Getting around Praslin and La Digue on our Seychelles trip taught us a useful lesson at a bus stop: having a stop right outside your guesthouse does not mean the bus you need will be the next one along. After waiting in the heat and watching the wrong buses go by, we found another way to reach the beach. If you’re planning Praslin and La Digue on your own, here’s how the ferries, rental car, bus and bikes actually worked for us, and where a little planning would have helped.
The short answer: car for Praslin, bike for La Digue
If you want the freedom to stop at beaches as you find them, rent a car for at least part of your time on Praslin. On La Digue, we traded the car for bikes, which suited our days of beach stops and leisurely lunches much better. Ferries connected the islands, a boat trip took us to Curieuse, and the bus tested our patience. Here is how each leg went for us:
| Leg of the trip | What we used | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Mahé airport to Praslin | Taxi to the ferry port, the ferry, then a taxi to our apartment | The airport shuttle needed an advance reservation, so we took a taxi. We moved to an earlier sailing than the one we’d booked. The crossing took roughly an hour and a quarter. |
| Getting around Praslin | A rental car for one day | It let us stop at beaches as we found them, and fit in Vallée de Mai and Anse Lazio. |
| Praslin by bus | One attempt, to Anse Georgette | We waited about 45 minutes while the wrong buses came, and a local gave us a lift there. We took the bus back. |
| Curieuse Island | A full-day boat trip, booked through our accommodation’s front desk | About three hours on the island, with a barbecue lunch. |
| Praslin to La Digue | The ferry, with tickets bought at the counter for the last sailing | Online purchase had to be arranged further ahead at the time. The crossing was around 15 to 20 minutes. |
| Getting around La Digue | Bikes from our guesthouse, plus a taxi from the jetty with our bags | There were very few cars, no cars to rent and just a few taxis. Bikes were the main way around. |
That is what we did on one trip, not a current timetable or price list. Ferry times, fares and bus routes change, so the sections below point you to the operators to check before you go.
From Mahé airport to Praslin: taxi, ferry and a bag scrum
We arrived from the Maldives and headed straight from Mahé airport toward the ferry for Praslin. We thought we could take an airport shuttle, but it required an advance reservation, so we took a taxi to the port instead. We’d booked a ferry for later that day; after an easy arrival, we were able to change to an earlier sailing. That saved us a long wait at a terminal we weren’t eager to linger in.
We sat outside for the roughly hour-and-a-quarter crossing. It was warm and a little cramped, though the breeze helped. The memorable part came after docking: everyone crowded around one baggage area, and we could see our bags before we could reach them. We got them eventually, took a taxi to our apartment and arrived well ahead of check-in.
The one thing we hadn’t planned for was the travel authorization form: we didn’t realise it had to be approved ahead of our flight. For current entry requirements, use the official Seychelles travel information. For ferry schedules, fares and booking details, check Cat Cocos rather than building your plans around the sailings we found.
Our Praslin base: near the jetty, with air conditioning
We stayed three nights at Old School Self-Catering Apartments, close enough to the Praslin jetty for a short taxi ride. The apartment had a kitchen, a washing machine and, most importantly after that arrival, air conditioning that worked well. We were happy to be out of the heat, and with the laundry hanging up and breakfast being made, it started to feel like home. A fairly messy home, but still.
Check for air conditioning when choosing a place to stay rather than assuming it’s included. Not every place has it, and the heat and humidity were hard going for us.
Praslin by car: why we rented one
We rented a car for one day because we wanted to explore beaches without arranging the day around a bus. Kevin drove: I can’t drive stick, and he was the only driver between us with experience on the other side of the road. We expected a manual, then discovered it wasn’t a stick shift after all. The roads were steep and narrow enough that you drive down the middle and move over when a car, or a giant bus, comes the other way.
Less than five minutes into the drive, we spotted a beach and pulled over. That was exactly why we’d wanted the car. We stopped again at a roadside beach with granite boulders, though its water was too shallow to swim in. The humidity was taking more out of us than expected, and at one point the car’s air conditioning was so appealing that we stayed in the parking lot longer than we probably needed to.
Our inland stop at Vallée de Mai was worth leaving that air conditioning behind. We went without a guide and found the place incredible: palm fronds about eight feet long, and the coco de mer, which grows naturally only on Praslin and Curieuse. There was a bit of shade and a breeze, but we still came out very sweaty, and impressed. Independent guides are available, according to the Seychelles Islands Foundation; its page is also the place to check entry details.
We finished at Anse Lazio, where we spent hours by the beach and watched the sunset. There was also a short walk to the smaller Petite Anse Lazio, under ten minutes, with the first 50 or so steps the hardest. We’d recommend shoes rather than sandals for it. At high tide there wasn’t much beach left, but we had the cove to ourselves. By the time we drove back, we were drained, ready for dinner and badly in need of showers. No regrets about seeing Praslin this way.
Getting to Curieuse: a boat trip booked through our front desk
On our first full day on Praslin, the day before the car day, we’d asked the front desk at our accommodation to book us a full-day boat trip to Curieuse Island with a barbecue lunch. It happened to be just us on the boat; we hadn’t booked a private tour. The guide told us we had about three hours on the island and to do whatever we liked, which suited us.
The giant tortoises were the main event. They came right up to us, and the guides gave us leaves that the tortoises eat so we could feed them. We also saw tiny tortoises in the nursery, then walked to the nearby mangrove boardwalk rather than tackling a longer hike in the humidity.
Lunch included fish, chicken, rice and salads; the fish was some of the best we’ve had. The birds thought lunch looked good too—when another diner stood up, a crowd of them landed on his plate. Afterward, we took the boat to the other side of Curieuse for a swim, where we saw a sea turtle and some stingrays, and looked at the preserved doctor’s house from outside because it was under construction. It was a lovely day.
Praslin by bus: our Anse Georgette attempt
We’d returned the rental car the night before our last day on Praslin, so we planned to take the bus to Anse Georgette before catching the ferry onward. There was a stop outside our guesthouse. We waited about 45 minutes in the heat, but the buses that came weren’t the one we needed. Eventually we went back up to the guesthouse lobby and asked about a taxi or a rental car. The guesthouse found us a lift with a local woman heading that way; she wouldn’t accept money when we offered it.
Getting to Anse Georgette involved walking through a hotel’s golf course. We’d made a reservation for access, and the walk left us sweaty before we even reached the sand. The beach was beautiful and uncrowded when we visited, but the water was rough and we had only about an hour and a half there. With more time, that hot walk would have felt more worthwhile. Check the hotel’s access arrangements before planning your own visit.
We did take the bus back. Watching the driver handle the narrow, steep roads and switchbacks was quite an experience, and we were glad we’d tried it. If you need to collect your bags and catch a ferry afterward, leave yourself room for a wait. This guide doesn’t compare what the bus, taxis and a rental car cost; for current routes, timetables and fares, check the Seychelles Public Transport Corporation.
Praslin to La Digue: the short ferry
Back at the jetty, we discovered another planning lesson. We’d tried to buy our La Digue ferry tickets online that morning, but online purchase needed to be arranged further ahead at the time. We bought tickets at the counter for the last ferry of the day, hoping there would be room, and there was. Booking ahead would have been simpler. The ferries also come in different classes, and the higher ones had air conditioning; when we left our return booking late, that was the only class with seats left.
The crossing was short—around 15 to 20 minutes—and La Digue felt different as soon as we arrived. There were very few cars, just a few taxis, no cars to rent, and bikes were the main way around. We took a taxi to our guesthouse with the bags, then used bikes for the rest of our stay.
La Digue by bike: beach stops at your own pace
Our guesthouse rented bikes, so we kept them for our time on La Digue. On the first morning, breakfast turned out to be included (a pleasant surprise), and then we rode to the end of one of the paths. The ride took us about half an hour. It was warm, but moving brought a breeze, and the hills we encountered weren’t too bad.
We found more lovely beaches than the map had led us to expect. We could stop for photos, look for a sandy patch among the rocky spots to cool off in the water, or settle in for fish and drinks at a beachside place. By the middle of the day we were still sweaty, of course. Bikes didn’t make the heat disappear; they just made it easy to spend the day at our own pace. By the end of that first ride, La Digue had won us over: it is so pretty, and it was my favorite of the two islands. The quiet, car-free feel was a big part of its appeal, and by our second day, cloudy and windy, we had worked out that bikes and beaches were pretty much the whole plan on this tiny island, which suited us fine.
Biking to Anse Source d’Argent, and the kayak plan that changed
We biked to Anse Source d’Argent for sunset, then returned the next day for the clear kayaks. Entry through L’Union Estate required a fee when we visited, and our late-afternoon ticket was credited toward the following day. Check the estate’s current entry terms before relying on that arrangement.
If you don’t make it to Curieuse, the L’Union Estate also has an enclosure with giant tortoises. The kayak tours were full when we arrived, but the crystal kayak place let us rent one for a couple of hours before its tours began. The big, canoe-like kayak was fun even in the wind, and we still got our photos. Around us were the beach’s huge boulders and calm, shallow, remarkably warm water—the kind of place where it was easy to stay and lounge for a while.
The other surprise was payment: the kayak rental was cash-only on our visit, so Kevin had to bike back into town for an ATM. If a tour matters to you, arrange it ahead rather than hoping for a spare place, and check how to pay before you ride over.
What this covers, and what worked for us
This route covers Praslin, Curieuse and La Digue, with Mahé as our arrival point. For a self-guided trip like ours, the car gave us a flexible Praslin beach day, a boat trip took us to Curieuse, the bus tested our patience (though we were glad we tried it on the way back), and bikes were the way around La Digue. Book ferries ahead, and check for air conditioning where you stay. The heat made some days harder than they looked on paper, but having the freedom to stop, swim and change plans was what we liked best.
Image credits: the featured image of the Doctor’s House on Curieuse Island and the photo of Anse Georgette near the top are by dronepicr, licensed CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons and Wikimedia Commons. The other photos are stills from our own videos of this trip.
