Seychelles Travel Guide 2026: Before You Go
Seychelles is 115 granite and coral islands scattered across the Indian Ocean off East Africa, not the Caribbean, and the money in your wallet should be the Seychellois rupee (SCR), not euros, even though every ferry counter and resort will happily quote you both. Three islands carry the whole trip: Mahe, the airport and the hub; Praslin, the coco de mer forest and two showstopper beaches; La Digue, the granite boulders you have already seen in a hundred photos. Budget real ferry time between them and a paid travel authorisation before you fly, and the rest genuinely delivers.
Seychelles at a glance
| Days needed | 2-3 for Mahe alone, 5-7 to add Praslin and La Digue properly |
| Best months | April and October, the calm windows between the two trade-wind seasons |
| Daily budget | roughly SCR 640-1,100 (EUR 40-70) self-catering, SCR 2,400-4,800+ (EUR 150-300+) resort-based |
| Booking warning | Cat Cocos ferry seats and Vallee de Mai tickets both sell out over Christmas/New Year, Easter and July-August |
Lock a Mahe hotel near the airport for your first and last night before flights and ferries push the schedule around, compare current rates on Booking.com .
Book before you land
Two things need sorting before you board a flight. First, the Travel Authorisation: nearly every visitor needs the paid Seychelles Electronic Border System permit (the SVA), applied online up to 30 days ahead, roughly EUR 11 per person, with some applicants reporting closer to EUR 12 once the site’s processing charges land, about 24 hours to process, and valid for one entry only. Visa-free does not mean paperwork-free here, don’t skip it. Apply directly at seychelles.govtas.com .
Second, if you’re travelling over Christmas/New Year, Easter or July-August, book your inter-island ferry seats and your Vallee de Mai ticket ahead, both genuinely sell out in peak weeks. Reserve Cat Cocos sailings direct through catcocos.com , and buy the Vallee de Mai ticket online in advance, 10% off the gate price, through the Seychelles Islands Foundation. Want someone else to handle the whole loop instead? Browse an island-hopping tour on Viator that bundles the ferries and a guide.
One money note worth knowing before you’re standing at a gate: national park entry (Ste Anne, Curieuse, Morne Seychellois) is paid by card only on-site through SPGA , cash works only at their office or through pre-paid online tickets.
Getting between Mahe, Praslin and La Digue
This is the part that trips people up. Cat Cocos, the big fast ferry, runs Mahe-Praslin in about an hour for roughly EUR 58 economy one way, including the EUR 2 port fee, or Mahe-La Digue direct in about 1h45 via a Praslin stopover for roughly EUR 68. The short Praslin-La Digue hop is a completely separate ferry brand, Cat Rose, not Cat Cocos, about 15-20 minutes and EUR 15 one way, with up to five sailings a day, easily the cheapest and most frequent leg in the country. Air Seychelles also flies Mahe-Praslin in about 15 minutes, but La Digue has no airport at all, a boat is the only way on or off it.
Is Seychelles in the Caribbean?
No. Seychelles is an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean off East Africa and a member of the African Union, not a Caribbean nation and not part of South Asia despite the “Indian Ocean” name confusing plenty of first-time visitors. It’s also one of the smallest sovereign states on earth, roughly 455-457 square kilometres of land spread across all 115 islands, with a population estimated at only around 100,000-135,000 people.
When to go
Two trade-wind seasons run the calendar. The northwest monsoon, roughly December through March, brings calmer winds but wetter weather, with December-January the soggiest stretch; the southeast monsoon, May through September, is drier but breezier, and some years pushes sargassum seaweed onto Praslin’s south-coast beaches. April and October are the shoulder months, when the wind drops and both diving visibility and beach days hit their best, genuinely the two strongest windows to fly in. Check the current calendar of festivals and public holidays on the Seychelles Tourism Board before locking your dates.
Money, budget and self-catering
The Seychellois rupee (SCR) is the only legal tender, even though EUR and USD are quoted everywhere from ferry counters to dive shops (at this guide’s working rates, roughly SCR 16 to EUR 1 and SCR 14.5 to USD 1, rates move, so check before you land). The single biggest lever on your budget is where you eat: a Creole fish curry at a local takeaway runs SCR 40-60 (EUR 2.50-3.75), the same dish at a resort restaurant easily runs SCR 150-300+ (EUR 9-19+). A self-catering villa with a kitchen, plus a trip to Victoria’s Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke Market for the ingredients, beats resort dining on any multi-day stay.
Where to stay
Base on Mahe for the widest range of hotel price points and the easiest logistics; base on Praslin if a single best beach-and-forest combination with real infrastructure is the goal; base on La Digue only if slow, bicycle-paced travel with minimal shopping and dining genuinely appeals. Self-catering guesthouses and villas are available on all three islands and consistently undercut resort rates, compare current listings on Booking.com before you commit to a neighbourhood.
FAQ: Seychelles travel guide
Do I need a visa for Seychelles?
Not a traditional visa, but you do need the paid SVA Travel Authorisation described above, applied online up to 30 days ahead of arrival. Treat “visa-free” as shorthand for “no visa stamp,” not “nothing to arrange,” since skipping the SVA application means you will not board your flight in the first place.
How many days do I need to see all three islands properly?
Five to seven days, split roughly 2-3 nights on Mahe, 2-3 on Praslin and 1-2 on La Digue, is the realistic minimum; anything shorter should honestly plan to skip an island rather than rush all three. Our 2-day through 7-day itineraries lay out exactly what fits at each length.
Is Seychelles worth the expense?
Yes, but go in knowing it’s genuinely one of the pricier Indian Ocean destinations, not a budget one. A self-catering, public-bus, guesthouse trip and a full-resort trip can cost multiples of each other across the same nine days, so decide which trip you’re actually booking before you compare hotel prices.
Sort the SVA authorisation and your first Mahe hotel night before anything else, then let the ferry schedule, not a rigid plan, decide how long you stay on each island once you’re there. Our Seychelles beaches and sights rundown ranks exactly where those extra hours are best spent.