SeychellesTourism

The Seychelles stands apart from almost every other island nation: its inner islands — Mahé, Praslin, La Digue, Silhouette, and about thirty smaller granitic islands — are fragments of the ancient continental microcontinent Mauritia, Gondwanan granite that has floated in the Indian Ocean for over 65 million years. These islands are not volcanic but continental, sitting on a shallow submarine bank, and their characteristic rounded pink-granite boulders (glacis) are among the oldest exposed rock formations on Earth. The outer Seychelles are a different world entirely — 83 low-lying coralline islands and atolls scattered across an exclusive economic zone of 1.35 million km². Aldabra Atoll, 1,150 km southwest of Mahé, is the world's second-largest coral atoll and the largest raised coral atoll on Earth; its lagoon covers 150 km² and supports the world's largest population of Aldabra giant tortoises — over 100,000, the last truly wild giant tortoise population left. Both Vallée de Mai (Praslin) and Aldabra Atoll are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The islands were uninhabited when Arab and Malay traders first noted them, and Portuguese navigators charted them in 1503 without settling. France established the first permanent settlement on Sainte Anne Island in 1770 and imported enslaved workers from Madagascar, Mozambique, and East Africa to develop the plantation economy; freed slaves, Indian Ocean traders, and the descendants of all these groups form today's Seychellois Creole culture. The British took the islands in 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars and maintained colonial rule until independence in 1976, when the Seychelles became a republic under President James Mancham. A year later, France-Albert René took power in a bloodless coup and ran a socialist one-party state until international pressure and economic reform led to a multiparty constitution in 1993. The country has since remained one of Africa's most stable, with a per-capita income that makes it the highest in sub-Saharan Africa and an HDI that places it among the continent's leaders.

Seychelles International Airport (SEZ) is on Mahé and receives direct flights from Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Addis Ababa, Paris, and Munich. A free visitor's permit is granted on arrival to every nationality without restriction — effectively the world's most permissive entry policy — for an initial stay of up to one month, renewable in-country to a maximum of three months. No visa application or fee is required. Yellow fever vaccination is not required unless arriving from an endemic country. The Seychellois rupee (SCR) is the currency; the euro and US dollar are widely accepted at hotels and larger businesses. Inter-island travel is by Air Seychelles propeller flights (Mahé–Praslin is 15 minutes) or ferries (Cat Cocos runs Mahé–Praslin–La Digue in 2–3.5 hours). The best weather window is May–October, when the south-east trade winds bring cool, consistent breezes and clear seas on the west side of islands; April and October–November are calm transition months ideal for snorkelling. The NW monsoon (December–March) brings warmer, wetter weather but calms the waters off the south of Mahé and around the southern outer islands.