Praslin
The second island of the Seychelles, with an ancient forest of coco de mer palms, boulders at the ends of Anse Lazio, and giant tortoises on the island just offshore.
- Arrival
- Seychelles International, Mahé · SEZ
- To the island
- About 20 minutes from Mahé by air
- Private jets
- Into Mahé, then Twin Otter or helicopter
- Best time
- June to July
The city
Forty-four kilometres north-east of Mahé.
Praslin is small, under forty square kilometres, with some seven and a half thousand people. In the Vallée de Mai the coco de mer grows in a palm forest little changed since prehistoric times; its seed, the largest of any plant, was once thought to come from the bottom of the sea. The black parrot lives nowhere else.
Anse Lazio lies between granite boulders; Anse Georgette and Anse Kerlan flank the island’s golf course. Curieuse, a marine park just offshore, is a boat ride away. The sea stays between 26 and 30 °C all year; rain is lightest in June and July and heaviest around the turn of the year.
Arriving
Mahé first, Praslin twenty minutes on.
Long-haul flights land at Seychelles International on Mahé. Praslin’s own airport, at Grand Anse, has a runway of 1,405 metres and takes the island hops from Mahé.
- Mauritius 2 h 40
- Nairobi 3 h 05
- Mumbai 4 h 30
- Dubai 4 h 35
- Sydney 13 h 30 long-range jet
When to go
June to July.
Close to the equator, so the heat barely changes: highs of 27 to 30 °C all year. Only June and July stay under 100 mm of rain; January is the wettest month, with nearly 400 mm.
- 29° J 381 28°
- 29° F 279 29°
- 30° M 189 29°
- 30° A 178 30°
- 29° M 133 29°
- 28° J 66 27°
- 27° J 81 26°
- 27° A 117 26°
- 28° S 134 27°
- 29° O 206 28°
- 29° N 223 28°
- 29° D 271 28°
What to see and do
Days in and around Praslin.
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Landmark
Vallée de Mai
Nineteen hectares of primeval palm forest and a UNESCO site since 1983, where the black parrot calls among the coco de mer.
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Landmark
Anse Lazio
A curve of sand held between great granite boulders, placed fourth in the world by CNN in 2016.
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Landmark
Curieuse
An island marine park off the north coast, with more than three hundred giant tortoises, a mangrove boardwalk and an old doctor’s house turned museum.
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Nature
Fond Ferdinand Nature Reserve
Opened in 2013, 122 hectares of coco de mer forest walked with a guide up to a viewpoint over La Digue, Curieuse and Mahé.
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Wildlife
Cousin Island Special Reserve
Bought for the birds in 1968, this 29 hectare island holds magpie robins, Aldabra tortoises and over 300,000 nesting seabirds.
Official site -
Wildlife
Aride Island
Ten kilometres north of Praslin, a nature reserve since 1979 with more seabird species than any other granitic island in Seychelles.
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Wildlife
Veuve Special Reserve
On La Digue, a 21 hectare reserve protects the nesting trees of the black paradise flycatcher and has an information centre opened in 1993.
Official site -
On the water
St Pierre islet
Reached by boat off the north coast, a small granite islet whose coral reef is snorkelled among plentiful fish.
Where to stay
Anse Kerlan, and an island of its own.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
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Six Senses Zil Pasyon Thirty timber villas with infinity-edge plunge pools on steep forest, looked after by an ecologist on the staff.
- Constance Lemuria Suites near the sand and villas that open onto it, a butler for each, three pools and the only eighteen-hole course in the islands.
Where to dine
Where to book on Praslin.
No MICHELIN Guide covers the Seychelles. Both are in Fodor’s Seychelles guide, one of them a Fodor’s Choice; prices are Fodor’s bands.
- Café des Arts Fodor’s Choice Seafood $$$$ Côte d’Or
- Seahorse Fodor’s Creole and international $$$$ Constance Lemuria, Anse Kerlan
Elsewhere in Seychelles
More reasons to come.
Flying to Praslin?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.