Seychelles on Catamarans: Granite & Giants

The idea

Sixteen of us, two catamarans, and a week among the only granite islands in the middle of an ocean. Everywhere else out here is coral or volcano. The Seychelles are a piece of continent left behind when Gondwana broke apart, which is why the beaches have those enormous rounded boulders and why nowhere else looks remotely like it.

We sail the inner islands in short, sheltered hops — Mahé to Praslin to Curieuse to La Digue and back. Most days involve two or three hours of sailing and the rest of it swimming, walking somewhere green, or doing other cool stuff.

The boats

Two sailing catamarans, both 46 ft, neither older than 2020. Four ensuite double cabins each, air conditioning throughout, a proper galley, generator and — the one that actually changes the week — a water maker. Being able to make our own fresh water is what lets the flotilla spend the week on quiet empty anchorages instead of paying for marina berths to refill tanks. One night alongside at La Digue is the only exception, and that is for the bike ride.

Each boat carries a professional skipper and a private chef in the two forward crew cabins, so eight guests per boat and sixteen across the two. That is the hard ceiling.

Choose your own days

Included for everyone: every hike and park fee, snorkelling, paddleboards and kayaks, trolling lines off the back on every crossing, the Curieuse beach barbecue, coco-de-mer forest on Praslin, bikes on La Digue, and the climbing and zipline afternoon at Port Launay.

Add-ons you can book separately:

• Two-tank dive day — on the Praslin side, mid-week. January has the best visibility of the year.
• Wreck diving off Mahé — the Seychelles wrecks sit in 16–25 m off Beau Vallon. Certified divers only; not snorkellable.
• PADI Open Water — if you want to arrive uncertified and leave certified.
• Game fishing charter — a dedicated boat off Praslin for the serious anglers, while everyone else does the forest.
• Extra nights on Mahé, either end.

Tell us what you want when you register and we will build the day around it.

What is still moving

We publish trips while we are still building them, because the people who come on them usually have opinions worth hearing.

The route here is provisional. Anchorages, the order of the islands and which reserve we land on will shift with weather, park access and what the skippers advise closer to the date — that is normal for sailing and we would rather say so now. The shape of the week, the dates and the boat standard are fixed.

The photographs are not our boats. They show the islands and the kind of catamaran we charter. The two specific vessels are confirmed at booking.

Pricing is approximate.