Seychelles

After three months of refitting our beautiful boat Eve and chasing perfect waves recklessly by bike through the chaos of Bali, it was time to set sail again. We spent a week preparing the boat for the long 21-day voyage across the Indian Ocean from Bali to the Seychelles. Repacking our floating home with the colossal amounts of toys we have accumulated over the last few years was a challenge, but the excitement of discovering tropical islands 3700 nautical miles away gave us that extra bit of motivation to get it done. Surfboards, kite gear, wing gear, skateboards and paddle boards were all crammed tightly back into the forepeak.

After filling the water tanks, fueling up and stocking up on food provisions (including ridiculous amounts of chocolate and pot noodles) we hoisted the sails and aimed west towards the horizon… one ocean and 21 days later and we had landed in paradise. Transparent, warm water surrounded the boat as we dropped anchor just off the main island, Mahé. As the cruising world was still in hibernation from the pandemic it seemed like we had all the islands to ourselves. Uncrowded anchorages, untouched beaches and abandoned landscapes, mixed with the trade winds that were still blowing for another month, left us with the perfect playground. The southeast trades blow between 14 and 25 knots, being slightly stronger at midday, and you can get two solid kite sessions in per day.

We had a week before our first clients flew out for their charter, so this gave us a bit of time to settle in from the crossing and also to explore the islands and find the best kite spot. We noticed a cluster of islands called Île au Cerf, Île Longue and Île Ronde, just east of the mainland Mahé. It seemed like a good spot to start as it was only a short motor out into the bay. We anchored the boat about 800m off the reef and took the dinghy into a lagoon and up to a sand spit situated off the end of Île Longue. It was extremely easy to anchor the dinghy off the beach as the tidal range wasn’t huge. The sand spit was perfect to launch from, and with one side being offshore and the other onshore, you could choose what kind of sea state you preferred. If flat-water kiting isn’t your thing and you fancied some waves, you could just kite upwind for about 15 minutes to the edge of the reef and put the surfboard to good use.

We kited amongst reef sharks, foiled next to turtles and soaked up the tropical sun all day, every day. Spearfishing in the Seychelles is illegal, so there is a huge amount of sea life and beautiful reefs to discover. A few boats from the mainland would come over for daytrips to hang out and swim with the sting rays in the shallow lagoon, but NO ONE was kiting apart from us; we had it all to ourselves. A local spotted us kiting one afternoon and decided to come and join us. He was so excited to see fellow kiters as he’s usually out here all on his own! All the locals are extremely friendly and are happy to show you around their home.

We then got to spend some time in the incredible national parks around the islands Praslin and La Digue, which are about a four-hour sail northeast from the mainland Mahé. If you don’t have the access of your own boat, you can get a ferry over to the islands, as well as fly over on a small aircraft. There are also plenty of opportunities to bareboat charter catamarans, if you fancied exploring the islands for yourself (some sailing experience required). We even saw a local kiter having a great downwind session, from one island to the other, so that is also a bonus for getting a boat! On La Digue they only travel around by bicycle, and one day when the wind wasn’t strong enough to kite, we went and cycled around the whole island in a day.

The Seychelles was one of our many stops as we complete our lap around the world. After a month of playing around the tropical paradise it was time to set sail again and make our way to Europe. However, that perfect playground we had discovered will be etched in our memories forever and is definitely a spot you don’t want to miss out on