When is the cruising season in the Seychelles?

Year-round. The inner islands lie outside the cyclone belt, and the calmest seas come in the transition months of April, May, October and November. From May to September the south-east trades bring drier, breezier weather; from November to March the north-west trades bring heat, humidity and lighter winds. Passages to the outer islands are best planned for the calm months.

Where do charters depart from?

Most charters start at Eden Island Marina on Mahé, a short drive from the international airport. Some begin at Baie Sainte Anne on Praslin, a short domestic flight away. Formalities for visiting yachts are handled through the port of Victoria by the yacht's local agent.

Can charters extend to the outer islands?

Yes, as an expedition rather than an extension of an inner-islands week. The Amirantes and Alphonse lie hundreds of kilometres south-west of Mahé, and Aldabra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, more than 1,100 km away. Aldabra can only be visited with the permission of the Seychelles Islands Foundation, with a ranger at every landing. We plan the permits, the route and the provisioning well ahead.

How long is a typical Seychelles charter?

Seven nights covers the inner islands at an easy pace: a classic week leaves Eden Island for Sainte Anne, crosses to Praslin, then spends three or four days among Curieuse, La Digue and Félicité before returning to Mahé. Ten to fourteen nights allows a passage to the outer islands, usually aboard a liveaboard or an expedition yacht.

How do you get to the Seychelles for a yacht charter?

Fly into Seychelles International Airport on Mahé, a short drive from Eden Island Marina. Long-haul flights connect through Middle Eastern, East African and European hubs, with seasonal direct services from Europe; from the United States, most routes run through Europe, the Gulf or Addis Ababa. If the yacht embarks on Praslin, the domestic flight takes 15 to 20 minutes and the fast ferry about an hour.

What rules apply in the Seychelles marine parks?

The marine national parks, including Sainte Anne, Curieuse, Baie Ternay and Ile Cocos, charge an entrance fee and ask yachts to anchor or moor only in designated areas. Fishing, spearfishing, collecting shells or coral, and motorised water sports are prohibited inside them. Anchoring on coral is forbidden everywhere, and private islands need the owner's permission before anyone lands.

What type of yacht suits a Seychelles charter?

Crewed sailing catamarans make up most of the local fleet and suit the short passages and sheltered bays of the inner islands. Larger motor and sailing yachts come for the season under a temporary charter permit arranged through a local agent. For Aldabra and the far outer islands, a liveaboard or an expedition yacht with long range and generous storage is the right choice.

Is the diving and snorkelling good in the Seychelles?

Yes, particularly in April, May, October and November, when the seas are calm and visibility often passes 30 metres. The marine parks of Sainte Anne, Curieuse, Baie Ternay and Ile Cocos are easy snorkelling from the tender, and the outer islands offer reef diving on remote atolls. Spearguns are handed to the authorities on arrival, and sport fishing needs a permit from the Seychelles Fisheries Authority.

Indian Ocean · yacht charter

Seychelles.

Seychelles yacht charter from Eden Island on Mahé: Praslin, La Digue and the granite inner islands, with longer expeditions to the coral atolls of the outer islands.

Speak to a yacht advisor

Overview

What to expect.

The Seychelles divides into two cruising grounds. The inner islands, Mahé, Praslin and La Digue, operate from Eden Island Marina year-round and hold the granite anchorages the archipelago is known for, coves where the rock runs straight into clear water. The outer islands, Aldabra, Cosmoledo and the Amirantes, sit further out and ask for longer passages, more advance planning, and a yacht with the range for them.

The season runs on the monsoon. The south-east monsoon holds through the drier middle of the year, roughly April to October, the steadier window most briefs are built around; the north-west monsoon brings the warmer, wetter months around the turn of the year. The inner islands are accessible across the year, and a typical brief is seven to ten nights inner-only, or ten to fourteen nights inner-and-outer. Permits and provisioning for the outer islands are coordinated through the advisor.

A yacht charter in the Seychelles reads naturally as a winter-season Indian Ocean programme. The inner islands stay warm through the northern winter, and a boat can be paired with the Maldives across the same months or reached on a repositioning leg from the Gulf. The advisor sets the timing against the monsoon rhythm and the wider Indian Ocean routing.

Private yacht charter in the Seychelles

The Seychelles are 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean. The inner islands, Mahé, Praslin, La Digue and their neighbours, are granite, steep and forested, and lie a short cruise apart; the outer islands are low coral atolls spread across hundreds of kilometres to the south-west. A yacht charter in the Seychelles moves between them at its own pace.

A hotel shows one bay. A yacht follows the trade winds to whichever coast is sheltered that week, and reaches the marine parks, granite islets and bird islands directly, without ferries or transfers.

The islands from the water

Mahé and Sainte Anne. Sainte Anne Marine National Park, decreed in 1973, groups six islands about 5 km off Mahé, an easy first night at anchor. On the north-west coast, the marine park of Baie Ternay and Port Launay offers snorkelling in a deep, protected bay, and Silhouette, 20 km to the north-west, is a mountainous national park.

Praslin and Curieuse. Praslin lies 44 km north-east of Mahé. Its Vallée de Mai, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, shelters the coco de mer palm, and Anse Lazio, on the north-west coast, is a natural anchorage when the south-east trades blow. Just to the north, Curieuse is a marine national park where giant tortoises live beside the site of a former leper colony.

La Digue and the eastern islets. Fifteen minutes from Praslin by ferry, La Digue is an island of bicycles and granite boulders, with Anse Source d'Argent on its south-west coast. Félicité and Ile Cocos lie a few miles off; at Ile Cocos, a marine national park, yachts lie on moorings.

Bird and Denis. Two coral islands at the northern edge of the archipelago, around 100 km from Mahé. In the breeding season, Bird Island holds a colony of some 700,000 pairs of nesting sooty terns. Both are privately run, so landing is by arrangement.

The outer islands. The Amirantes, Alphonse and, more than 1,100 km south-west of Mahé, Aldabra, a raised coral atoll and UNESCO World Heritage Site with its own giant tortoises. Visits need the permission of the Seychelles Islands Foundation, and a ranger accompanies every landing. These are expeditions in their own right.

A week from Mahé

A classic week leaves Eden Island for Sainte Anne, crosses to Praslin in a morning's passage, then spends three or four days among Curieuse, Saint Pierre, La Digue and Félicité before returning to Mahé by way of Silhouette. In calm weather, two extra days take the yacht north to Bird and Denis.

When to go

The Seychelles can be cruised all year, and all but the remotest southern islands lie outside the cyclone belt. From May to September the south-east trades blow at around 10 to 20 knots, with drier, cooler weather and rougher seas on south-east coasts, so the route favours bays facing north-west. From November to March the north-west trades are lighter and the air hot and humid, with short, heavy showers, most of all from December to February. April, May, October and November bring the lightest winds, the flattest seas and visibility that often passes 30 metres.

Christmas and New Year, Chinese New Year, Easter, and July and August are the most requested periods. Festival Kreol brings Creole music and food to the islands in October.

Marinas and arrival

Seychelles International Airport sits on the east coast of Mahé, a short drive from Eden Island Marina, which has berths for superyachts. Formalities for visiting yachts go through the port of Victoria. Praslin, the other usual embarkation point, is a 15 to 20-minute flight or about an hour by fast ferry. Long-haul flights connect through Middle Eastern, East African and European hubs, with seasonal direct services from Europe.

Yachts and what a week costs

The resident fleet is mostly sailing catamarans, crewed or bareboat, based on Mahé and Praslin. Larger yachts come for the season and charter under a temporary permit arranged through a local agent. Outer-island expeditions usually run aboard liveaboard vessels.

A charter is quoted as a weekly rate, plus the Advance Provisioning Allowance for fuel, food, port and park fees, the applicable tax for the cruising area, set out before anything is signed, and a gratuity at your discretion. A tourism levy of SCR 100 per person per night applies aboard yachts, children aged 12 and under exempt, and a delivery fee may be added if the yacht is based elsewhere. Our guide to what a yacht charter costs sets out the benchmarks, and the charter toolkit explains the APA and gratuities.

How a Seychelles charter is arranged

We shortlist the yachts that suit your group and the season, check that each is cleared to charter in Seychelles waters, and plan the route around the wind and the marine park rules. A Seychelles week also pairs well with the Maldives or Mauritius, and with the rest of the Indian Ocean.

Tell us your dates, the size of your group and what you have in mind, and we will come back with a shortlist. Start the conversation.

Fleet

Yachts available in Seychelles.

Available on request

The current selection for Seychelles is shared privately on request. Speak to a yacht advisor for a curated shortlist.

Request the selection

Season

When to cruise.

Best months: Year-round, calmest in April, May, October and November
Prevailing winds: Monsoon-driven
Typical base ports: Eden Island Marina (Mahé) · Baie Sainte Anne (Praslin)

White sand beach with palm trees and turquoise water in the Seychelles

April through October. Outside the trade-wind season. The inner islands are accessible year-round; the outer islands favour the same window. Longer briefs combine inner and outer atolls.

Ports

Marinas and anchorages.

Eden Island Marina (Mahé)
Baie Sainte Anne (Praslin)

Frequently asked

Practical questions.

When is the cruising season in the Seychelles?: Year-round. The inner islands lie outside the cyclone belt, and the calmest seas come in the transition months of April, May, October and November. From May to September the south-east trades bring drier, breezier weather; from November to March the north-west trades bring heat, humidity and lighter winds. Passages to the outer islands are best planned for the calm months.
Where do charters depart from?: Most charters start at Eden Island Marina on Mahé, a short drive from the international airport. Some begin at Baie Sainte Anne on Praslin, a short domestic flight away. Formalities for visiting yachts are handled through the port of Victoria by the yacht's local agent.
Can charters extend to the outer islands?: Yes, as an expedition rather than an extension of an inner-islands week. The Amirantes and Alphonse lie hundreds of kilometres south-west of Mahé, and Aldabra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, more than 1,100 km away. Aldabra can only be visited with the permission of the Seychelles Islands Foundation, with a ranger at every landing. We plan the permits, the route and the provisioning well ahead.
How long is a typical Seychelles charter?: Seven nights covers the inner islands at an easy pace: a classic week leaves Eden Island for Sainte Anne, crosses to Praslin, then spends three or four days among Curieuse, La Digue and Félicité before returning to Mahé. Ten to fourteen nights allows a passage to the outer islands, usually aboard a liveaboard or an expedition yacht.
How much does a yacht charter in the Seychelles cost?: Every charter is quoted individually, according to the yacht, the season and the route. The weekly rate is the starting point. On top come the Advance Provisioning Allowance for fuel, food, port and park fees, the applicable tax, set out before anything is signed, a gratuity at your discretion, and a tourism levy of SCR 100 per person per night aboard yachts, with children aged 12 and under exempt.
How do you get to the Seychelles for a yacht charter?: Fly into Seychelles International Airport on Mahé, a short drive from Eden Island Marina. Long-haul flights connect through Middle Eastern, East African and European hubs, with seasonal direct services from Europe; from the United States, most routes run through Europe, the Gulf or Addis Ababa. If the yacht embarks on Praslin, the domestic flight takes 15 to 20 minutes and the fast ferry about an hour.
What are the winds and weather like in the Seychelles?: Two trade wind seasons set the pattern. From May to September the south-east trades blow at around 10 to 20 knots, with drier, cooler air and choppier seas on south-east coasts. From November to March the north-west trades are lighter, and the weather hot and humid, with short tropical showers. April, May, October and November bring the calmest seas, and the inner islands lie outside the cyclone belt.
What rules apply in the Seychelles marine parks?: The marine national parks, including Sainte Anne, Curieuse, Baie Ternay and Ile Cocos, charge an entrance fee and ask yachts to anchor or moor only in designated areas. Fishing, spearfishing, collecting shells or coral, and motorised water sports are prohibited inside them. Anchoring on coral is forbidden everywhere, and private islands need the owner's permission before anyone lands.
What type of yacht suits a Seychelles charter?: Crewed sailing catamarans make up most of the local fleet and suit the short passages and sheltered bays of the inner islands. Larger motor and sailing yachts come for the season under a temporary charter permit arranged through a local agent. For Aldabra and the far outer islands, a liveaboard or an expedition yacht with long range and generous storage is the right choice.
Is the diving and snorkelling good in the Seychelles?: Yes, particularly in April, May, October and November, when the seas are calm and visibility often passes 30 metres. The marine parks of Sainte Anne, Curieuse, Baie Ternay and Ile Cocos are easy snorkelling from the tender, and the outer islands offer reef diving on remote atolls. Spearguns are handed to the authorities on arrival, and sport fishing needs a permit from the Seychelles Fisheries Authority.