One of the coolest islands in Seychelles that is often overlooked is La Digue. A comprehensive overview of the island awaits you, including how to get there, the infrastructure, places to visit, beaches, turtles, and most importantly, why you should come here and who La Digue is suitable for. There will be plenty of useful information.
La Digue Island: General Information
In summary, key points about the island to give you a proper understanding of what La Digue is.
- The Seychelles Islands consist of an archipelago of 115 islands, with 33 inhabited by people. The rest are national parks, uninhabited patches of land.
- La Digue Island: The third most populous and third-largest island. Despite being in the top 3, you’ll soon understand why Seychelles is like a big village.
- La Digue has a population of less than 4,500 people, while the entire country’s population is 95,000.
- Approximate island dimensions: 5 by 4 km.
Interesting to know:
La Digue is entirely a granite island. Such islands are very rare worldwide. It is believed that this granite is the oldest terrestrial rock above water.
For curious travelers, I recommend reading an article about the history of Seychelles. You’ll learn many interesting things that will help you during your travels.
For example: the islands were explored and settled by the French, so most geographical names here are in French, like La Digue Island. Capital Victoria, English power outlets, and left-hand traffic are remnants from the English.
How to get to La Digue
There are a few options, excluding a private helicopter for 1,500 euros. You have two options: a scheduled ferry and a day tour. There is no airport, as on Praslin. So, either way, you’ll have to sail.
Ferry to La Digue
What you need to know:
- The ferry route is shown on the map of the islands in the photo above.
- Every day, without weekends, 2 times a day, sometimes 3, a ferry operates between the islands of Mahe-Praslin-La Digue.
- From Mahe to La Digue, it stops at Praslin.
- Total travel time: 1.5 hours.
- The one-way ticket price per person is around 70 euros. Yes, ferries are not cheap transportation.
- Where to buy tickets, check the schedule, and where the ferry departs from, is detailed in the article: ferries in Seychelles.
Day Tour to La Digue
If you plan to stay on the island for several days, choose the regular ferry. It’s convenient and definitely cheaper. But if you stay on Mahe and can’t make it to La Digue for 3 days, there are private boats that run daily with tours. What you need to know:
- They usually depart at 8-9 am. The journey takes just over an hour.
- They give you 7-8 hours on the island.
- In the evening, they take you back.
- The capacity of such boats is 20-30 people.
- There are cheaper programs with only transfers and more expensive ones that include meals, a guide, and bicycle rentals. Choose according to your preference.
Important thought:
A ferry ticket to La Digue from Mahe costs 75 euros. Round trip is 150 euros, and for a couple, it’s 300 euros. What if your family is larger? I often encounter tourists refusing to go to the island due to the expensive ferries. Consider this: a car is essential on Mahe, rented by 80% of tourists, without it, you won’t see the best beaches, viewpoints, but it costs 50 euros per day. On La Digue, a car is not needed at all; a bicycle is enough for 7 euros a day.
If you plan 4-5 days on La Digue, the budget won’t suffer much, as the money saved on car rental will cover ferry tickets. More details on the cost of holidays in Seychelles and how much money to bring can be found here.
Island Infrastructure
La Digue Island is a real village. There are almost no cars; you can cycle around the entire island in an hour. There are no big stores, only 3 small ones, and locals sail to Mahe every few weeks to the country’s only supermarket in Victoria. But there’s a unique atmosphere, a rural vibe. Everyone knows each other, and nobody locks their bikes. It’s like visiting your grandmother’s village in childhood.
- Coordinates of the largest store on the island: -4.355216526235238, 55.82713520313914
Transportation:
On your island, you have two options for getting around: on foot or by bicycle. There is no other way. All guesthouses rent bicycles. There are 5 rental places near the jetty. All guesthouses will also rent you a bike. Standard price: 100-150 rupees per day (7-10 euros), depending on the bike’s “freshness.” Tandems, tricycles, children’s bikes, or bikes with a child seat are also available. These are more expensive, but there are bikes for everyone, even for those who don’t know how to ride.
Don’t even think about walking; grab a bike, and all the island’s beaches are within a 20-minute ride. The roads are empty, and cycling on them is a special pleasure.
Attractions on La Digue
La Digue is about beaches, nature, jungles, and turtles. There are no man-made attractions here, well, almost none.
However, while cycling around the island, you will see interesting objects and locations. I’ll briefly list them, and where necessary, there will be comments:
Important:
Use offline map apps for getting around all the islands. Here are two choices: Organic maps and MapsMe. Both are free. Please do not use Google Maps; it’s horrible, especially on La Digue. If you need internet in Seychelles, read the article through the link about local operators and where to buy a SIM card.
- The highest peak of the island is Nid d’Aigle (Eagle’s Nest) and the viewpoint (350m above sea level): -4.359568978080886, 55.84309659758048. Leave the bike at the bottom and walk up. The last 500 meters are a trail through the jungle. It takes about 2-3 hours round trip. The views are fantastic.
- Notre Dame de L’Assomption Church – the main church on the island. You can go inside; it’s always open. It’s not the Notre Dame in Paris, but you can spend 10 minutes when passing by, and you definitely will: -4.357353256976605, 55.82610929149779.
- Chateau St Cloud – the oldest plantation house in Seychelles, built in colonial style. Today it houses a classy hotel that bears the same name, with a rare pool for La Digue. You can enter the grounds, but to truly feel the atmosphere, you need to stay here.
- Photos, prices, hotel reviews.
- Coordinates: -4.3549390052006745, 55.83650573377555
- This is an excellent accommodation option; I recommend it. There aren’t many hotels on La Digue in general, and there are literally a dozen good accommodation options. You can find hotel and apartment list on La Digue, along with information on renting accommodation on the island and what to look for when booking.
- The main attraction on the island is the L’Union Estate Farm. In short, it’s a private estate with a vast area where you can find the plantation owner’s house (now a museum and art gallery), enclosures with Seychelles turtles, a granite rock, a botanical garden, a vanilla plantation, an ancient cemetery, and the main tourist attraction: the most photographed beach in the world, Anse Source d’Argent.
- Entrance coordinates: -4.361648670268196, 55.82530797715959
- Access to the estate opens at 6 am.
- The ticket costs around 10 euros for the whole day. With this ticket, you can explore the entire estate, including the beach. You can’t access the beach without a ticket! Thus, this is the only paid beach in Seychelles.
- You can and should move around the estate on a bicycle.
- Allocate about 2 hours to explore all the estate’s attractions, even without the beach; it’s quite extensive.
- This attraction is a must-visit despite being the only paid location on the island.
- TOP 20 attractions in the Seychelles: prices, photos, descriptions, recommendations for visiting.
- And of course, La Digue’s main highlight is the giant Seychelles tortoises. They live on all the islands, but on Mahe and Praslin you’ll only find them in enclosures in gardens, national parks. On La Digue, they roam freely. There are no cars, no dangers; you might encounter a tortoise while cycling.
- Here definitely lives a large tortoise: -4.341433057617289, 55.830485291745134. Keep an eye out; it might be sleeping somewhere in the bushes. And while cycling around the island, watch out for tortoises; you can encounter them anywhere at any time..
- This is free, of course. Just don’t feed them; they have plenty of food, and they are not hungry. Don’t put your fingers near their beak; they might bite.
Beaches of La Digue: Top 5
The entire island is one big beach. It’s important to understand that no matter where you stay on La Digue, you can reach even the farthest beach by bike in about 20 minutes. And in most cases, you can reach any beach within 3-5 minutes. Plan to stay here for about 4 days to explore all the beaches at a leisurely pace.
Below is a table of the best beaches, along with a brief description. There are even photos.
| Beach | Location | Child-friendly | Good for snorkeling |
| Kid’s beach | -4.345650, 55.829992 | + | – |
| Anse Source d’Argent | -4.371426, 55.827260 | + | +- |
| Grand l’Anse | -4.378669, 55.841745 | – | + |
| Grand Anse | -4.373957, 55.843842 | – | – |
| Petite Anse | -4.370476, 55.847834 | – | – |
| Anse Cocos | -4.366209, 55.850616 | – | +- |
| Anse Caiman | -4.361058, 55.852723 | – | + |
| Anse Patates | -4.338017, 55.834517 | + | – |
| Anse Severe | -4.339568, 55.831316 | +- | + |
Two things to know about La Digue’s beaches:
- Keep in mind that any beach, no matter how idyllic, can be covered in seaweed. Today it’s a paradise, and tomorrow morning there might be tons of seaweed that starts to stink by noon.
- Since the island is small, it is well-ventilated by winds from all sides, meaning there can be strong waves on any beach in any month of the year, except the children’s beach, which is protected by breakwaters.
Useful to know:
All the beaches have fine white sand; there are no pebble beaches here. There are no sea urchins on the beaches, and dead sharp corals are almost nowhere to be found.
I also recommend two articles about beaches; there is a lot of useful information that will help you during your journey:
- 10 best beaches in Seychelles and their description. There are 3 beaches from La Digue. Find out why the most photographed beach in the world, Anse Source d’Argent, is a big disappointment.
- For snorkeling enthusiasts: snorkeling in Seychelles. Learn what you can encounter snorkeling near the beach, coordinates of good spots you can swim to from the shore. There are spots on La Digue as well.
Travel Tips
I hope you already have a general picture of La Digue. Here are a few final tips:
- Come here for at least 3 days. Some tourists come to La Digue for their entire 10-day vacation; it’s all individual.
- If you’re traveling with a child who is picky about food, bring critically important products with you. There is nowhere to buy them here. Only 3 stores with a limited assortment.
- You won’t starve on the island; there are restaurants and many cheap takeaways. What it means, the prices, and more about catering in Seychelles can be read through the link.
- If you’re traveling with a child who is picky about food, bring critically important products with you. There is nowhere to buy them here. Only 3 stores with a limited assortment.
- You won’t starve on the island; there are restaurants and many cheap takeaways. What it means, the prices, and more about dining in Seychelles can be read through the link.
Interesting to know:
Mahe and Praslin islands are similar to each other. But La Digue is completely different. Here, the vacation is quiet, peaceful, you feel like you’re in a grandmother’s village. To the store by bike, to the beach by bike, to dinner by bike. No one steals anything, no one locks bicycles, everything is within walking distance. A very cool atmosphere.
In conclusion, the author (me) recommends everyone to consider the possibility of splitting your vacation into two parts. Dedicate half of your days to Mahe or Praslin, according to your preferences, and the other half to La Digue. After all, you are heading to a tropical archipelago on the equator in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It would be a shame to spend the entire vacation on just one island. And if you’re going somewhere from Mahe, where else to go if not to La Digue? Just so you know, I’m not trying to persuade anyone; Mahe is also great.
I wish your vacation in Seychelles becomes the best in your life! Whether to go to La Digue or not, decide for yourselves.
If you enjoyed the article and the content in this guide, you can buy me a coffee ^_^
IMPORTANT: essential links to organize your dream trip to the Seychelles:
- FLIGHTS: WayAway – direct flights and best deals.
- CAR RENTAL:
- Mahe and Praslin, no deposit required – LocalRent
- The most famous car rental company – DiscoverCars.
- TOURS and EXCURSIONS:
- GetYourGuide – 90+ activities and tours in the Seychelles.
- Viator – 130 + activities in Seychelles.
- TRAVEL INSURANCE: EKTA.
- HOTELS, VILLAS, APARTMENTS:
- TripAdvisor compares prices among a dozen other services and platforms and offers to choose the best one.
- Trip.com – one of the most popular accommodation booking platforms.
- PACKAGES: from budget to luxury – CheapOair.
- AIRPORT TRANSFER: Intui.
- INTERNET: eSIM of local telecom operator – Airalo.