Alphonse Group
The Alphonse Group, consisting of three islands, Alphones, Saint-François and the tiny Bijoutier, is located around 403 km south-west of the main island, Mahé, and 90 km south of the Amirantes. These three islands are located on a 16 km-long stretch of sand.
Alphonse
The lush, 1.7 km² island of Alphonse is inhabited, in contrast to the other two islands, and even has a small airstrip on its triangular shape. The giant, shallow lagoon offers incredible turquoise water in which you can bathe. Alphonse is one of the flattest islands in the Seychelles, and used to be, along with many other Seychelles islands, a place of extensive coconut plantation, with 100,000 coconuts being harvested each week. Even today you can see the remains of sisal plants and cotton plantations. The palms have also remained, but Alphonse is well on the way to becoming a tourist destination though the Alphonse Island Resort, which was built in 1999 on the beach and has since been renovated. In the Outer Seychelles Islands, this and Desroches are the only tourist accommodation that you can visit. The island is surrounded by beautiful diving spots, and, thanks to the excellent conditions in the lagoon, Alphonse has been designated the Eldorado of fly fishing.
Bijoutier & Saint François
To get to Bijoutier and Saint François, you must take the boat from Alphonse. Bijoutier, with its huge variety of fauna, can be exhausted in just 10 minutes on-foot. Saint François is shaped like a V, is flat, and is covered in coconut palm trees. There is a small but deep channel that separates the island from its neighbour Alphonse. This is another great spot to go fly fishing and deep-sea fishing.
