay at Beau Vallon, about 10 to 15 minutes from the boats by road, where the biggest hotels get tour pickups. Victoria suits budgets without a car.
Where you stay on Mahé decides how your marine park day starts. Boats to Moyenne and the Ste Anne Marine National Park leave from two places on the east side of the island: Eden Island Marina and the quays in Victoria. Stay on Eden Island and you walk to the boat. Stay at Beau Vallon, the main beach area, and you face 10 to 15 minutes in a car or a hotel pickup.
Our short answer: Eden Island for a boat-focused trip, Beau Vallon for a beach holiday, Victoria for a tight budget. The rest of this page shows why, area by area, with 12 places to stay.
Drive times below come from the OSRM route planner on OpenStreetMap data and assume empty roads. GOV.UK describes Mahé’s roads as “narrow and winding”, and the government launched a park-and-ride in December 2025 to ease traffic in Victoria, so treat every figure as a minimum.
| Area | To Eden Island Marina | To Victoria boat quay | Beach | Tour pickups (sourced) | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eden Island | 0.4 km, walk | about 7 minutes without traffic | Marina, not a beach resort | Creole Travel Services catamaran, 9:25 am | No car, boat trips, short stays |
| Roche Caiman | about 4 minutes without traffic | about 7 minutes without traffic | No beach | Not found | Couples, first or last night |
| Victoria and Bel Air | about 7 minutes without traffic | about 4 minutes without traffic | Town, no beach | Not found | Budget, no car |
| East coast (Anse aux Pins) | about 11 minutes without traffic | about 14 minutes without traffic | East coast | Not found | Early flights, budget |
| Beau Vallon | about 14 to 15 minutes without traffic | about 10 to 11 minutes without traffic | Almost 2 km of sand, lifeguards | Creole catamaran at Berjaya, 8:50 am | Beach holidays, families |
| Cerf Island | By boat | By boat | Cerf’s beaches and reefs | Not applicable | Couples, snorkellers |
“Not found” means no operator listing names a pickup there, not that tours refuse to collect you.
Eden Island is a man-made island joined to Mahé by a bridge, with homes, a marina and the Eden Plaza shopping centre. Our Eden Island guide covers it in full.
The only hotel on the island sits beside Eden Plaza and the marina. Eden Island Marina is about 0.4 km away, a walk, and Victoria’s quay is about 7 minutes without traffic. Several diving, fishing and charter firms have offices on the island. Creole Travel Services lists an Eden Island pickup at 9:25 am for its Moyenne catamaran.
The airport is about 9 minutes without traffic. We found no published room rate.
Who it suits: travellers without a car, couples, and anyone spending the first or last night of a trip near the boats. Eden Bleu on Booking.com · official site
The developer sells one- to three-bedroom apartments and larger villas and says they suit the holiday rental market. Private owners and agencies let them, so there’s no single booking channel. Worth a look for families or groups who want a kitchen next to the marina.
On the Providence Highway waterfront between Eden Island and Victoria, in the building of the former Wharf Hotel. It has its own marina, complimentary parking and arranges boat tours and island hopping itself. Eden Island Marina is about 4 minutes without traffic and Victoria’s quay about 7. There is no beach.
Who it suits: couples who want a small boutique hotel near the airport and the boats. L’Escale on Booking.com · official site
The cheapest sourced bed on this page. Hotel Bel Air is on Bel Air Road with 8 air-conditioned rooms (4 twin, 4 double), free parking, and car hire on site with 10% off rentals of 3 days or more. It says the botanical garden and Victoria’s market are within walking distance, and it can arrange marine park day trips. The boat quay is about 4 minutes without traffic, Eden Island Marina about 7.
Price (official homepage, checked October 2026): double rooms from €145 a night, twin rooms from €120. The page says prices are “exclusive of” something but the text is cut off, so ask what is added before you book.
Who it suits: budget travellers and anyone without a car, since the bus station and town are on foot. Hotel Bel Air on Booking.com · official site
A small guesthouse off the East Coast Road at Anse aux Pins, described on the KOEK booking platform as an affordable transit hotel 7 minutes’ drive from the airport. Eden Island Marina is about 11 minutes without traffic, Victoria’s quay about 14. Its Booking.com listing mentions a free airport shuttle for stays of 3 nights or more. You’ll need a taxi or bus to reach the boats.
Who it suits: late arrivals, early departures, budget stays. Le Chateau Bleu on Booking.com
Beau Vallon is a bay on the north-west coast with almost 2 km of sand, and one of only three beaches in Seychelles with lifeguards, per the Tourism Department’s safety guide. It faces the other way from the marine park: no boats to Moyenne leave from Beau Vallon, so you rely on a hotel pickup or a drive to the east side. More on the beach in our Beau Vallon guide.
On Bel Ombre Road. Victoria’s quay is about 11 minutes without traffic, Eden Island Marina about 14. This is the one Beau Vallon hotel with a sourced Moyenne pickup: Creole Travel Services lists “Berjaya Beau-Vallon Bay” at 8:50 am and says the tour includes landing fees in the marine park and on Moyenne. That catamaran is the operator behind our top pick, the Saint-Anne Marine Park and Moyenne Island Cruise.
Who it suits: families and mid-range budgets who want a beach and a pickup at the door. Berjaya on Booking.com · official site
In the middle of Beau Vallon beach, with 162 rooms, a pool, five restaurants and two bars. Its Booking.com listing mentions free parking and excursions arranged on request, and a car-hire firm is based at the hotel. Victoria’s quay is about 10 minutes without traffic, Eden Island Marina about 14.
Who it suits: couples and families who want to be on the sand at a mid-range price. Coral Strand on Booking.com · official site
On Beau Vallon beach, with 163 rooms and a kids club. Victoria’s quay is about 11 minutes without traffic, Eden Island Marina about 15.
Who it suits: families and a bigger budget. Savoy on Booking.com · official site
The former H Resort Beau Vallon Beach, on Bel Ombre Road. It calls itself a 10-minute drive from Victoria and about 30 minutes from the airport, offers free secure parking on direct bookings, and has family suites and villas. Victoria’s quay is about 11 minutes without traffic.
Who it suits: couples and families at the top end. STORY on Booking.com · official site
Moyenne is a short hop from any of these islands, but none of their official pages offers a Moyenne trip, so you’d still book a tour or charter. See our marine park guide for the islands themselves.
Cerf Island Resort has 24 villas on the hillside. Published rates for the standard season (to 22 December 2026, then 8 January to 31 October 2027, checked October 2026) run from €415 to €486 a night for two with breakfast, including 15% VAT. A return boat transfer is compulsory at €30 per person. Only children over 7 are accepted. Cerf Island Resort on Booking.com · official site
L’Habitation Cerf Island has 14 rooms near the beach and runs its own taxi boat from Eden Island. Its transfer terms differ between Booking.com and an agent listing, so confirm with the hotel. L’Habitation on Booking.com
Club Med Seychelles is the only resort on Ste Anne Island, all-inclusive, with kids clubs. It is not on Booking.com; book through Club Med.
Enchanted Island Resort on Round Island is listed by both Marriott and JA Resorts, and its Booking.com listing showed as closed when we checked in October 2026. Check with the resort directly.
Without a pickup, the SPTC bus works for most areas. Routes 3 and 30 run from Victoria to Roche Caiman, the nearest stops for Eden Island, and routes 20, 21 and 22 run to Beau Vallon (SPTC timetable, August 2026). Buses are cashless: pay by card or app, or buy a visitor pass from SCR 100 for a day (sptc.sc, checked October 2026). Buses thin out after about 6.30 pm.
Taxis are the other option. The last published cap (May 2023) on Mahé was R50 for the first kilometre and R40 for each one after; we found no later revision, so confirm the fare with the driver before you set off. The map of Mahé shows where each area sits.
Comparing Mahé with Praslin and La Digue first? Start with where to stay in Seychelles.
7 hours
A catamaran day in the marine park with snorkel stops, a Creole lunch and a guided walk among the tortoises on Moyenne, with the island landing fee already paid.
from$158
Check availability7 hours
Reef viewing from a semi-submersible, a snorkel, a buffet lunch with live music, then time ashore on Moyenne to find the tortoises and the old graves.
from$141
Check availability6-6.5 hours
The cheapest and most-booked marine park day: glass-bottom boat from Eden Island, snorkelling, the Round and Long Island sandbank, a stop at Moyenne and a beach barbecue on Cerf.
from$84
Check availabilityPrices and ratings were taken from GetYourGuide and can change. Booking through these links supports this site at no extra cost to you.
It depends on the trip. Eden Island is best for boat trips into the Ste Anne Marine Park, because the marina is on the doorstep. Beau Vallon is best for a beach holiday and has the most hotels. Victoria and Bel Air suit budgets and travellers without a car. The south and east coast near the airport suit late arrivals and early flights.
Eden Island if boats are the point of the trip: Eden Bleu Hotel is about 0.4 km from Eden Island Marina, where glass-bottom and semi-submarine trips leave. Beau Vallon if you want a long sandy beach outside your room. It sits on the other side of Mahé from the marine park, about 15 minutes from Eden Island by road without traffic.
No. Moyenne has no hotel and no permanent population apart from staff, so every visit is a day trip. The nearest beds are on Cerf Island, about 2 km away inside the same marine park, where Cerf Island Resort and L'Habitation take guests. Club Med is on Ste Anne Island, and both Ste Anne and Round Island are closed to day visitors.
GOV.UK warns that Beau Vallon can have dangerous rip currents in rough seas and advises watching for theft at Beau Vallon and in Victoria's back streets, especially at night. Mahé's roads are narrow and winding, so allow more time than any map suggests. Use licensed boat operators only; the Tourism Department says unlicensed charters are not insured.
Many do. Creole Travel Services' Moyenne catamaran lists pickups at Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay at 8:50 am and at Eden Island at 9:25 am on its Manawa listing, and charges extra elsewhere. Civitatis collects from north-coast hotels between 8:10 and 8:30 am. Check the pickup point on your booking before you choose a hotel far from Victoria.
Stay on Mahé if it's your first trip, your stay is short, or you want the Ste Anne Marine Park: the airport and the boats are there.
Eden Island is a man-made residential and marina island joined to Mahé by a bridge, between Victoria and the airport.
Mahé's marine park side is the north-east coast.
You visit Moyenne on a day boat trip from Victoria or Eden Island on Mahé.