Flotilla

Seychelles flotilla

Number of guests 6–10 A flotilla is a trip in an organised group of yachts. It suits novice skippers who don’t yet dare to go to sea alone, those who have recently got their licence, and anyone who needs support and a safety net.

Course programme

We will help you: charter a yacht or catamaran on favourable terms and agree all the details with the charter company help you take over the boat from the charter company help with buying provisions and transfers, currency exchange, Wi-Fi help you plan your route and overnight moorings always be close by and ready to provide technical assistance monitor the weather and give recommendations on moorings the fishing in the Seychelles is excellent — we’ll teach you to fish or share our catch You decide whether to join the group or travel privately The flotilla will be led by experienced yachtsman Viktor Fetisov. He will provide all the information you need about the sailing area and the specifics of sailing in the Seychelles. Viktor has sailed more than 40,000 miles and gained a wealth of experience, which he is happy to share with everyone. The trip starts on the island of Mahé and takes in the most interesting islands of the Seychelles archipelago. You will visit Praslin, which National Geographic has for many years named the most beautiful island on earth, as well as La Digue, Sainte Anne and Curieuse. Short day passages with 2–3 stops for snorkelling and exploring the islands. Fresh seafood — tuna, barracuda, spiny lobster and crabs — we’ll catch ourselves or buy from the fishermen. Millions of years ago the Seychelles were part of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, which over time split into separate continents. Gondwana also included India, Madagascar and mainland Africa. Their relative isolation has helped the islands preserve their unique flora and fauna.

Seychelles flotilla

Flotilla dates on request Flotilla area Mahé Fleet Lagoon 380 Lagoon 42 Lagoon 450 Leopard 48 Sun Odyssey 419 Number of guests 6–10 Air/water temperature +28/+25

Fleet

Yacht/catamaran Description Yacht/catamaran: Sun Odyssey 419 Description: built 2017, 3 double cabins, 3 heads/showers, max. 6 people, full description here. Yacht/catamaran: Lagoon 380 (Only One More) 419 Description: built 2018, 4 double cabins, 4 heads/showers, max. 10 people, full description here. Yacht/catamaran: Lagoon 42 (Blueskin) Description: built 2019, 4 double cabins, 4 heads/showers, max. 10 people, full description here. Yacht/catamaran: Lagoon 450 Flybridge Description: built 2015, 4 double cabins, 4 heads/showers, max. 10 people, full description here. Yacht/catamaran: Lagoon 450 ST Description: built 2015, 4 double cabins, 4 heads/showers, air conditioning, max. 10 people, full description here. Yacht/catamaran: Leopard 48 Description: built 2016, 4 double cabins, 4 heads/showers, air conditioning, max. 10 people, full description here.

Programme:

We board the catamaran at Eden Marina on Mahé. We buy provisions and set off for nearby Sainte Anne Island. We spend the night at anchor in a delightful bay. We head for the uninhabited island of Curieuse. Because of the red soil covering it, the island was once called Red Island (Île Rouge); the French renamed it La Curieuse in 1768. In its picturesque harbour we’ll see hundreds of local giant humphead parrotfish, which can grow up to 1.2 metres long. The island is home to giant tortoises. We’ll walk around the island and visit a quiet, peaceful spot — the giant tortoise farm, where we can watch them in their natural habitat; feeding them is allowed too. The oldest tortoise is 190 years old and is called Captain Morgan. The island has beautiful deserted beaches where we’ll swim and relax under the palms, and huge crabs that we’ll eat at a barbecue. A night at anchor in the Marine National Park. In the morning we sail to Praslin via two small islands — Chauve Souris and St. Pierre — spots for fantastic snorkelling, with corals and marine life richer than you have probably ever seen. Anse Lazio is home to one of the most beautiful beaches in the world — the pearl of the Seychelles. We’ll devote the whole day to this wonderful island: swimming, snorkelling on the coral reef, lying on the snow-white sand in the shade of palm trees and strolling among the granite boulders typical of these parts. At a beach bar, sipping cocktails with little umbrellas, we’ll watch one of the most beautiful sunsets of our lives. A short passage to Aride Island. The island is one of the most important nature reserves, managed by the Island Conservation Society of Seychelles, and home to more than a million seabirds. We’ll land on the south side of the island and watch the birds. After lunch we’ll sail to Cousin Island, also a nature reserve. It is one of the most important nesting sites for hawksbill turtles in the western Indian Ocean. Every year 30 to 100 turtles come to the island to lay their eggs during the day, which is unusual, as other sea turtles nest under cover of darkness. The island is also home to Aldabra giant tortoises and the green gecko. The reserve also includes a 400-kilometre marine shelf area; the reefs around Cousin have the highest density of fish, which we’ll explore while snorkelling and catch once we leave the reserve. We return to Praslin for the night. Today we visit the Vallée de Mai National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site — a walk through tropical jungle unchanged since prehistoric times, among the rarest coco de mer palms. These palms, with their very curiously shaped fruit, are a sight in their own right — there are only a few places on earth where they can be seen growing in the wild. We watch the sunset and dive into the nightlife of Grand Anse, a bay in the south of Praslin with the island’s greatest concentration of restaurants, bars and nightclubs. We sail to La Digue, the fourth-largest island of the Seychelles. La Digue is a perfect habitat for rare species of plants and animals. The island is very quiet and calm; it will amaze you with granite boulders against a blue sky, crystal-clear sea and the pristine beauty of Anse Source D’Argent, the most photographed beach in the world. Life here is slow and measured, and we’ll soak up the atmosphere of this paradise on earth, where there are no cars and the only transport is bicycles. On the beach we’ll rent kayaks and paddle to see the places where Cast Away and Robinson Crusoe were filmed. For swimming we’ll move to quiet beaches without big waves or undercurrents, ideal for children’s snorkelling — Anse Patates and Anse Sévère — where we’ll swim with sea turtles and shoals of fish. Night at anchor. In the morning we rent bicycles and ride around the island. We’ll be the first on the fantastic Grand Anse beach — the largest beach on the island, with big waves of azure water surrounded by mighty rocks. Swimming here is unsafe because of strong undercurrents. It is a magnificent place to enjoy the view and the power of the ocean, especially impressive after the calm, gentle waters of most of the Seychelles. From there we’ll go to beaches for swimming, a large park with vanilla plantations and a beach with stunning snorkelling among sea turtles. Dinner on the beach overlooking the sunset. Today is the day of La Digue’s satellite islands — a cruise through picture-postcard views. Our first stop is Félicité — in French, Félicité means “paradise and bliss”. In the early 19th century Félicité was a coconut plantation with a settlement of about 50 people. Félicité is famous for its huge, smooth granite boulders. Enormous black granite boulders along the shore and in the water create a unique mystical world full of marine life. This is where you can feel like a castaway, shipwrecked and living off the fruits of the island. On the island you’ll find wild vanilla orchids, wild mango, coconut palms, bananas and orange trees. The highest point on Félicité is 213 metres. We’ll take a short hike to the summit to admire the breathtaking view of the Indian Ocean and the surrounding islands. Our next stop is the nature reserve of Île Cocos, named after the local coco de mer palm. The island is a mecca for divers and snorkellers, and we’ll join the fans of this spot after a daytime stop at anchor with a swim. Then we’ll see the islands of Grande Soeur and Petite Soeur, known as the “Sister Islands”, and Marianne Island. In the evening we return to Praslin and spend the night in the marina. We sail to Mahé, to the azure bay of Port Launay Marine Park, fishing for tuna and swimming along the way. Mahé is the largest of the 115 islands of the Seychelles archipelago. With 72,000 inhabitants, the island is home to 90% of the entire population of the Seychelles. Port Launay is a national park with a magnificent horseshoe-shaped beach. Port Launay Park is known on Mahé for frequent sightings of whale sharks in its waters. In season, these huge gentle sea giants can be seen lazily swimming around the plankton-rich bay, where plankton gathers in vast masses in the marine park. The whale shark is the largest fish in the world. It has only its size and diet in common with whales. The shark feeds on plankton, small fish and crustaceans and is completely harmless to humans. Night at anchor in the park. We enjoy snorkelling in the national park, go fishing, sail around the island and return to the capital, Victoria. Night in the marina. Flight home. How to get there The trip starts in Victoria on Mahé. You can fly with Qatar Airways and Emirates via Doha and Dubai. Visa For citizens of the Russian Federation, the visa is issued on arrival at the airport.

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