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. Pick Praslin for beaches and the Vallée de Mai at a slower pace. La Digue suits a few quiet days by bike. Many visitors split a stay between two.
Stay on Mahé for a first or short trip. The international airport, Victoria, the boats to the Ste Anne Marine Park and Moyenne, and most of the hotels are all on Mahé, and the ferries to the other islands leave from there too. Choose Praslin if beaches and the Vallée de Mai matter more than anything else. Add La Digue for two or three slow days at the end.
If you have more than a week, split the stay. The ferry makes it simple, and each island is better for a different kind of day.
| Mahé | Praslin | La Digue | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Size | About 157 km², the largest island | Second largest | 10.08 km² |
| Getting there | International airport | Ferry 1 h 15 min from Victoria, or a domestic flight | Ferry 1 h 10 min direct from Victoria, or 15 min from Praslin; no airport |
| Getting around | Car hire, SPTC buses, taxis | Car hire, SPTC buses, taxis | Bicycle; few private cars |
| Signature sights | Ste Anne Marine Park and Moyenne, Morne Seychellois National Park, Victoria | Vallée de Mai (UNESCO), Anse Lazio, Curieuse | Anse Source d’Argent, Veuve Reserve |
| Beaches with lifeguards | Beau Vallon | Anse Lazio, Côte d’Or | None |
| Best for | First trips, short stays, boat days | Beach-first trips | Slow days, cycling |
Sources for the table: Wikipedia for island sizes and La Digue transport, Cat Cocos for crossing times, the Tourism Department’s Beach and Sea Safety Guide for lifeguards. Car hire is available only on Mahé and Praslin, per the Seychelles Tourism Board.
Mahé holds about 86% of the population and is about 26 km long by 17 km wide. In practice that means the widest range of hotels, from small Victoria guesthouses to big Beau Vallon resorts, and the most to do without getting on a boat: the trails of the Morne Seychellois National Park, the botanical garden in Victoria, and beaches on every coast.
It’s also the only island with the Ste Anne Marine Park on its doorstep. Moyenne, the island this site is about, sits about 4 km from Eden Island Marina. Day trips there start from Victoria or Eden Island, and many include a hotel pickup. From Praslin or La Digue you’d need a ferry to Mahé first, which makes a Moyenne day hard to fit in.
Where on Mahé depends on your plans. Eden Island is a walk from the marine park boats. Beau Vallon is the main beach area. Victoria suits a budget. Our where to stay in Mahé guide compares 12 hotels by area, with drive times to the boats and Booking.com links.
Praslin is about 45 km north-east of Mahé. Its headline sight is the Vallée de Mai, a palm forest of about 19.5 ha and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983, where the coco de mer grows and the Seychelles black parrot nests. Anse Lazio is on the north coast, and Curieuse, with hundreds of giant tortoises introduced from 1978, is a 20-minute boat ride from Côte d’Or.
We haven’t verified Praslin hotels, so we won’t name any. For areas, a travel blog (We Seek Travel, updated July 2025) describes Anse Volbert, also called Côte d’Or, as the most popular base, with a strip of hotels and restaurants. Grand Anse is close to Praslin’s airport, so people who fly in often stay there. Baie Ste Anne is near the ferry jetty, and Anse Kerlan is near Anse Lazio. Côte d’Or is also one of the two Praslin beaches with lifeguards.
Getting there: Cat Cocos takes 1 hour 15 minutes from Victoria, and Ferryscanner showed economy fares of roughly €45 to €60 one way in October 2026. Air Seychelles flies Twin Otters between Mahé and Praslin and says it runs up to 30 round trips a day; the domestic terminal on Mahé is a two-minute walk from the international one.
La Digue is small, at 10.08 km², with about 2,800 people in 2014. Bicycles are the main way around, rented near the ferry pier at La Passe, and there are few private cars. There is no airport, so you arrive by ferry: 15 minutes from Praslin or 1 hour 10 minutes direct from Mahé.
The draw is Anse Source d’Argent, reached through L’Union Estate, which charges an entry fee, and the Veuve Reserve, home of the Seychelles paradise flycatcher. Ile Cocos, which SPGA describes as the best-known snorkelling spot in Seychelles, is about 10 minutes by boat. Two or three nights is enough for most people. If you only want the beach, a day trip from Mahé or Praslin covers it.
One simple plan is Mahé first, then Praslin or La Digue, then back to Mahé for the flight home. The order matters less than the last night: spend the night before an international flight on Mahé, so a weather delay on the ferry cannot cost you the flight.
If you’d rather keep one hotel, stay on Mahé and take day trips. GetYourGuide lists Praslin and La Digue days from Mahé at $171 (La Digue by boat with bike hire) up to $298 (both islands with the Vallée de Mai), checked October 2026. Our island-hopping guide covers the ferries in more detail.
The wind changes which coast is calm. GOV.UK advises that the east coast is unsafe for swimming during the south-east winds (around May to September) and the west coast is unsafe during the north-west monsoon (around December to March). On Mahé, that favours Beau Vallon on the north-west coast in the middle of the year. The marine park lies off Mahé’s north-east coast, so boat trips there can be choppier from May to September. See the best time to visit Seychelles for the month-by-month picture.
11 hours
A long catamaran day that goes inside the Vallée de Mai forest on Praslin, then takes an ox-cart to L'Union Estate and Anse Source d'Argent on La Digue.
from$298
Check availability10 hours
A two-island day that walks you through the Vallée de Mai's coco de mer forest before a swim at Anse Source d'Argent.
from$284
Check availability10 hours
A cheaper two-island day with Anse Lazio on Praslin and Anse Source d'Argent on La Digue; note it only stops outside the Vallée de Mai.
from$223
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Ferry tickets, a bike and L'Union Estate entry, then a free day to cycle La Digue at your own pace.
from$171
Check availabilityPrices and ratings were taken from GetYourGuide and can change. Booking through these links supports this site at no extra cost to you.
For most first visits, Mahé. The international airport, the capital Victoria, the Ste Anne Marine Park boats and most hotels are there, and ferries to Praslin and La Digue leave from Victoria. Praslin is the pick for a beach-first trip with the Vallée de Mai nearby. La Digue suits a short, slow stay at the end of a trip.
Mahé if you have under a week or want day trips into the marine park, the national park trails and Victoria. Praslin if you'd rather spend most days on the beach and visit the Vallée de Mai and Curieuse. The Cat Cocos ferry between them takes 1 hour 15 minutes, so splitting a stay between the two is easy.
There is no official ranking, and it depends what you want to see. La Digue has Anse Source d'Argent, reached through L'Union Estate. Praslin has the Vallée de Mai, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with coco de mer palms, and Anse Lazio. Mahé has the Morne Seychellois National Park, more than a fifth of the island, and the marine park islands, including Moyenne.
No month is closed, but each has a catch. January is the wettest month at the airport, with 426.6 mm of rain on average (1991-2020 normals). From about May to September the south-east trade winds make some coasts choppy; GOV.UK calls the east coast unsafe for swimming then. April-May and October-November usually bring the calmest seas for boat trips.
Yes. Cat Cocos sails from Victoria to Praslin in 1 hour 15 minutes and to La Digue in 1 hour 10 minutes direct. Organised day trips from Mahé cost $171 to $298 on GetYourGuide (checked October 2026), depending on whether they include the Vallée de Mai, a bike or a catamaran. It is a long day of 8 to 11 hours.
For a Moyenne or marine park day, stay on Eden Island: Eden Bleu Hotel is a short walk from the boats.
Seychelles island hopping runs on the Cat Cocos ferry: 1 hour 15 minutes from Mahé to Praslin, then 15 minutes on to La Digue.
The best time to visit Seychelles is April to May or October to November.
Seychelles can be expensive, but day-to-day fees are modest.