La Digue is the most overrated island in the Seychelles!
A holiday here is more of a quest than a pleasure) If you are really itching to see everything with your own eyes, you can come here from Praslin on the first ferry and leave on the last one. That day is more than enough to see everything! The internet says it is an authentic holiday here... Whoever writes that has not been to the Maldives - now there almost every island has atmosphere!
The transfer may be paid
Your hotel will meet you at the ferry, by prior arrangement. But for the way back they will most likely take you for money) After checking in, rent a bicycle straight away. But do not rush to take one at the hotel - look at the quality! Because there are lots of bike rental places near the port, and there you can choose the "freshness" of your vehicle)) Check the brakes - this is important. An ordinary bicycle costs 100-150 rupees per day (about 6 euros), while a 3-wheeled bicycle costs 250 rupees (about 15 euros!!!) per day.
Walking around the island is not an option - you need to rent a bicycle
Any beach is a 30-50 minute walk away if you are staying in the centre, where most of the accommodation is. There is only one good shop here, and it is better to bring groceries from it by bicycle than on foot) Think in advance about a cable to lock your two bicycles together. Everybody leaves them unattended, but locked together with a cable.
The best shop on La Digue island - Gregoire's Store
It has the widest range of goods.
Which beach to choose on La Digue island?
The map below shows the roads you can ride along by bicycle. By the way, there are taxi cars on the island after all! On the left the island is surrounded by a reef. The popular beaches are diametrically opposite ones: the paid Anse Source d'Argent, where there really are no waves, and Anse Severe beach, where the reef ends and the waves begin. Anse Source d'Argent may be beautiful at high tide, while Anse Severe is not much of a beach at all... A little further beyond Anse Severe there is Anse Pate Beach - it is gorgeously beautiful, but there are waves here and the bottom is full of big granite boulders... The red crosses mark the shore that is completely unsuitable for a swimming holiday - dreary, with waves... This part of the island is good for cycling.
The paid beach Anse Source d'Argent ⭐⭐⭐- it is a marketing trick!!!
Do not fall for the PR of an ordinary beach! It is presented as if for 150 rupees a day you visit a vanilla farm and this notorious beach. In the end, you ride past them by bicycle at best, or, foolishly, walk in the heat through scrawny vanilla trees, see a couple of tortoises in a smelly pen, and then comes the "cherry on the cake" - a beach / puddle where, until lunchtime, it is low tide and the water is ankle-deep!!! Add a huge number of people there, well, by Seychelles standards) If you really want to visit Anse Source d'Argent, then you should:
- definitely go by bicycle, but then you will have to pay for entrance.
- not pay for entrance, but then you need to walk through the water behind the Zil Air - La Digue Station helipad. But you can do this only until 12-1 pm, while it is low tide. On the way back nobody checks tickets, you can leave by the road along the "vanilla farm" L’Union Estate Farm.
- If you want to swim and do a bit of snorkelling, come after 2-3 pm, then there will be water in this puddle) There are dead corals near the shore, so it is better to take coral shoes. You do not need fins, it is a reef here. The beach seems good for children - shallow water that is warm, but lots of coral debris, seaweed...
Anse Severe beach ⭐⭐
The most popular beach, as the reef is still preserved here and there are almost no waves. But the colour of the water is ordinary and there are no snorkelling spots here. Essentially it is good only for watching the sunset while sipping a coconut on a swing at Karim's Fruit Bar.
Anse Pate Beach ⭐⭐⭐
This beach is beautiful in terms of photogenic looks. But it is small, and it is far to get here from the centre. And swimming in the waves when there are granite boulders under your feet is absolutely uncomfortable!
Anse Reunion beach ⭐⭐
It is in the middle of the island. There is a reef, but at low tide it turns into a puddle of seaweed. At high tide you can swim only "at the buoy" near the shore, and everywhere there is the same seaweed) It is a good place to watch the sunset, sitting in the water))
Grand l’Anse + Petite Anse Beach + Anse Cocos beach ⭐⭐⭐
A group of beaches that are visually incredibly beautiful! But to get to them from the centre takes 1 hour on foot, or 40 minutes by bicycle) The road, shown in blue on the map above, leads from the middle of the island / the ferry pier to the opposite part of the island. But what a road: up, down, up, down. Thankfully the road surface is good and you can go downhill with the wind in your hair, as long as the brakes work) But uphill everybody often walks their bicycle alongside) These beaches are worth visiting more as an excursion) Swimming here is impossible - strong waves batter anybody who tries. The colour of the water is as beautiful as it can possibly be! But the heat is infernal, and not everybody can force themselves to wade into the waves... Luckily there are a couple of bars on the shore where you can have a drink. That is where the visit to these beaches ends. And what is more, you can ride only as far as Grand Anse; for the rest it is on foot, trudge trudge...
The internet says that tortoises live on La Digue. Yes, they do - freely - two near Anse Severe beach and a few in a closed pen on the vanilla farm.
A more interesting feature: wild... chickens!!! walk freely all over the island. They graze on their own and look for a place to spend the night with their chicks wherever they happen to be.
What you find on any of the Seychelles islands is clear, azure water!!! That alone is definitely a reason to go to the Seychelles)
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