SEYCHELLES

Mauritius is one of the world's most sophisticated island retreats. It boasts fantastic luxury hotels with modern facilities, white sandy beaches, crystal clear waters, water sports, deep sea fishing, scuba-diving and excellent restaurants, offering the ultimate luxury for beach lovers, and is the perfect honeymoon destination. The island is approximately 1865 km2 with a coastline almost entirely surrounded by coral reefs, a great central plateau and impressive mountains. There are direct flights from London, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Harare to Port Louis, the capital.

Mahé Island is the largest (17 miles long and 5 miles wide) and the access point for international flights It is dominated by granite mountains covered in lush tropical vegetation with the best beaches on the north west side and captures all the delights of the Seychelles with numerous Creole restaurants, craft shops, art galleries and a spectacular fruit and vegetable market in the capital town Victoria. Our recommendations here are Fisherman's Cove and The Plantation Club.

Praslin Island is the second largest island and is home to the unique coco-de-mer, vanilla orchids, many species of lizard and some of the world's rarest birds. All around this lush island there are vast, sculpture like rocks.
Our recommendations here are L'Archipel and La Reserve.

We also recommend spending some time on one of the small, tranquil, remote islands, which can be accessed from Mahé by light aircraft, boat or helicopter.
We recommend Denis Island, Bird Island, Silhouette and La Digue Island.

WHEN TO GO

The Seychelles archipelago lies outside the cyclone belt and enjoys stable, humid weather year-round with an average maximum temperature of 29C, 12 hours of daylight and with the heaviest tropical rainfall between December and February. July and August are the coolest months and March to June and September to December are best for divers, with calm waters.