Why the Seychelles is a surprise family holiday hit

The Seychelles – the very name rolls around in the mouth, its gentle sibilance suggesting waves lapping gently on some deserted shore, or the wind brushing palm leaves with soft susurrations like a lover’s whisper. If ever a name matched the place it describes, it’s the Seychelles, the ultimate tropical archipelago beloved by honeymooning couples.

But you don’t have to be an adult to get the Seychelles. The first time I visited with my children, they thought they were in paradise. At first, it was the perfect arcs of sand, the palm trees, the transparent ocean. Very quickly it became clear that Seychelles had more than just a pretty face.

Most Seychelles adventures begin on Mahé, as did ours. The largest island in the archipelago and the Seychelles’ international gateway, Mahé combines singular natural beauty with thriving local culture. Victoria, surely one of the smallest and more manageable national capitals on the planet, is little more than a few inhabited ‘city’ blocks, a hot curry of markets, mosques and Hindu temples, of street food corners and cool coffee shops.

Away to the northwest, the public beach of Beau Vallon is where we all first fell in love with the Seychelles. Its low-rise hotels separated from the sand by an unbroken line of palm trees, Beau Vallon is long and languid. Locals love it as much as foreign visitors, and, with room enough for everyone, it lacks the them-and-us pretensions of so many private resort beaches. Contemplate the local fishermen hauling in their catch. Share the sand with a local family enjoying a Sunday outing. And watch as barriers of culture and language ebb away with the tide as your children make friends in the shallows.

We loved the sight of stingrays leaping from the water offshore almost as much as brooding Silhouette Island, fortress-like and volcanic, rising from the not-so-distant ocean. And when we imagined that we needed more, there were glass-bottomed boats or, for the more adventurous, child-friendly parasailing (the ultimate social-distancing activity) right off the beach. In this, my young daughters were far braver than their father.

We could have stayed forever. But so many quiet adventures called to us from elsewhere on Mahé. We hiked the cloud forests to a tea plantation high on Morne Seychellois (905m). We lingered on the outdoor terrace to enjoy child-friendly Creole cooking at Del Place, then waded out to an uninhabited island across the lagoon. And we explored the fragrant spice gardens of Le Jardin du Roi, inhaling wild cinnamon and nutmeg before retiring to the café terrace for crêpes and milkshakes.

It should have been enough for any family holiday, and in many ways it was. But the Seychelles has a way of making you greedy for more: a glimpse of an enticing offshore island across the sea, or the breathless recommendations of travellers returning from the outer islands – “You think Mahé is pretty? Wait till you see Praslin!”

And so it was, with reluctance and excitement in equal measure, that we journeyed by boat to Praslin. Praslin is smaller, quieter and more manageable than Mahé. Its forests, especially Unesco World Heritage-listed Vallée de Mai, shelter blue pigeons, black parrots and the utterly improbable coco de mer palm. Local guides take families along short forest trails, initiating children into local folklore and the forest’s beauty, wild and strange.

Off Praslin’s east coast, boat excursions to Curieuse Island allow visitors to experience another aspect of the islands’ weirdly wonderful wildlife. Here, giant Aldabra tortoises breed the species back from the brink, and the clash of shells as they mate is a recurring soundtrack.

This being the Seychelles, back on Praslin, life soon returns to the beaches. Anse Volbert, on the east coast, is especially good for families – it looks out over a sheltered bay that barely ripples on to shore and is never crowded. Some local hotels also run activities that can, in season, include sandcastle competitions and water safety classes. Snorkelling is also possible here. On the island’s northern tip, Anse Lazio regularly appears on lists of the world’s most beautiful beaches. We did indeed stand in awe upon arrival to admire the palm trees framed by great, towering boulders at either end. And then, unable to resist any longer, we ran across the powder-like sand to swim in the bath-warm, tropical waters.

The Seychelles has 115 islands. La Digue is a shapely former volcano with beaches to rival Anse Lazio. Some exclusive island resorts are adults-only, but just as many welcome all generations with family rooms, children’s activities, and child meals in the restaurant. At the end of our journey, we stayed at the Hilton Seychelles Labriz, on Silhouette Island, across the water from Beau Vallon. Filled with families, its kids’ club won hearts with a full timetable of craft and water-borne activities, bicycles that catered to guests of all sizes, and welcome touches such as a free cuddly toy for every kid on arrival. And wherever you go in the Seychelles, you’ll find your own wild-eyed wonder at the sheer beauty of it all mirrored in the faces of your children.

For all that, it’s on Mahé and on Praslin that you’re most likely to encounter the locals whose sea-faring stories and quiet hospitality may just be your most enduring Seychelles memory. That you’ll do so on a glorious beach or in an ancient forest – well, that’s just the kind of bonus the Seychelles does so well.