Seychelles

The Seychelles are unlike any other island landscape. Ancient granite boulders, lush forests and beaches of extraordinary sculptural beauty give the archipelago a prehistoric quality, balanced by Creole culture and rare ecological richness.

The Seychelles comprise some 115 islands scattered across the western Indian Ocean, about 1,500 kilometres east of the African coast. The inner islands — Mahé, Praslin, La Digue and their neighbours — are granite, fragments of the ancient landmass that once joined Africa and India. The outer islands, Desroches, Alphonse and the Amirantes among them, are low coral atolls, flat and green above lagoons of startling clarity.

Most of the population lives on Mahé, where Victoria is one of the smallest capitals in the world and the market, the Hindu temple and the clock tower stand within a short walk. Praslin keeps the Vallée de Mai, a UNESCO site and home of the coco de mer palm; La Digue still moves largely by bicycle. Kreol, French and English are spoken side by side.

The Seychelles lie outside the main cyclone belt and stay warm all year, between roughly 24 and 31°C. Two monsoons set the calendar: the north-west trades from December to March bring heat, humidity and the heaviest showers; the south-east trades from June to September bring drier, breezier weather and livelier seas on south-facing coasts.

The calm months between the monsoons — April and May, October and November — are the favourite of divers and snorkellers, with clear, flat water and light winds. Late October brings the Festival Kreol, a week of music, food and dance celebrating the islands’ Creole identity, and hawksbill turtles come ashore to nest from October into the new year.

The archipelago rewards combining islands. Four Seasons Resort Seychelles climbs a hillside above Petite Anse on Mahé, and Four Seasons Resort Seychelles at Desroches Island lies on a coral atoll in the Amirantes. Raffles Praslin faces the sea on Praslin’s north-east coast; Six Senses Zil Pasyon occupies Félicité, near La Digue; North Island, a Luxury Collection Resort, keeps a whole island for a handful of villas; and Waldorf Astoria Seychelles Platte Island stands on a remote southern atoll.

Most travellers pair a granite island with an atoll: Mahé or Praslin for forest walks, Creole cooking and the beaches of La Digue, then Desroches, North Island or Platte for reef, lagoon and near-total seclusion. LVXVRY books all six through Four Seasons Preferred Partner, Accor Preferred, IHG Destined, Marriott STARS & Luminous and Hilton for Luxury — at the official hotel rate, with the privileges each programme attaches to the stay.