Island Hopping in the Seychelles Without a Package: Routes, Costs and Day Plans

Yes, you can island-hop the Seychelles without a package. A Cat Cocos ferry takes you from Mahé to Praslin in 1 hour 15 minutes. A 15-minute boat goes on to La Digue, and day boats run to Curieuse and St Pierre. One rule matters most: sleep on Mahé the night before your international flight.

Paradise has a timetable. It is just not printed where you would hope, so this page prints it for you.

How many islands for how many nights

Give each island at least two nights, because a crossing eats half a day. That is my rule of thumb, not an official figure. It gives you this:

• 3–4 nights: Praslin only, with your last night on Mahé. Two crossings cost SCR 1,780 for an adult (2 × SCR 890, about €109), and there is room for one day boat.
• 5 nights: Praslin and La Digue, last night on Mahé (Plan A).
• 7 nights: the same islands, with Cousin and Vallée de Mai added (Plan B).
• 10–14 nights: three islands with spare days. Plan C is the base, and extra nights go to Praslin or La Digue, not to more crossings.

What each island is for

• Mahé: the international airport and the Inter Island Quay in Victoria. Sleep here before you fly home.
• Praslin: the base for the park islands, and home to Vallée de Mai. The Curieuse and Cousin day boats start here.
• La Digue: 15 minutes from Praslin on a SCR 188 boat. Ask your guesthouse about bikes and bag handling from the jetty. I have no official price or rule for either.
• Curieuse, St Pierre, Cousin: day trips from Praslin, covered below.

What "island hopping" means here, and what it is not

Island hopping here means moving your bed between islands on public boats, with day boats for the small islands. You stay on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue, and you visit Curieuse, St Pierre and Cousin for a day.

It is not a package, and it is not one day boat. A package sells you the rooms, transfers and boats together. A day boat is one excursion from one base. I sell neither, and the plans below are desk-built examples, not trips I took.

The boats you actually use

Three kinds of boat do all the work:

• the Cat Cocos catamaran between the three main islands
• a short hop between Praslin and La Digue
• small private boats to the park islands

Cat Cocos gives these journey times on its schedule page:

Journey	Time
Mahé to Praslin	1 h 15
Praslin to La Digue	15 min
Mahé to La Digue via Praslin	1 h 45
La Digue to Mahé direct (Sat, Sun)	1 h 10

Boats leave from the Inter Island Quay in Victoria and arrive at the Praslin jetty in Baie Ste Anne.

We checked the operator's own booking engine on 11 November 2026. The fares below are its one-way prices for a non-resident adult (age 12–62). Each includes 15% VAT and a port fee of SCR 25 (SCR 15 on the Praslin–La Digue leg). Euro figures are rough conversions at the Central Bank of Seychelles rate of 10 November 2026. Cat Cocos charges in rupees.

Leg (one way)	Economy: Coco de Mer (lower deck)	Economy: Island Hopper Upper Deck	Business: Lazio Lounge
Mahé → Praslin	SCR 890 (about €55)	SCR 977 (about €60)	SCR 1,237 (about €76)
Praslin → La Digue	SCR 188 (about €12)	SCR 188	SCR 188
Mahé → La Digue	SCR 1,064 (about €65)	SCR 1,150 (about €71)	SCR 1,410 (about €87)

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The booking engine prices children (2 to under 12) and seniors (63 and over) separately. We did not price those, so check your own fare when you book. Infants under two travel free but still need a ticket, according to the Cat Cocos terms. Non-residents may take 25 kg in economy and 30 kg in business. The terms add that one suitcase must not exceed 32 kg.

My pick is the cheapest seat. The lower deck is the standard economy ticket, and the crossing is short.

The timetable, in text

The Cat Cocos timetable is only published as a picture, so here it is as text. It comes from the operator's Schedule for 2026 & 2027 on its home page. Cat Cocos also posts one-off changes for single dates, so check your sailing when you buy.

Day	Mahé → Praslin	Praslin → Mahé	Praslin → La Digue	La Digue → Praslin
Mon	08:00, 10:30, 16:30	08:00, 14:00, 17:00	09:30, 12:00, 18:00	07:30, 13:30, 16:30
Tue	10:30, 16:30	08:00, 14:00	12:00, 18:00	07:30, 13:30
Wed	08:00, 10:30, 16:30	08:00, 14:00, 17:00	09:30, 12:00, 18:00	07:30, 13:30, 16:30
Thu	10:30, 16:30	08:00, 14:00	12:00, 18:00	07:30, 13:30
Fri	08:00, 10:30, 16:30	08:00, 14:00, 17:30	09:30, 12:00, 18:00	07:30, 13:30, 17:00
Sat	08:00, 11:00, 16:30	08:00, 17:30	09:30, 12:30, 18:00	07:30, 17:00
Sun	11:00, 14:00, 16:30	08:00, 17:30	12:30, 18:00	07:30

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Between Mahé and La Digue you can buy one through ticket. These through sailings join the legs above at Praslin. On 11 November 2026 the booking engine showed the 16:30 from Mahé reaching La Digue at 18:15.

Mahé → La Digue, via Praslin	Days	Arrives La Digue
08:00	Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat	09:45
10:30	Mon–Fri	12:15
11:00	Sat, Sun	12:45
16:30	Every day	18:15

La Digue → Mahé	Days	Arrives Mahé
07:30, via Praslin	Every day	09:15
13:30, via Praslin	Mon–Fri	15:15
14:15, direct	Sat, Sun	15:25
16:30, via Praslin	Mon, Wed	18:15
17:00, via Praslin	Fri, Sat	18:45

A direct boat appears only in the La Digue to Mahé direction, on Saturday and Sunday. Every sailing from Mahé to La Digue in the 2026–2027 timetable stops at Praslin.

Three things to notice:

• Tuesday and Thursday have no evening boat from Praslin to Mahé. The last one leaves at 14:00.
• Sunday has one boat from La Digue to Praslin, at 07:30. The only afternoon boat from La Digue is the direct one to Mahé at 14:15, so do not plan a Sunday afternoon move to Praslin.
• Monday, Wednesday and Friday have the most boats. Each has three on every leg. Friday's evening boats leave later, at 17:30 from Praslin to Mahé and 17:00 from La Digue.

A second operator, Cat Rose, also crosses between Praslin and La Digue. Booking agents list its sailings, but we could not confirm them with the operator, so check at the jetty. The plans use Cat Cocos only.

The transfer-day clock

A transfer day is a day you move islands, and it goes wrong when you treat it as a normal morning. Two clocks cover most of what you will do: the arrival day and the day before your flight home.

Arrival day: international flight to Praslin on the 16:30 boat. The Cat Cocos terms say passengers must be at the boat half an hour before departure. Checked luggage must be registered at the cargo desk one hour before.

Time	What happens
13:30	Latest sensible landing at Mahé airport (my assumption: about two hours from touchdown to the quay; there is no official figure)
15:30	Bags registered at the Inter Island Quay cargo desk
16:00	On the jetty, ready to board
16:30	Boat leaves Mahé
17:45	Boat arrives at Baie Ste Anne, Praslin; road transfer to your room

If your flight lands later than 13:30, sleep on Mahé and take a morning or 10:30 boat. Do not gamble on the last boat.

Time	What happens
12:30	Bags registered at the cargo desk (the terms say one hour before)
13:00	On the jetty
13:30	Boat leaves La Digue
15:15	Arrive Mahé Inter Island Quay (the boat stops at Praslin on the way)
Evening	Sleep on Mahé. Fly next day

This is the rule that matters most. Section 1.17.2.1 of the Cat Cocos terms says the carrier "reserves the right not to undertake crossings under bad weather conditions". If a boat is cancelled on the day before your flight, you lose a beach afternoon. If it is cancelled on the day of your flight, you may lose the flight.

Three plans: 5, 7 and 10 nights

Each plan below is a worked example built from the 2026–2027 timetable and the prices above. They are desk-built examples, not trips anyone took, and the weekday matters because the boats change by day. If you land on another day, slide the plan along and check the table above.

Plan A: 5 nights, Praslin first, one day boat

Pick this if you have a week of leave and want Praslin and La Digue without rushing. It starts on a Monday.

Day	Sleep	What moves
Mon	Praslin	Land at Mahé; 16:30 boat to Praslin, arrive 17:45
Tue	Praslin	Day boat to Curieuse and St Pierre (09:00–16:00)
Wed	La Digue	09:30 boat, arrive 09:45; afternoon on the island
Thu	La Digue	A slow day on La Digue, no boats and nothing to catch
Fri	Mahé	13:30 boat via Praslin, arrive Mahé 15:15
Sat	–	Fly home

Cost per adult: ferries SCR 890 + 188 + 1,064 = SCR 2,142 (about €132). Day boat: €113 plus the SCR 300 landing fee (about €18). Total about €263.

Plan B: 7 nights, add Vallée de Mai and Cousin

Pick this if one more island matters more to you than one more beach. It starts on a Sunday.

Day	Sleep	What moves
Sun	Praslin	Land at Mahé; boat to Praslin at 14:00 or 16:30
Mon	Praslin	Vallée de Mai in the morning, no boats
Tue	Praslin	Day boat: Cousin, Curieuse and St Pierre (09:00–16:30)
Wed	La Digue	09:30 boat, arrive 09:45
Thu	La Digue	A full day on La Digue
Fri	La Digue	A slow day, or a spare day if the sea is rough
Sat	Mahé	Direct boat 14:15, arrive 15:25
Sun	–	Fly home

Cost per adult: ferries SCR 2,142 (about €132). Day boat €156 plus SCR 900 in landing fees for Cousin, Curieuse and St Pierre (about €55). Vallée de Mai SCR 450 (about €28). Total about €371.

Plan C: 10 nights, add Mahé and slack

Pick this if you want a real holiday with islands in it, not a marathon. It starts on a Friday.

Day	Sleep	What moves
Fri	Mahé	Land; no boat, rest
Sat	Mahé	A Mahé day, no boat
Sun	Praslin	Boat at 11:00, 14:00 or 16:30
Mon	Praslin	Vallée de Mai, no boat
Tue	Praslin	Day boat: Cousin, Curieuse and St Pierre
Wed	Praslin	Spare day: beach, or the day boat if Tuesday was cancelled
Thu	La Digue	12:00 boat, arrive 12:15
Fri	La Digue	A full day
Sat	La Digue	A slow day, spare if the sea is rough
Sun	Mahé	Direct boat 14:15, arrive 15:25
Mon	–	Fly home

Cost per adult: about €371, the same boat bill as Plan B. The three extra nights buy slack. They do not buy more crossings, and slack is what keeps a cancelled boat from becoming a missed flight. Mahé rooms and food are not priced here.

The three plans side by side

	Plan A	Plan B	Plan C
Nights	5 (Praslin 2, La Digue 2, Mahé 1)	7 (Praslin 3, La Digue 3, Mahé 1)	10 (Mahé 3, Praslin 4, La Digue 3)
Ferry legs	3	3	3
Day boat	Curieuse and St Pierre	Cousin, Curieuse and St Pierre	Cousin, Curieuse and St Pierre
Spare day for weather	No	One (Friday)	Two
Boats and park fees per adult	about €263	about €371	about €371
Best for	Short trips; first visit	Island lovers	Slow travel; nervous about the sea

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What it costs per person

Boats and park entries come to about €263 to €371 per adult in these plans, before rooms, food, taxis and bikes. Those costs change with where you sleep, so they sit in a full trip budget, not here.

How the numbers are built:

• Ferries: Cat Cocos fares for an adult non-resident, economy lower deck, from its booking engine. The booking engine prices both directions the same: SCR 1,064 from Mahé to La Digue and from La Digue to Mahé (price check of 11 November 2026).
• Day boats: the operator's price for an adult. Swell Boat Charter lists €113 for its Curieuse and St Pierre day and €156 for its Cousin, Curieuse and St Pierre day. Landing fees are not included.
• Park fees: SCR 300 for Curieuse, from the SPGA visitor page, and SCR 600 for Cousin, from the Cousin Island reserve. The Seychelles Islands Foundation gives the Vallée de Mai entrance fee as SCR 450 on its Vallée de Mai page.
• Exchange rate: €1 = SCR 16.2645 (Central Bank of Seychelles mid-rate, 10 November 2026). Euro figures are rounded.

Children under 12 do not pay for the SPGA parks or Cousin. The Seychelles Islands Foundation's ticket page gives them free access to Vallée de Mai too, with ID. The booking engine prices children's ferry seats separately.

The cheapest way to do every plan is to buy the ferry from the operator and the park ticket from the park authority. SPGA says online tickets are "strongly encouraged". Both are free to look up and need no middleman.

The day boats: Curieuse, St Pierre and Cousin

A day boat from Praslin is the easiest way to see Curieuse and St Pierre, and Cousin is the one trip with strict rules. SPGA says local tour operators, yachts and charters run daily excursions to the marine parks, so you can also hire a private boat.

Here is how two operators describe the same Curieuse and St Pierre day, from the terms on their SeyVillas listings:

	Swell Boat Charter	Angel Tours
Adult / child price	€113 / €81 (ages 5–9)	€90 / €60 (ages 4–11); €75 / €35 without lunch
Days	Every day	Monday to Saturday
Hours	09:00–16:00, meet 08:45	09:00–16:00 or 16:30, meet 08:45
Group size	2 to 6	6 to 22
Landing fee	Not included (SCR 300 from age 12)	Not included (SCR 300 from age 12)
Bad weather	May cancel or postpone	May cancel or postpone

Angel Tours' own site shows lower "from" prices, €75 with lunch and €55 without. The SeyVillas listing shows €90 and €75. That gap is why you should ask the operator what the price includes before you pay.

Cousin is different. Swell's page says the tour runs Monday to Friday and is not offered on public holidays because Cousin is closed. Visits are guided, and tours last about 75 minutes in English or French, according to the reserve's visit page. Swell's Cousin, Curieuse and St Pierre day also says that Cousin accepts cash only, while Curieuse takes cards or advance online tickets.

SPGA marine parks are open from 8:00 to 17:00. SPGA says on-site fees are paid by card.

If you want something private, a taxi boat or charter is the other option. There is no official price list for those, so I give no figure. Ask for the price in writing and ask whether the SCR 300 landing fee is in it.

Other boat trips and what SPGA charges

Beyond the Curieuse set, SPGA publishes landing fees for a handful of other places. These are the SPGA ticket prices for non-residents aged 12 and over:

Place	SPGA fee
Sainte Anne marine park	SCR 200 (about €12)
Baie Ternay and Port Launay marine parks	SCR 200 each
Iles Cocos (Coco Island) marine park	SCR 200
Iles Cocos and Curieuse together	SCR 400 (about €25)
Veuve Reserve	SCR 150 (about €9)
Veuve Reserve and Iles Cocos together	SCR 250 (about €15)

SPGA lists no fee for Félicité or Grande Soeur on the pages we read, so ask the operator what is included. Day tickets run from 8:00 to 17:00, and SPGA says entering a paying site without a ticket carries a SCR 600 penalty.

Where to sleep: Praslin first, La Digue second

For a first island hop, make Praslin your base for the park islands and give La Digue its own nights. La Digue is the island to slow down on, so do not rush it with a day trip.

My reasoning is boat logic. The Curieuse and Cousin day boats leave from Praslin. Cat Cocos's last boat from La Digue to Praslin leaves at 13:30 on Tuesday and Thursday. On Sunday it leaves at 07:30. A day trip there can be short.

Is a one-day trip by public ferry worth it?

Not really. It works, but you spend most of the day on a boat. Agents sell one-day Praslin and La Digue tours, and the ferries can do the same job.

On a Monday or Wednesday you can leave Mahé at 08:00 and arrive on La Digue at 09:45. The through boat back leaves at 16:30 and arrives at 18:15. That gives about six hours and 45 minutes on one island for SCR 2,128 (about €131). On a Friday or Saturday the same day works with a 17:00 boat home, arriving 18:45. That gives about seven hours and 15 minutes on La Digue.

To see both islands, take the 08:00 boat to Praslin and get off at 09:15. Catch the 12:00 boat to La Digue (arrive 12:15). On Monday or Wednesday the through boat home leaves at 16:30, so you get about 2 hours 45 minutes on Praslin and 4 hours 15 minutes on La Digue. On Friday the boat home leaves at 17:00, which gives La Digue 4 hours 45 minutes. The ferries cost SCR 2,142 (about €132), and there is no slack if one boat runs late.

My verdict: pick one island and use one boat each way. If you have the time, sleep on it. The Mahé day trip is a way to see La Digue, not to enjoy it.

Weather plan B: what to do if a boat is cancelled

If a boat is cancelled, take the next one and keep your flight-day buffer. The Cat Cocos terms give you three useful rules.

1. Bad weather: the carrier may cancel crossings, and you can switch to a later trip at no charge.
2. Company cancels: you choose an alternative trip or a refund (section 1.16.1).
3. You cancel: changes cost SCR 25 for one change and SCR 50 for more, up to one hour before departure, subject to seats (special-priced tickets are excluded). Trip cancellations must be made 48 hours before departure, and seasickness does not qualify for a refund.

What to do, in order:

1. Look at the forecast the night before. The Seychelles Meteorological Authority publishes a marine forecast with wind speeds and wave heights.
2. Be at the jetty early. Check in half an hour before departure, as the terms require.
3. Ask for the next sailing, not a refund. The timetable above shows what is left that day. On Tuesday and Thursday the last boat from Praslin to Mahé is at 14:00, so a missed 14:00 means a night on Praslin.
4. If you must be on Mahé: from Praslin, ask Air Seychelles about its domestic service on airseychelles.com. Its pages would not load when we checked, so we give no flight time, fare or baggage allowance. From La Digue you cross to Praslin first.
5. If a day boat is cancelled: the operators may cancel or postpone in bad weather. Their terms do not say what happens to your payment, so ask before you pay. Plans B and C have a spare day.
6. Tell your airline early if a cancelled boat puts your flight at risk.

Which months are rough? The Seychelles Meteorological Authority's climate guide describes winds and sea month by month.

Months	Winds and sea, in the authority's words
June	South-east trades "usually well established", choppy seas
July–August	South-east trades "approaching its peak" in July, when conditions at sea "can get pretty rough"; August is the "peak" and the sea "certainly forbidding for amateurs"; the sheltered west and north-west beaches are "more pleasant"
September	Winds decline but remain "fairly strong"
October	Winds "weaken considerably" but stay mostly from the south-east
November	Winds "drop significantly and swing to the west"; sea quite pleasant
December	"Fairly light winds" (cyclones far to the south can stir up moderate winds for a couple of days); sea "quite pleasant"
January	North-west monsoon at its peak, but winds "do not have a very high constancy"; "an extremely wet and humid month"
February–March	"Fairly good", then "more pleasant"
April	"Conditions at sea can't get more pleasant than this"

My opinion: if you get seasick, cross in April, November, December, February or March, and go in July or August only with a spare day. The Praslin to La Digue hop is 15 minutes, so even a bad day is short.

FAQ

Is there a ferry from Mahé straight to La Digue?

On one ticket, yes. Cat Cocos sells a single Mahé to La Digue ticket. In the 2026–2027 timetable every boat from Mahé stops at Praslin, which takes 1 hour 45 minutes. A direct boat runs only from La Digue to Mahé, at 14:15 on Saturday and Sunday, and takes 1 hour 10 minutes. The Mahé to La Digue fare is SCR 1,064 for an adult in economy.

Is one Mahé to La Digue ticket cheaper than two?

Slightly. Mahé to La Digue is SCR 1,064. Mahé to Praslin (SCR 890) plus Praslin to La Digue (SCR 188) is SCR 1,078, SCR 14 more. The single ticket also avoids a connection, so it is the safer choice on a flight-day buffer.

How much luggage can I take on the Cat Cocos ferry?

Non-residents get 25 kg free in economy and 30 kg in business, and excess is charged per kilo. One suitcase must not exceed 32 kg. Checked bags go to the cargo desk one hour before the boat leaves.

How early should I book the boats?

Early is safe, because Cat Cocos sells tickets online and opens sailings many months ahead. I found no official word on how fast boats sell out, so treat this as habit, not a rule: for December–January and July–August, book once your dates are fixed.

How many days do I need for island hopping in the Seychelles?

Five nights is the shortest plan that visits two islands without rushing. Seven nights adds Cousin and Vallée de Mai. For three or four nights, stay on Praslin and finish on Mahé.

Can you island hop the Seychelles in a day?

Yes, on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday, by public ferry. You leave Mahé at 08:00. On Monday and Wednesday the last through boat gets you home at 18:15, and on Friday or Saturday at 18:45. It costs SCR 2,128 for one island or SCR 2,142 for two, and it is a long day.

Sources

1. Cat Cocos: schedule and journey times, catcocos.com
2. Cat Cocos: schedule image, 2026 & 2027, catcocos.com
3. Cat Cocos: terms and conditions (luggage, check-in, weather, refunds), catcocos.com
4. Cat Cocos online booking engine (fare check, 11 Nov 2026), booking.catcocos.com
5. Cat Cocos: official website, catcocos.com
6. Seychelles Parks and Gardens Authority (SPGA): visitor information and marine park fees, spga.gov.sc
7. SPGA: ticket prices and validity, spga.gov.sc
8. SPGA: buy entry tickets online, spga.gov.sc
9. Cousin Island Special Reserve: visit information and fees, cousinisland.net
10. Swell Boat Charter: Cousin, Curieuse and St Pierre full day (operator terms on SeyVillas), seyvillas.com
11. Swell Boat Charter: Curieuse and St Pierre full day (operator terms on SeyVillas), seyvillas.com
12. Angel Tours: Curieuse and St Pierre full day (operator terms on SeyVillas), seyvillas.com
13. Angel Tours: official website, angeltours.sc
14. Seychelles Islands Foundation: Vallee de Mai visitor information (entrance fee SCR 450), sif.sc
15. Seychelles Islands Foundation: tickets (free access for children under 12), sif.sc
16. Air Seychelles: official website, airseychelles.com
17. Seychelles Meteorological Authority: Seychelles climate guide, meteo.sc
18. Seychelles Meteorological Authority: marine services and marine forecast, meteo.sc
19. Central Bank of Seychelles: consolidated average exchange rates (10 Nov 2026), cbs.sc