Praslin island guide: beaches, boats and nature reserves

Praslin is the second-largest granitic island of the Seychelles, 44 km north-east of Mahé in the Indian Ocean. About 9,400 people live on its 38.5 km² (official 2022 estimate). The Cat Cocos ferry from Mahé takes about 1 hour 15 minutes. Visitors come for Anse Lazio, a white bay with granite boulders, and the Vallée de Mai, a UNESCO palm forest.

Key facts

• Size: about 38.5 km², roughly 12 km long and 4.6 km wide, per Wikipedia. I found no official figure for the area. Mahé, the big sister, is about 157 km².
• People: about 9,400 in mid-2022. That is the National Bureau of Statistics estimate, which adjusts the 2022 census count of 7,882 for people the census missed. The two districts are Baie Ste Anne (about 5,100) and Grand'Anse (about 4,300).
• Getting there: 44 km north-east of Mahé. Cat Cocos ferry about 1 h 15 min to the jetty at Baie Ste Anne; a short flight lands at Praslin Island Airport.
• Next door: La Digue is 15 minutes away by ferry from the same jetty.
• UNESCO: the Vallée de Mai, inscribed in December 1983, covers only 19.5 hectares.
• On the ground: the jetty and the airstrip are about 12 km apart by road, around 25 minutes by car.

Where is Praslin, and how far is it from Mahé?

Praslin lies 44 km north-east of Mahé, according to Wikipedia's island entry. "North-east" matters. Some pages put it "45 km to the northwest", which sends your eyes to the wrong horizon.

The ferry is the usual way over. Cat Cocos' own schedule page gives the Mahé to Praslin crossing as about 1 hour 15 minutes. It names the landing as the Praslin Jetty at Baie Ste Anne. Some third-party pages print other figures, so check the operator's page. The same page lists Praslin to La Digue at 15 minutes.

Air Seychelles flies the same hop in a small Twin Otter, a flight of about 15 to 20 minutes (the airline says 15, published timetables list 20). It lands at Praslin Island Airport on the west side of the island. A separate guide compares the ferry, the flight and the day you land. If you are still deciding between islands, see the Praslin or La Digue section below.

Ferry fare and booking. An adult visitor pays SCR 890 one way from Mahé to Praslin in Cat Cocos' economy class (Coco de Mer). That is about €55 at the Central Bank of Seychelles rate of 10 November 2026. We read it in the operator's booking engine on 14 November 2026, with VAT and a SCR 25 port fee included; the other two classes cost more.

Cat Cocos sells tickets online through a booking link on its home page. Its office also sells same-day seats, but Wikivoyage's Seychelles page says only "subject to availability". I would book ahead rather than gamble on a same-day seat. The Cat Cocos ferry guide has the fares for every route and class.

Praslin coast by coast

Praslin is a long island with one main road, so the useful question is which coast you want, not which village. The table starts at the north-west tip, where the famous beach is, and ends in the south-west near the airstrip. Read it from one of two start points: the Baie Ste Anne jetty, where the ferry lands, or the airstrip, where the plane lands.

Coast	Beaches and sights	Bus	From the jetty (road km, car)	From the airstrip (road km, car)	Calmer water
1. North-west	Anse Lazio, Anse Georgette (walk from Lazio; permission needed)	No stop at the beach that I could confirm; plan on a taxi or car	Lazio 13 km, about 20 min	Lazio 21 km, about 40 min	Apr to Oct (our inference)
2. North	Anse Boudin, Anse Possession, Anse Volbert and the Côte d'Or strip, boats to Curieuse	Main-road buses reach Côte d'Or	Côte d'Or 6 km, about 10 min; Anse Possession 9 km, about 15 min; Anse Boudin 12 km, about 20 min	Côte d'Or 13 km, about 25 min; Anse Boudin 20 km, about 35 min	Calm at Volbert and Possession, small waves at Boudin (Seyvillas)
3. East and south-east	Baie Ste Anne jetty, Anse Consolation, Anse La Blague, Vallée de Mai a short drive inland	Buses serve the jetty	Consolation 3 km, about 5 min; La Blague 6 km, about 10 min; Vallée de Mai 4 km, about 5 min	Consolation 11 km, about 25 min; La Blague 14 km, about 25 min; Vallée de Mai 7 km, about 15 min	Dec to Mar (our inference); seaweed possible Jun to Sep
4. South and south-west	Grand'Anse village, shops and the airstrip; Anse Kerlan on the west coast	Buses run between Grand'Anse and Baie Ste Anne	Grand'Anse 8 km, about 15 min; Anse Kerlan 13 km, about 25 min	Grand'Anse 4 km, about 10 min; Anse Kerlan 2 km, about 5 min	Shallow and calm in local descriptions; seaweed possible Jun to Sep

Scroll sideways for more columns.

Distances are road kilometres from OpenStreetMap routing (the OSRM car profile) to the beach road or village centre. Minutes are the routing time plus a quarter for bends and slow traffic, rounded to the nearest 5. The same rule applies to every cell. The "our inference" entries come from our reading of the wind pattern and each bay's orientation. They are a rule of thumb, not a forecast. La Blague, for one, gets rough at high tide in Seyvillas' description.

Seyvillas, a local guide, gives the wind seasons. South-east trade winds blow from May to September. North-west winds blow from December to March, though another section of the page says December to February. Between the two, it says, "there is almost no wind". That leaves April, October and November as the quiet months. The south-east trade winds from June to September can bring seaweed, "especially on Praslin". Its beach pages list Anse Lazio as "fairly deep water – lifeguard often present". Wikipedia notes that the bay has no coral reef in front of it.

My pick for a first visit: sleep on the north coast and treat everything else as a day out. It sits between the jetty and Anse Lazio, and the boats to Curieuse leave from there. That is an opinion, not a rule.

Is Praslin worth visiting?

Yes, if you want beaches you can reach without a boat and a forest worth a morning. Praslin is much smaller than Mahé and slower-paced, and in my view it is the better first stop. Pick La Digue instead if bikes and a slower pace matter more to you than variety.

Brochures call every island paradise. Praslin has the usual set of postcard parts: white sand, granite boulders, palms. Postcards are not wrong, just a little repetitive, so choose two or three places and give each its time instead of ticking off every cove. Two or three nights is my rule of thumb for that; the Praslin or La Digue guide splits the nights if you add the second island.

What to do on Praslin

• Swim at Anse Lazio, the north-west bay everyone photographs (next section).
• Walk the Vallée de Mai, the palm forest (section after that).
• Visit Fond Ferdinand, a second nature reserve, run by the Seychelles Islands Foundation. Its online ticket costs a visitor SCR 270, and a combined ticket with the Vallée de Mai SCR 600 (SIF checkout, 14 November 2026).
• Take a boat to Curieuse, home of giant tortoises, and St Pierre (see the Curieuse section).
• Day-trip to La Digue by ferry, 15 minutes from the same jetty.
• Pick a quieter beach on the north coast, such as Anse Volbert or Anse Possession from the table.

Anse Lazio: the beach everyone photographs

Anse Lazio is the answer to "what is Praslin famous for". It sits on the north-west coast and has granite boulders along the sand. Wikipedia notes it is a non-motorised beach as of 2024. I'd go early and swim on a calm day. A separate Anse Lazio guide covers how to get there, swimming conditions and the safety note in full.

Anse Georgette lies a walk away, in the grounds of the Constance Lémuria resort. Wikipedia says that non-guests can visit with prior permission, so ask the resort before you walk over.

Vallée de Mai: the other reason

The Vallée de Mai is a small forest with a large reputation. The Seychelles Islands Foundation says it holds "the Seychelles' largest intact forest of the endemic coco de mer palm". At 19.5 hectares, it is one of the world's smallest natural UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The entrance fee is SCR 450 on the foundation's page, the forest opens daily from 8:30 to 16:30, and the last entry is at 15:30.

A size warning: some pages quote "324 hectares" as if it were Praslin. That figure belongs to the Praslin National Park, which the Seychelles Parks and Gardens Authority says was established in 1979 and encloses the Vallée de Mai. 324 hectares is 3.24 km², under a tenth of the island's 38.5 km². The ticket details and what to do if you only have an hour are on the Vallée de Mai guide.

Where to stay: pick a coast first

Pick the coast before the hotel. Each coast has one reason to choose it:

• North coast: the easiest base for beaches, restaurants and the boats to Curieuse.
• North-west: closest to Anse Lazio, but far from everything else by road.
• Baie Ste Anne and the east: closest to the ferry, and the Vallée de Mai is a short drive.
• Grand'Anse and the south-west: closest to the airstrip, with the shops.

The where-to-stay guide goes through each coast and who it suits.

Praslin or La Digue

Praslin or La Digue is a question about nights, not islands. They are 15 minutes apart by ferry, so most visitors do both. The Praslin or La Digue guide gives the split of nights I would use for two, three and five nights, and the cases where you can skip one.

A day to Curieuse and St Pierre

The Seychelles Parks and Gardens Authority describes the trip to Curieuse as a 20-minute boat ride from Côte d'Or on Praslin. Giant tortoises were introduced to Curieuse between 1978 and 1982, mainly from Aldabra. For the other places to see them, and the ones closed to visitors, see where to see giant tortoises in the Seychelles. The authority's Curieuse page lists the park entry at Rs300 for non-residents above 12 years. The boat is extra. The Curieuse and St Pierre trip guide covers what the trip costs and which parts are worth choosing, with no booking links here.

Getting around Praslin

Buses on Praslin follow the main coastal road, according to MileHacker. They serve Grand'Anse, Baie Ste Anne and the Côte d'Or strip. SPTC, the bus company, sells a Visitor Travel Card that is valid on Mahé and Praslin. It costs SCR 100 (about €5) for one day, SCR 198 for four days and SCR 363 for eight.

SPTC publishes timetables on sptc.sc and in its app, but I could not confirm a Praslin timetable there. I could not find a bus stop at Anse Lazio itself, so assume a taxi there. Greet the driver with "Bonzour" before you ask for your stop; our guide to the languages of Seychelles has more Creole phrases.

A car gives you the most freedom on a long island with one road. Wikivoyage's Seychelles page says you can rent cars only on Mahé and Praslin, and that driving is on the left. Book a car early if your dates are busy. I have no verified daily price to quote. Compare the rental firms' own rates.

Common questions about Praslin

What is Praslin famous for?

Praslin is famous for Anse Lazio and the Vallée de Mai. Anse Lazio is a white beach with granite boulders. The Vallée de Mai holds the largest intact forest of the coco de mer, an endemic palm, according to the Seychelles Islands Foundation.

How big is Praslin?

Praslin covers about 38.5 km², about 12 km long and 4.6 km wide, according to Wikipedia. Mahé is roughly four times bigger at about 157 km².

How many people live on Praslin?

About 9,400 in mid-2022, by the National Bureau of Statistics estimate, which adjusts the 2022 census count of 7,882 for undercount. Wikipedia still lists about 7,500 for 2014, which does not fit the census series (8,603 in 2010, per the same NBS table).

Which part of Praslin is best to stay?

The north coast, around Anse Volbert and Côte d'Or, suits most first visits because it has the beaches, the restaurants and the boats to Curieuse. Grand'Anse suits an early flight, and Baie Ste Anne suits a late ferry.

Can I visit Praslin as a day trip from Mahé?

Yes on some days, but it is a tight day. The crossing takes about 1 hour 15 minutes each way by Cat Cocos. On its 2026 & 2027 timetable, the 08:00 from Mahé on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday gives you most of a day. The boat back leaves at 17:00 (Monday, Wednesday) or 17:30 (Friday, Saturday).

On Sunday the 11:00 from Mahé and the 17:30 back give you about five hours. On Tuesday and Thursday the first boat leaves Mahé at 10:30 and the last one back at 14:00, which leaves only about two hours. Check the operator's timetable image before you book. A night on the island is easier.

Is Praslin the second-largest island in the Seychelles?

It is the second-largest of the granitic Inner Islands, after Mahé. Some pages drop the word "granitic". This guide keeps it, because the granitic islands are the group the sources compare.