Today we went out to sea: Off the coast of Mahé is the Saint Anne Marine National Park and the island of Cerf Island, which we explored as part of a boat trip with J’adore Seychelles.
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The agency TourBookers
We have booked all our excursions in the Seychelles through TourBookers.com. The German agency offers over 750 tours, activities and experiences in seychelles, Martinique, United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Kenya and Uganda on its online platform. The tours are offered and arranged directly online by a number of independent local tour operators.
Our tour with J’adore Seychelles
With today’s excursion Sainte Anne Marine Park – boat tour with glass floor and barbecue we got to know the Sainte Anne Marine National Park both above and under water. J’adore Seychelles is a Seychelles-based company that offers transfers and various types of excursions and tours. The tour operator wants to present the natural beauties of the Seychelles to its customers and let them enjoy them to the fullest.
In addition to a snorkeling stop in the Sainte Anne Marine National Park, we also got to know the islands of Long Island, Round Island and Cerf Island on our tour.
Die Eden Island Marina
A few years ago, 50 meters off the east coast of Mahé, an artificial island was built, which is connected to the main island by a dam: Eden Island. Investors from South Africa and the Seychelles have bought the island and built more than 500 luxury apartments and single-family homes on Eden Island with beach access and jetties. In addition, there is a marina, which is also designed for large yachts, as well as a hotel,shopping center, doctor’s offices and restaurants. Eden Island is a new victoria’s part of Victoria that is reminiscent of the great model The Palm in Dubai.
Our tour was scheduled to start at 10 a.m. at Eden Island Marina and was scheduled for 4 p.m. After we had parked our rental car in the car park on Eden Island, we walked to the marina. Several other guests were already waiting there. There was a contact person on site, who had not imagined it and from who received hardly any information about the course of the tour, except that it started soon. It all seemed a bit chaotic and unstructured. It didn’t really start until 10.40 a.m. – 40 minutes later. Four guests who were on a cruise ship got very nervous because they had to be back on the ship at a certain time in the afternoon.
A total of 16 guests were on our glass bottom boat. The tour is designed for up to 20 people – with the number of people it would have been a bit cuddly on the boat.
Snorkeling in Sainte Anne Marine National Park
Our first stop was in the middle of Sainte Anne Marine National Park, which covers an area of 14.43 km2 and covers six small islands (Sainte Anne Island, Ile au Cerf, Ile Cachée, Round Island, Long Island, Moyenne) as well as reefs and water surfaces and is located in the Indian Ocean, about 5 km from Mahé. The islands are all of volcanic origin and, like all the islands of the Inner Islands, granite islands. The park was founded in 1973 and is the oldest nature reserve in the Seychelles. Today it is a popular diving and snorkeling area – many tourists take boat trips to the national park, as it is rich in partly endemic fauna and flora.
There were enough masks and snorkels on the boat, so we didn’t wait long to jump into the cool water. The water here really has a great color, but unfortunately the visibility under water was not good. Unfortunately, there was not much to see about corals and fish either. Of course, there were small fish, especially sergeant fish and silverfin leaves. But nevertheless we were very disappointed – maybe it is also because we have snorkeled and dived all over the world and there are simply more beautiful underwater worlds for us than in the Seychelles.
But the not so intact underwater world also has a reason: The Seychelles, but also many other places worldwide, were hit very hard in 1997/1998 by the weather phenomenon “El Nino”. This phenomenon causes water temperature to rise by up to 5 to 6 degrees – and this is devastating for the already fragile coral reef ecosystem. The result: coral bleaching and the associated massive coral extinction. As part of the 1997/1998 El Nino, 70 of the Maldives reefs, 75 of the Seychelles reefs and the Kenyan coral reefs were damaged to 80. In just nine months, about one-sixth of all coral reefs worldwide have been destroyed. Some of the damaged reefs have good prospects of recovery and regeneration; half of the reefs will probably not be able to do that.
The Sandbank for Long Island
After our snorkeling stop, our boat trip continued until we arrived at Long Island at around 11.45am. And what we have seen here is simply fantastic: turquoise blue sea, powder sugar-white beaches and a sandbank as seen from the picture book.
It is incomprehensible that this island was once a prison island – the Alcatraz of the Seychelles. In the middle of a nature reserve in paradise. Crazy. Until 2006, up to 170 prisoners were still incarside, who were then transferred to Mahé because they had other plans with the island. Originally, a luxury resort of the highest class was to be built here: with unique villas and probably the first cable car in the Seychelles.
We had about an hour to relax and bathe on the island and the offshore sandbank. We used the time to send our drone into the air and walk across the sandbank to the opposite island round island. Since there is a resort on Round Island, we were able to use the beach section of the island undisturbed, but were not allowed to enter the hotel grounds. Directly on the beach we could observe two small baby sharks, who happily pulled their tracks here. Simply sweet.
The Sainte Anne Marine National Park
The small island of Cerf Island
Our last stop was the neighbouring island of Cerf Island, which is located about 4 kilometers off the northeast coast of the main island of Mahé. The 1.27 km2 island is privately owned and has several accommodations: from simple guest houses to high-priced hotels. It is also covered with a tropical rainforest and offers several beaches. There is no real village on the island, but it has about 100 inhabitants, most of whom commute to Mahé by boat every day.
The Turtles on Cerf Island
After we laid out with our boat on Cerf Island, we walked along the stand in our group until we turned into the interior of the island. After a few meters we stood in the middle of a small colony of giant tortoises,which found their home here on Cerf Island.
We were able to claw the turtles, pet them and give them a few leaves to eat. A great experience!
The Giant Turtles on Cerf Island
Lunch on the beach
At the end of our tour there was a delicious barbecue on the beach around2.30 pm. Fresh fish was grilled, with meat and salads. And all this with a perfect view of the sea. Non-alcoholic drinks were available all day – both on the boat and on the beach.
Well saturated and full of new impressions, we arrived at the Eden Island Marina after a short swim stop around 4 p.m. What an eventful day!
Our travelogues from the Seychelles
White dream beaches, crystal clear water, sun and palm trees: the Seychelles are the epitome of an island paradise. For 2 weeks we explored the main islands of Mahé, Praslin and La Digue and saw the most beautiful sights: From gorgeous beaches, fascinating nature parks to hidden photo spots, animal islanders and beautiful viewpoints.
» Seychelles: Things to know & Travel Tips (Mahé, Praslin & La Digue)» Seychelles: Travel Planning, Flight & Rental Car
» Mahé: Things to know & places of interest
» Mahé: Tropical Hideaway Apartement & Beau Vallon Beach
» Mahé: Victoria – Things to do & beautiful photo spots
» Mahé: The Rock Pool (Ros Sodyer) at Anse Takamaka
» Mahé: Top 10 most beautiful beaches on the island
» Cerf Island: Snorkeling in Sainte Anne Marine Park
» Praslin: Things to know & places of interest on Praslin
» Praslin: Acajou Beach Resort on the Cote d’Or Beach
» Praslin: Fond Ferdinand – Coco de Mer Nature Reserve on Praslin
» Praslin: Vallée de Mai – UNESCO National Park on Praslin
» Praslin: Top 5 most beautiful beaches on the island of Praslin
» Curieuse Island: A trip to the giant tortoises
» Félicité: The luxury resort Six Senses Zil Pasyon
» La Digue: Things to know & Travel Tips from the island of La Digue
» La Digue: Cat Cocos Ferry & La Diguoise Guesthouse
» La Digue: Crystal Water Kayaks – Transparent kayak tours on La Digue
» La Digue: Anse Marron – Hike around the south coast of La Digue
» La Digue: Top 10 – The most beautiful beaches on La Digue
» La Digue: The resort Le Domaine de L’Orangeraie