St Anne Marine Park and Moyenne Island Cruise with Lunch from Mahe

Leaving Mahé: shuttle pickup and the harbour

The day begins with a shared shuttle that collects guests from set points in the north of Mahé, around Beau Vallon and Eden Island, and in the south, around Baie Lazare, Anse Royale and Port Glaud. Depending on where you stay, pickup is between about two hours and thirty minutes before the 10:00 sailing; you choose your point when booking and we reconfirm the time with you before the day. The shuttle then drives to the harbour area on the east coast of Mahé, close to Victoria, where the cruise boat is moored.

From the deck you see the capital's waterfront, the reclaimed shore of Eden Island and the green wall of the Morne Seychellois mountains behind it. The islands of St Anne Marine Park are only a few kilometres offshore, so the crossing is short and usually calm, which makes this one of the gentlest things to do in Seychelles for guests who are not keen on long speedboat rides.

St Anne Marine National Park: the reefs and the islands

St Anne Marine National Park was created in 1973, the first marine park in the Indian Ocean, to protect the seagrass meadows, coral reefs and the six small islands that lie just off Victoria: Ste Anne, Cerf, Moyenne, Round, Long and Île Cachée. Fishing and water skiing are banned inside the park, and the park entry fee that is included in this cruise funds its rangers and moorings. The sheltered water between the islands is where green and hawksbill turtles come to graze on the seagrass.

The boat cruises slowly between the islands, so you see each one from the water: the big wooded Ste Anne, the beach resorts of Cerf, the tiny Round Island and the long strip of Long Island. Our guide explains what you are looking at and where the best coral lies. A St Anne Marine Park cruise is the easiest way to visit the park because the islands have no public ferry.

Swimming stops over the coral reefs

Inside the park the boat anchors in a sheltered spot where the reef comes close to the surface, and you can swim straight off the boat in clear, warm water. Visibility is usually good enough to see coral heads, sea fans and the parrotfish, butterflyfish and sergeant majors that live around them, even if you only paddle at the surface. If you want to look below, bring your own mask and snorkel, as snorkelling equipment is not part of this cruise.

The crew choose the exact stop according to wind and tide, so the spot may differ from day to day, and they stay on deck while guests are in the water. Non-swimmers can enjoy the reef from the boat or paddle in the shallows beside Moyenne later on. These swimming stops in the marine park are one of the reasons this cruise is often described as the best boat trip from Mahé for families.

Moyenne Island: the trail, the tortoises and the lunch

Moyenne is a tiny island of about nine hectares in the middle of the park, and it has a story unlike any other: it was abandoned and overgrown until a private owner bought it in the 1960s, planted thousands of trees, built a walking trail and brought giant tortoises to live on it. Today it is a national park in its own right, the smallest in the Seychelles, and the only island of the group you can land on and walk around. Legends of pirate treasure, a small chapel and a few old graves add to its charm.

After landing, our guide leads you along the shaded loop trail, where giant tortoises rest under the trees; you observe and photograph them but never touch or feed them. The walk takes about forty-five minutes at an easy pace with viewpoints over the park. Lunch on Moyenne is a Creole buffet of grilled fish, chicken curry, rice, lentils, salads and fruit, with drinks served with the meal.

The afternoon and the return to Mahé

After lunch there is free time on Moyenne to swim from its small beach, sit in the shade or walk the trail a second time before the boat sails back. The return across the park is slow and scenic, and the late afternoon light on the granite peaks of Mahé is the best of the day for photographs. The cruise lands on Mahé about seven hours after departure and the shuttle drops you back at the point where you were collected.

If you have a hire car, you may also drive to your pickup point and leave it there for the day. Is St Anne Marine Park worth visiting? For a first look at the coral of the Seychelles with lunch and a tortoise walk included, and all within sight of Victoria, it is one of the most complete day trips on Mahé.