Honeymoon in Paradise

Once we stepped off the plane in Mahé, it didn't take us long to discover we had chosen the perfect destination.

Our first three nights stay took us to Beau Vallon's smaller neighbour further north, Glacis. We arrived at the Bel Horizon Apartments and were taken to our accommodation, which blew us away.

Our apartment enjoyed large spacious kitchen and living areas, with a big double bedroom and a generous shower/toilet area. The icing on the cake however was the large terrace balcony overlooking the well maintained gardens and sea. A short path led down to a small private beach, which at low tide, was perfect for swimming and gave access along the beach to Beau Vallon.

In the evening, a short 20 minute walk and we were in the heart of Beau Vallon, with a cluster of bars, hotels and restaurants to choose from. Our particular favourites included the daily buffet at the Boathouse and Mahek Indian Restaurant. On one night, we had a BBQ at Bel Horizon, with fresh fish that was caught, prepared and cooked for us privately, by the gardener at the complex. This is still one of the highlights of our holiday.

From Glacis, we took the Cat Cocos ferry to Praslin, where we stayed for four nights at Cote d'Or Apartments. Our first glimpse of the beach at Cote d'Or took our breath away. A vast long stretch of fine white powder sand and vivid aquamarine sea, was absolutely stunning.

Evenings in Cote d'Or were quiet and low key, as they are everywhere in the Seychelles and restaurants are few and can be expensive, yet one of the best meals we had and certainly the best value for money, was the traditional creole buffet at the Laurier restaurant. As much as you can eat grilled chicken, steak, fish, bread, pasta, rice, salad, everything you can think of, topped with the local chilli sauce! And of course, a few bottles of Seybrew, which is pretty good and not too pricey either.

For our last couple of days we hired a car and toured the island, spending a day at Anse Lazio beach, which is picture perfect, though quite crowded as it is perhaps known as one of the best beaches on the island.

Of course, we couldn't visit Praslin and not take in the Vallée de Mai, where the massive Coco de Mer grow.

Once again we hopped onto the Cat Cocos ferry and made our way over to La Digue, for a three-night stay at Le Domaine de L'Orangerie. As this was our Honeymoon, we chose this hotel as a special treat as it is one of the top rated hotels in the Seychelles. When we arrived it was easy to see why. The hotel was immaculately clean, modern, luxurious and the staff and service were outstanding.

This was without doubt our favourite place to stay in the Seychelles, with a large infinity pool looking out to sea and an amazing buffet restaurant on an evenings with tables and chairs set in the sand for a more atmospheric feel.

During the day we hired bikes and cycled round the Island, taking in the scenery, and in particular, to visit the beach we'd been looking at online and in brochures for months, the world famous Anse Source d'Argent.

When you walk down to this beach and see the big granite boulder formations peeking out from behind the palm trees, it literally takes your breath away! This place is every bit as idyllic and beautiful as it looks on the photos, though because of its popularity, is extremely busy and can be a little crowded.

Our return leg to Mahé saw us staying at the Hanneman Residence in Beau Vallon for a further 7 nights to chill out and also take in some scuba diving, as my wife and I first met whilst learning to dive back home in the UK.

After reading some good reviews online, we picked the Underwater Centre which is part of the Berjaya hotel. The owner, Glynis seemed very friendly and accommodating and the divemasters were good fun too. We spent four days diving with them, doing two morning dives per day at different sites and saw plenty of aquatic life including turtles, baracuda, lion fish, scorpion fish, clown fish and a range of different hard and soft corals.

With only a couple of days left we lounged around the beach and hired to car once more to see the rest of the Island, including Victoria Market in the capital of Mahé.

This had definitely been a once in a lifetime trip and one we will never forget. We had an amazing two and half weeks in the Seychelles and would recommend it to anyone, especially newlyweds looking for an ideal honeymoon location.