Seychelles: The Bradt Travel Guide (Paperback)

~ Lyn Mair (Author), Lynnath Beckley (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Famed for their "get away from it all" appeal for travellers of all budgets, the Seychelles are also a haven for those interested in natural history. This comprehensive guide contains a detailed introduction to the island's ecosystem, from coastal life and coral reefs to nature reserves and conservation projects.

From the Back Cover

The Seychelles are perhaps the ultimate 'get away from it all' destination; they also offer some of the best birdwatching in the world. Here in the western Indian Ocean, 115 idyllic islands are set against a turquoise sea, their palm-fringed beaches contrasting with verdant forest and misty granite peaks, just waiting to be explored. This guide includes information on natural history and ecotourism; diving, deep-sea fishing and other watersports; island hopping by helicopter and ship; hotels and self-catering accommodation, from the simple to the luxurious; information for cruise-ship passengers. (5 1/4 x 8 1/2, 216 pages, color photos, illustrations, maps, charts)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides; 1st edition (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184162022X
• ISBN-13: 978-1841620220
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #557,058 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly informative, practical, and resourceful, October 20, 2005

By	P. Chen "yuppiescum" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Seychelles, 2nd: The Bradt Travel Guide (Paperback)

Among the number of titles that we reviewed on our recent sailing charter in the Seychelles, this and the Sarah Carpin guide book (both 2005 publications) served us the best. In fact, this book was so recently made available that it arrived 2 days before our trip and we elected to ditch the Lonely Planet for the Bradt.

The first 80 pages provides an informative guide - the background, history, and nature of the Seychelles as a visitor would want to know before arriving. The Carpin book covers most of the background better in terms of history and folklore (not to mention many, many beautiful pictures), but Mair/Beckley covers practicalities and resources (transportation, contacts, sport, shopping, etc.) much more thoroughly. (n.b. Carpin spent a number of years living there whereas Mair is a frequent visitor.)

As with most guidebooks to the Seychelles, the focus here is mainly on the 3 large inner islands - Mahé, Praslin, and La Digue - and again, the practicalities covered by this guide is unmatched by any of the others that we researched. Good maps, ferry schedules (current as of 2005), thorough reviews and contact information (including web) of many hotels and restaurants, and descriptions of shopping which, in an area that is somewhat resource challenged like the Seychelles, is an invaluable resource. (As we were sailing/self boarding, we were much more reliant on whatever resources/people we could pry information on where to find things as simple as dish soap or soy sauce. If you are going resort/package, as it seems most visitors do, this may be less an issue for you.)

Mair's road-by-road descriptions of downtown Victoria give you just about a shop-by-shop mental picture of driving/walking the smallest capital city in the world. Again, another reason why we pulled this book out time and time again on our trip. For car renters/day trippers, she gives an excellent point-to-point description for exploring Mahé and Praslin (the only two island that you can drive on anyways) on your own. Although Mahé is the largest island, and most often the largest and most central focus in many guide books, there is plenty of attention paid to Praslin and La Digue and more than sufficient practical information - including getting to and exploring the Valée de Mai and Anse Source d'Argent - to make this your primary guide to visiting those islands as well.

When it comes to the other inner islands (Silhouette, North, Curieuse, Aride, Cocos, Cousin, Cousine, Felicite, Bird, etc...) there's about 25 pages devoted to information about these wonderful spots, getting there, accommodations, and other necessities (if any - the islands that have facilities tend to be single-resort type). For most Seychelles visitors, unless some of these resorts are your destination, getting to these islands may be more of a day trip from your base accomodation so there is sufficient advice and information provided here. For folks sailing these isles, the information here is useful in determinine what is worth visiting (well, everything actually, but some are private and do not allow you to land) but of course you're going to need more information on harbors, anchorages and such. For that, we relied on the Pilote Cótier guide (http://www.pilotecotier.com/) kindly provided by our charter in the Seychelles.

Although we did not visit the outer islands, there are another 10 pages on most of the outer islands and 12 on Aldabra alone. Despite these places being generally less accessible, these notes should inspire you to a second, third, or so on visit should you have the means to return to the Seychelles. Again, good practicalities, although here I'd say the Carpin book does just as well and also has a number of spectacular photos of these areas. There are 8 full-color pages of photos in the Mair/Beckley book that should further inspire you to the beauty of this rare, delicate place.

Finally, a note about snorkeling and scuba-diving. Besides highly recommending it, if you intend to learn more before arriving, the Carpin book has a fairly good section in the back detailing the major dive sites which the Mair book does not. I believe that much of the information here originally comes from the excellent out of print Pisces Guide written by Lawson Wood. This isn't required of course - dive resorts tend to pre-plan the daily dive spots based on conditions, guest abilities, likelyhood of good marine life, etc. - but we found it helpful to know more about the locations that we were diving. Even if you are planning on doing a lot of snorkeling, I also recommend picking up the Indian Ocean Reef Guide by Debelius (expensive, but worth it) which will help you identify many many new sea creatures and corals that you will see on your trip to the Seychelles.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Seychelles travel guide, January 6, 2009

By	T. J. Singh - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Seychelles, 3rd (Bradt Travel Guide) (Paperback)

This guide is by far the best Seychelles travel guide I found before my trip. The maps are helpful and up-to-date, restaurant recommendations are very good, and there's great historical context and information for general reading. I highly recommend this guide above Lonely Planet or other guides.

5.0 out of 5 stars Most Complete Guide for Seychelles, October 3, 2008

By	Traveler in Dubai (Dubai, UAE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seychelles, 2nd: The Bradt Travel Guide (Paperback)

This was the first Bradt Guidebook I have ever purchased, and I was delighted to have discovered it. It definitely is the most complete guidebook Seychelles to date that I have found! The website lists all the series they have done, and I have to say they have been under rated and hard to find so far; and seem to cover more of the exotic locations that other publications.

I highly recommend it!