A TROPICAL PARADISE FOR A BUNCH OF GUYS | SEYCHELLES, 2021
Mahé- Praslin Marina (Baie St Anne) - Anse Petite Cour -Anse Lazio-Curieuse - La Digue - Felicite - Mahé Eden Marina [9-23 Oct 2021]
Storyteller: Ivan Brigida
The skipper and ocean lover
Two weeks exploration of the most spectacular photo, snorkelling, and fishing spots in Seychelles on a sailing boat.
If you have only 2 minutes - check out this video!
- 1-
The Seychelles Intro
The Republic of Seychelles is a paradise in the Indian Ocean, located at the eastern edge of the Somali Sea. Somalia is not very close (870 nautical miles) - nothing to worry about for a tourist now - but only 10 years ago, sea piracy from its troubled neighbour was estimated to cost Seychelles 4% of its annual GDP. [link]
It is a premium location with many private islands and the quite expensive remote 5-stars resorts. Expensive resorts and flight tickets aside, perhaps surprisingly, a sailing trip with friends will cost the ordinary tourist no more than if they were doing the same on the Mediterranean.
The Seychelles Intro
The Republic of Seychelles is a paradise in the Indian Ocean, located at the eastern edge of the Somali Sea. Somalia is not very close (870 nautical miles) - nothing to worry about for a tourist now - but only 10 years ago, sea piracy from its troubled neighbour was estimated to cost Seychelles 4% of its annual GDP. [link]
It is a premium location with many private islands and the quite expensive remote 5-stars resorts. Expensive resorts and flight tickets aside, perhaps surprisingly, a sailing trip with friends will cost the ordinary tourist no more than if they were doing the same on the Mediterranean.
- 2 -
Best beaches in the World
I didn't know that I'd dreamed of Seychelles when I was only 9 years old - it was the first time I saw the "Bounty Bar" ad (1995) [youtube link]
The archipelago consist of 115 islands, most of them are ranked as among the world's best beaches (e.g. you can read this overview - 16 Top-Rated Beaches in the Seyshelles [Planetware.com, 2021])
Best beaches in the World
I didn't know that I'd dreamed of Seychelles when I was only 9 years old - it was the first time I saw the "Bounty Bar" ad (1995) [youtube link]
The archipelago consist of 115 islands, most of them are ranked as among the world's best beaches (e.g. you can read this overview - 16 Top-Rated Beaches in the Seyshelles [Planetware.com, 2021])
Perfectly fine sand and endless blue water with no swell
Bounty beach on La Digue
Granite rocks add colours to any beach
- 3-
Anze Lazio
This place deserves a special paragraph. It is a protected wide bay (for at least half of a year) for many boats (captains love it!) with a long reef for snorkelling and hidden inlets for taking sun baths.
Anze Lazio
This place deserves a special paragraph. It is a protected wide bay (for at least half of a year) for many boats (captains love it!) with a long reef for snorkelling and hidden inlets for taking sun baths.
It is easy to turn over a dinghy when frozen by this beauty
Joy of life with a blue sky and a sunshine
Addicted to snorkelling
- 4-
Sailing conditions and weather
Tropical heat attacks your body straight away when you get off the plane: air and water temp is between 28-31 °C (82-87 °F)
The best season for sailing is in mid-Oct to April with stable north-westerly mild winds and a comfortable sea temperature, perfect visibility for snorkelling and swimming
Only a few marinas are available for boat-tourists, so we spent most of the time on anchor. At that point I regretted that I didn't have a catamaran (we (had) chartered a monohull), as the former are much more comfy in wild conditions.
Sailing conditions and weather
Tropical heat attacks your body straight away when you get off the plane: air and water temp is between 28-31 °C (82-87 °F)
The best season for sailing is in mid-Oct to April with stable north-westerly mild winds and a comfortable sea temperature, perfect visibility for snorkelling and swimming
Only a few marinas are available for boat-tourists, so we spent most of the time on anchor. At that point I regretted that I didn't have a catamaran (we (had) chartered a monohull), as the former are much more comfy in wild conditions.
- 5-
Food and drinks
It is a home to many exotic fruits (even the usual species taste so differently): coconuts, mangoes, small bananas, papayas, guavas, passion fruit, melons, jackfruits, starfruits, pineapples, soursops.
One doesn't need to be a talented barman to make delicious tropical cocktails - you can just use those fruits to extract juice, add some ice and alcohol - voila! the drink is ready
We didn't see any culture of street food, plus supermarkets stored a lot of canned and frozen food. So it was a necessity to catch fish, as we didn't want to eat only fruits.
Yes, we spent almost one week (and lost a lot of fishing equipment and baits) learning how to properly fish. After that the food problem was solved: we had sashimi, fish soup, or fish steaks every day!
Food and drinks
It is a home to many exotic fruits (even the usual species taste so differently): coconuts, mangoes, small bananas, papayas, guavas, passion fruit, melons, jackfruits, starfruits, pineapples, soursops.
One doesn't need to be a talented barman to make delicious tropical cocktails - you can just use those fruits to extract juice, add some ice and alcohol - voila! the drink is ready
We didn't see any culture of street food, plus supermarkets stored a lot of canned and frozen food. So it was a necessity to catch fish, as we didn't want to eat only fruits.
Yes, we spent almost one week (and lost a lot of fishing equipment and baits) learning how to properly fish. After that the food problem was solved: we had sashimi, fish soup, or fish steaks every day!
Tropical fruits plate on the beach for a small fee
Tropical coctails when you almost don't feel any alcohol inside
Homemade sashimi from tuna
- 6-
Curieuse Marine Park
Named after the schooner "La Curieuse", when the French claimed its possession in 1768
Since 1979 it's been owned by the Seychelles government and has a National Marine Park (admission approx. 15 EUR)
It's a home to many giant turtles (according to the park staff say the average age of turtles is 80 years)
Crabs also feel at home there because no one is allowed to catch them. Unexpectedly, we found many 'rabbit holes' with crabs living in them (I'd always assumed crabs are mostly underwater creatures)
Curieuse Marine Park
Named after the schooner "La Curieuse", when the French claimed its possession in 1768
Since 1979 it's been owned by the Seychelles government and has a National Marine Park (admission approx. 15 EUR)
It's a home to many giant turtles (according to the park staff say the average age of turtles is 80 years)
Crabs also feel at home there because no one is allowed to catch them. Unexpectedly, we found many 'rabbit holes' with crabs living in them (I'd always assumed crabs are mostly underwater creatures)
A giant wise turtle
Sometimes turtles like to group in pairs and slowly explore the world
Crabs living in sand holes
- 7-
La Digue
La Digue is the only island with good coastal bike roads, with almost no cars.
A bike is easy to rent for 10 EUR a day, and it may be not enough time to explore the whole island in one day. The island also has some west-facing (amazing sunsets!) beaches with bars serving fruit-shakes, although hard to swim there due to corals.
La Digue
La Digue is the only island with good coastal bike roads, with almost no cars.
A bike is easy to rent for 10 EUR a day, and it may be not enough time to explore the whole island in one day. The island also has some west-facing (amazing sunsets!) beaches with bars serving fruit-shakes, although hard to swim there due to corals.
Cycling is a pleasure after spending most of time at sea
La Digue is the Jurassic park of modern times
Westward facing beaches is an additional bonus of La Digue
- 8-
Bluewater fishing
While there are many professional fisherman and companies organising bluewater fishing trips, we only fished responsibly. The catch consisted of sea predators, some species I saw for the first time in my life:
Bluewater fishing
While there are many professional fisherman and companies organising bluewater fishing trips, we only fished responsibly. The catch consisted of sea predators, some species I saw for the first time in my life:
- skipjack tuna / bonito - easy to catch, small to medium-sized fish
- giant trevally (wiki)
- green jobfish (wiki)
- yellowfin tuna (wiki)
- barracuda (wiki)
Green jobfish
Giant trevally
Tuna fish
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