Aldabra Wildlife Cruise

From Mahe, you’ll fly to Astove island in the Aldabra group, where you’ll embark upon MY Basilisk to begin your expedition. After a welcome and cruise briefing, we will explore a little of Astove Island itself whilst settling into your accommodation.

Assumption Island is home to a stunning arc of coral sand and vibrant offshore waters, where you can explore colourful reefs teeming with snappers, butterflyfish, and angelfish. Though its seabird colonies were impacted by early 20th-century guano mining, the island’s vegetation is now gradually recovering. Today, construction on a new hotel development is taking place on the island, bringing with it funds for future conservation programs.

Often called the Crown Jewel of Seychelles, Aldabra is the world’s largest raised coral atoll and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Covering 150 sq km, it has no permanent population aside from the research team on Picard Island.

Home to around 100,000 Giant Tortoises, Aldabra also shelters rare plants, birds, and one of the world’s key nesting grounds for endangered Green Turtles.

Bird highlights include the flightless Aldabra Rail, Frigatebirds, and several endemics like the Aldabra Drongo and Fody.

We visit the research station and old settlement, cruise the West and Main Channels, and snorkel at sites like Passe Dubois and Anse Var. Snorkelling through the mangrove forests offers a unique opportunity to visit the home to a plethora of marine life.

Recent Dugong sightings hint at a possible return of this elusive marine mammal to Seychelles waters.

A visit to Cosmoledo rivals that of Aldabra, yet in many ways, it surpasses it in sheer remoteness and isolation. Wild, untouched, and uninhabited, Cosmoledo remains one of the least visited corners of the Seychelles—and the world.

Home to bird species not found on Aldabra, including vast colonies with Seychelles’ largest populations of Red-footed Boobies, Masked Boobies, and Sooty Terns. A unique race of Madagascar White-eye is found only here. It is also the last breeding site in Seychelles for the Brown Booby, extinct elsewhere in the islands.

Explore rich marine life and coral reefs that have survived more intact than almost anywhere else in the western Indian Ocean. The shallow lagoon near the main island is full of turtles, including hatchlings.

We expect to arrive in the afternoon, with a visit to the abandoned settlement and dive off West Island, where turtles are especially plentiful. We expect to arrive in the afternoon, with a visit to the abandoned settlement and snorkel off West Island (Menai), where turtles are especially plentiful.

As we make our crossing from the Aldabra Group toward Alphonse, we’ll
be on the lookout for marine mammals, including various species of whales and dolphins. In the evening, join us for a fascinating lecture on the natural history of the Seychelles.

The Alphonse Group comprises two neighbouring atolls—Alphonse and St.François, the latter home to the islands of St. François and Bijoutier. Among the most stunning in Seychelles, Alphonse is arrowhead-shaped, with white surf trailing behind like a wake. Once a thriving coconut plantation producing 100,000coconuts a month, the island is now peacefully abandoned, reclaimed by nature.

St Joseph Atoll and D’Arros Island, managed by the Save Our Seas Foundation, include the St Joseph Channel and lagoon—a hotspot for manta ray aggregations and over 500 fish species, the islands offer incredible natural beauty. St Joseph is the Amirantes Bank’s most vital nursery and a crucial breeding ground for sharks, rays, and turtles.

Disembark in Mahe at approximately 15.00.