Curieuse & St Pierre Boat Trip from Praslin: Costs and Fees

The Curieuse park fee is SCR 300 per non-resident adult, and on site it is card only. The SPGA says tour packages normally include it, so check before you pay twice. If you go on your own, you pay it yourself.

Is Curieuse worth it? Yes for the tortoises and the mangrove boardwalk, if you go early. Paradise here comes with a payment terminal and a second wave of boats, so I would book the earliest departure.

Curieuse is an island about 2 km off the northeast coast of Praslin, and St Pierre is the snorkel stop on the way back. The SPGA's park page puts both inside the same marine national park, which is why one boat can cover them in a day.

How much does the trip cost in total?

Expect the boat price, plus SCR 300 per adult if the package does not include the park fee, plus Cousin if it is on the route. Listing prices in autumn 2026 look like this. They are not offers, and they change.

Take two adults on the full-day trip with Cousin, Curieuse and St Pierre. One reseller listing shows a third-party starting price, "from €137.50". The page does not say whether that is per person, so ask for the price for two before you book. The listing says park fees and snorkel equipment are not included. The fees on top are SCR 600 for Curieuse and SCR 1,200 for Cousin: SCR 1,800 in all, about €111.

Now take two adults on a Curieuse and St Pierre trip with no Cousin. A small-boat listing shows €113 per adult, €226 for two, with the barbecue lunch, snorkel gear, a soft drink and water included. It lists SCR 300 landing fees per adult (from 12 years old) as extra. It also lists a hotel transfer from the Grand Anse area at about SCR 800 per booking.

That works out to €226 plus SCR 600 for the park (about €37), and SCR 800 (about €49) if you want the transfer. In all, that is roughly €312 for two with the transfer.

The euro figures use the Central Bank of Seychelles mid-rate of 10 November 2026 (€1 = SCR 16.26). The rate moves, so redo the sum on the day you book.

One operator's own guide says a group tour is about €80 to €100 per person with boat, guide and lunch, and a private half-day boat starts around €400 to €500. Treat those as a rough floor, not a quote.

Which kind of trip suits you?

Skip Cousin if you do not care about birds or you want a weekend slot. Choose by how much you want to see and how many strangers you can stand. This table compares what the public listings above describe; it is not a ranking of operators.

Trip type	Length	Price signal (public listings)	Fees	Best for
Full day: Cousin + Curieuse + St Pierre	about 7 h	from €137.50 (third-party listing, "from" price)	Curieuse SCR 300 and Cousin SCR 600 per adult, extra	Bird and wildlife fans, weekdays only
Full day: Curieuse + St Pierre, small boat	about 6 h	€113 per adult, €81 per child (listing)	Curieuse SCR 300 per adult, extra	Couples and families, calmer pace
Group tour with lunch	full day	about €80 to €100 per person (operator guide)	Sometimes included, sometimes not	Budget, social travellers
Private half-day charter	half day	boat from about €400 to €500 (operator guide)	Check	Groups of 5 or more, fixed timing

Scroll sideways for more columns.

A Cousin day can only run on weekdays. Nature Seychelles says the reserve is open Monday to Friday, in the morning, and that tour operators ferry visitors to the island. Ask your operator for the exact landing time. My view: if Cousin does not matter to you, skip it, because the Curieuse boardwalk and tortoises are the better half of the day. Curieuse is the island with trails, a boardwalk and a beach lunch, and a shorter day leaves more time there.

What does the day look like, stop by stop?

A typical day runs from a 9:00 to 9:30 departure to a 16:00 to 16:30 return. One operator's published schedule gives these times, and they differ between boats:

1. Boat to Curieuse. Sources differ on the crossing. One operator guide says about 15 minutes from Anse Volbert in calm conditions, and a travel guide says 20 to 30 minutes from Praslin. Plan on 15 to 30 minutes, depending on where your boat leaves.
2. Tortoises and the boardwalk. The same schedule gives about 45 minutes at the tortoise sanctuary and about 35 minutes on the mangrove boardwalk to Anse José. Other write-ups say about 20 minutes and about 40 minutes for the boardwalk, so allow 20 to 40 minutes, depending on how often you stop. The SPGA gives no walking time.
3. Lunch. A Creole barbecue. The schedule above puts it between 12:30 and 13:00, for about an hour.
4. St Pierre. The afternoon snorkel stop, with departure around 14:30 and return to Praslin by about 16:00 to 16:30.

What you see on Curieuse, per the SPGA: giant tortoises introduced from Aldabra between 1978 and 1982, with a nursery that raises them until age five. There is also a mangrove boardwalk on pilings through Baie Laraie, which has six of Seychelles' seven mangrove species. The SPGA says it gives access even at high tide, so the tide should not block your walk. The SPGA says only "hundreds" of giant tortoises live there. One travel guide counts more than 300.

The island also has a grim history. It was used to quarantine leprosy patients for almost a hundred years, and ruins of the Leprosarium stand at Anse Jose.

One stop on some itineraries may not be open. The SPGA park page says the Doctor's House at Anse Jose, built in 1873, is closed for renovation. The page carries no date, so it may be closed when you visit: ask the rangers.

There is also a seasonal turtle trail, controlled and open from October to early March, with a separate SCR 150 trail fee. It is not part of a standard day trip, so ask before you assume it is included.

Who pays the park fee, and how?

Non-residents above 12 pay SCR 300, and the SPGA wants it paid by card or online. Its visitor page says tickets can be bought in advance at spga.gov.sc/tickets. It calls online purchase "strongly encouraged" and says no cash is taken on site.

The ticket is per person, per day, for one park. The SPGA ticket page says it is valid from 8:00 to 17:00.

The SPGA also says visitors booked through tour operators usually have the fee in their package. Check that before you pay twice. The ticket page sets a penalty of SCR 600 for entering without a valid permit or a Seychelles ID card. Keep your ticket to show the rangers.

Public figures disagree here, so I would trust the SPGA. One local operator's guide says SCR 200 in cash at Baie Laraie. The SPGA lists SCR 300 and no cash. If you bring only rupees in your pocket, you could be stuck. Bring a card.

Children: the SPGA visitor page says non-residents "above 12 years" pay for the marine park, and lists trail fees as free for under-12s. One listing sets child boat prices for ages 5 to 9 and says under-12s pay no landing fee.

The wording is not identical everywhere. The SPGA ticket page says "12+" and SeyVillas says "from 12 years old", but the visitor page says "above 12". A 12-year-old sits on the line, so ask the operator.

I did not find a separate St Pierre fee. The SPGA ticket page lists none, and St Pierre sits inside the park boundary, so it looks covered by the Curieuse ticket. Confirm that when you book.

What if the sea is rough?

Rough seas are the main reason a trip changes. One operator guide says the southeast trades blow from May to October, that July and August can be rough, and that snorkel conditions then get worse. The SeyVillas listing says all excursions are weather dependent and the operator reserves the right to cancel or postpone a tour.

The SeyVillas listing gave no refund terms for a weather cancellation. The Civitatis listing offers free cancellation up to 48 hours before the start, but says nothing about weather. So ask before you pay:

• Who decides to cancel, and when do I hear?
• Do I get a refund, or only another date?
• If St Pierre is too rough, is there a replacement bay, and is the price the same?

I cannot promise that any snorkel spot is safe on a given day. Ask the crew about current and depth, and use a life vest if you are unsure.

Questions to ask before you pay

1. Is the SCR 300 park fee included, or do I pay on arrival? By card?
2. How many people on the boat? One small-boat listing caps it at 6, another does not say.
3. Is snorkel gear included, and in which sizes?
4. Which stops are on the day, and is the Doctor's House open again?
5. What time do we reach the tortoises? One operator guide suggests asking for an 08:30 departure to beat the second wave of boats, and I would.
6. What happens in rough seas, and who gets the money back?

The cheapest listing is not always cheaper once the fee, the gear and the transfer are added. Ask for the inclusions in writing, and book directly with a local operator if you can. I do not recommend a specific boat here.

FAQ

Is Curieuse worth it?

Yes, for the tortoises, the mangrove boardwalk and an easy day on the water, if you accept that it is a managed visit shared with other boats. For fewer people, ask for an early departure or choose a private boat.

Can I visit Curieuse without a tour?

The park is open seven days a week to non-residents who hold a ticket. You still need a boat across, and I found no official ferry to the island, so you would join a group or hire a boat. Buy the SPGA ticket online first, as the SPGA encourages.

Can I do this trip from Mahé or La Digue?

Most listings I found start from Praslin. One review, updated in February 2026, describes a private snorkel charter from La Digue that stops at Curieuse for the boardwalk, among other islands. I found no source for a day trip from Mahé, so if you stay there, plan how you reach Praslin before you book.

What are the opening hours?

The park is open every day, in the daytime. SPGA pages give two start times: its Curieuse page says 9:00 to 17:00, and its visitor information and ticket pages say 8:00 to 17:00. Check the hours at the ranger station. A boat tour sets your actual time on the island, so the difference rarely matters.

Sources

1. SPGA: Curieuse Marine National Park, spga.gov.sc
2. SPGA: Visitor information (fees, hours, rules, payment), spga.gov.sc
3. SPGA: Online tickets (fee table, validity, penalty), spga.gov.sc
4. Nature Seychelles: Visit Cousin Island, natureseychelles.org
5. Civitatis: Day trip to Curieuse, Cousin and Saint Pierre (third-party 'from' price and terms, listing), civitatis.com
6. SeyVillas: Curieuse and St Pierre full day tour (listing), seyvillas.com
7. KOEK: Curieuse Island day trip, what to expect (operator guide), koek.sc
8. This Island Life: Curieuse Island and its giant tortoises (travel guide), thisislandlife.com
9. Enriching Pursuits: Curieuse island snorkeling tour (review, updated Feb 2026), enrichingpursuits.com
10. Central Bank of Seychelles: Consolidated average rates of authorised dealers (EUR mid 16.2645, 10 Nov 2026), cbs.sc