Seychelles Sailing

[Sonnamara]

I am getting married in July and have been thinking of chartering a yacht in the Seychelles for our honeymoon - I would be grateful if anyone who has been lucky enough to sail in the Seychelles could comment on their suitability for a honeymoon. My fiancee is a keen dinghy sailor, but has virtually no experience of cruising in yachts and I don't want to put her off so quickly!

What are the anchorages like - are they sheltered and is holding generally good? Also are there good restaurants - we don't want to be cooking on board every night!

 

[Sans Bateau]

Its not advise you are after, you are just trying to get us all envious! And its working!

Sorry know nothing of the Seychelles. Only thing I can say though, check the rainfall, if I remember correctly a lot of the tropical destinations have a LOT of rain June to Sept (just before the hurricans)

 

[Sonnamara]

Wouldn't want to make anyone envious - Come July I'll need a couple of weeks sailing to make up for all the sailing I will have missed organising this wedding /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[Sans Bateau]

Fair point!

 

[Oldhand]

I'm nearly 30 years out of date but I would say there are plenty of anchorages but few restraunts outside Mahe apart from resorts. Sea temperature between 28 & 32C due to shallow water depth over Seychelles plateau. Charts were very inaccurate and based on surveys in the 1870's if I remember correctly. May have been updated more recently. A liking of fishy and spicy food will help but there may be more imported food now.

 

[ChrisE]

Was there two years ago with Sunsail. Had a great time. I could bang about the anchorages, restaurants, etc but I'll limit myself to the comment that there were plenty of fine restaurants and places to stick the hook. The navving is mostly eyeball stuff although there are some outlying islands like Bird Island which are a 40 miles trip each way and not recommended if the weather is changeable as the anchorage is not great.

We were there in April which brings lowish winds (f2-4) and clear water I recall that the winds are higher and water cloudy during the UK summer period but you'll get that from the Sunsail brochure which covers all most things.

I can't comment as to whether you'll put your new wife off sailing, that might just depend on how good a skipper you are -).

 

[John_Clarke]

We chartered with Sunsail in August 2001. The wind blew SE F3 -5 (during the UK summer) night and day so there was swell which swings around into many of the bays. At first we wondered how we would cope but by the end of 2 weeks it did not bother us. Places without swell in the SE winds are Port Launay Marine Park on Mahe (it is also very beautiful), and on Praslin - Anse Petite Cour, Anse Volbert (care needed to feel way in through the reef – observe the local speed boats), and Baie Ste Anne if you go into the harbour formed by a land reclamation project (neither the pilot guide not Sunsail told us that yachts were allowed into the harbour so we spent a rolly night at anchor in the bay which was also memorable for the leathery steak we grilled).

There was a brilliant restaurant on Praslin’s NE end at Anse Lazio - the setting was idyllic with brightly coloured birds and the gently spicy food was exquisite. The down side was the surf dumping on the beach. We soaked the outboard getting through the breakers and it would not start. Our daughter got scared so unfortunately we didn’t eat there again. We should have just paddled out and only attempted to start the engine when clear of the surf. Don’t let this put you off – a dinghy sailor should have no problems.

The downside to the holiday was the food in many restaurants was nothing special (but we did not venture ashore much to eat after our daughter got scared so this might be unfair), the food in the shops away from Victoria is very limited, the pilot guide was quite out of date and the briefing could have been much better, and the Sunsail base was next to a smelly tuna canning plant.

However, it is a wonderful place. The tropical fish are magic (my wife snorkelled every time we anchored), away from Victoria the temperature is always barmy warm and comfortable night and day, there are not many other boats compared with the Caribbean, the locals are charming and friendly. The holding is sand and excellent. It was a great adventure and a lovely holiday – we would go back if it wasn’t so expensive for just the two of us.

I was going to suggest Croatia but the stern to mooring might cause a bit of stress at first. Plenty of excellent marinas, lovely scenery and picturesque villages and towns, great sailing with easy navigation. Not as unusual as the Seychelles but more facilities, shops, showers, water, etc. And you could always do the Seychelles for your 5th anniversary!

 

[peteandthira]

I did 2 weeks in the Seychelles 3 years ago but mixed views for your honeymoon. I found few places to eat on shore which may be the most significant bit for you. If you think you would like to catch your own tuna and cook on board more often and carry a good wine store then you will have a super time playing about in the unfeasably blue warm water. Lots of nice white beaches but often can't land easily due to surf.

Good luck!