The Best Time to Visit the Seychelles

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The Seychelles, a group of 115 islands situated in the Indian Ocean, is a tropical paradise. With weather that hardly sees either extreme, and scenery that is unimaginably beautiful. There are three main islands and many smaller, private islands.

The 3 main islands are:

  • Mahe
  • Praslin
  • La Digue

It is extremely hard to decide on the best time to go to the Seychelles, since almost every day on the island is like paradise. Even during the rainiest parts of the year, the island is still beautiful enough to attract people looking for a tropical getaway.

Of course, when arranging your travels you want to find a time that best fits in with your holiday plans. If you are looking to visit the islands on your honeymoon, you may want to avoid the large crowds. If it’s the sun and beaches that you’re after, then you’d do best to visit outside of the rainy season.

We’ve considered the many different reasons that you would want to visit the Seychelles. Such as busy times, activities and seasonal weather. With that, we were able to decipher the best times of the year to visit this tropical paradise.

When to Travel the Seychelles Depending on Tourist Crowds

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Image by @akis_noikokiris

While the islands don’t have much of low season, May to August is the Seychelles peak tourist season, which means prices for accommodation and travel are high. If you are going to travel during this time, it is wise to plan and book ahead.

In December and January, the islands’ see a lower amount of tourist traffic. This is mostly due to the heavy rains. Travelling during these months would allow you a quieter holiday, but you would need to plan for the expected rain.

For the rest of year, there is an even amount of people flocking to the islands. You can find spots with less traffic or join in the busier fun with other tourists like yourself.

The Best Time to Go for Activities in the Seychelles

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Snorkeling

Snorkeling in the Seychelles is a favourite amongst tourists and locals alike. While you can enjoy this activity throughout the year, the best times would be while the waters are clear and calm. This would be March to May and September to November.

Seychelles snorkeling team diving into the water

Diving

The Seychelles have superb diving opportunities offering close encounters with turtles, massive rays and small sharks. If you are visiting from July to October, you will have the chance to meet some Whale Sharks; although there is lower visibility during this season which makes viewing other sea-life slightly harder. The water temperatures also drop during these months.

For calm and clear diving, you’ll find that the waters are calmest during the months of March through May, and September through November. During these months you can experience the best visibility as well as the warmest water temperature.

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Surfing/Windsurfing

If surfing is your game, then visiting the Seychelles in the months from May to September is a great idea. The waves are not excessive, but the beautiful scenery and lack of crowds makes the Seychelles a great place to surf.  If you do visit outside of the recommended months, you will still be able to enjoy surfing as long as you find the right spot.

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Bird-watching

The Seychelles have wonderful opportunities for bird-watchers. The main island is home to two very elusive species of land birds, namely the Seychelles Scops-owl and Seychelles White-eye.

April marks the return of breeding seabirds, with May – September being their nesting season, and migration starting in October.

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Turtle and Tortoise Monitoring

A large attraction on the islands is the Turtle nesting; you can volunteer to assist the turtle monitoring programme on the beaches of Cousin Island from September to March each year.

The Giant tortoise mates and nests between February and September, while the Hawkesbill turtle nests September to March, and the Green turtle nests January to September.

whale-shark-seychelles

Shark and Whale Watching

Since the waters are so clean and clear, you are able to get a really good view on the oceanic wildlife. The whale shark migration takes place between August and November and humpback whales breed (in the south) November-April.

When to Visit the Seychelles According to the Weather

The temperatures in the Seychelles don’t fluctuate tremendously, seldom dropping below 24°C. This means that even in the Winter months you still have amazing tropical weather.

Two opposing trade winds generally govern the weather pattern. The north-westerly trades blow from October to March when wind speeds average from 8 to 12 knots; and the brisker south-easterly trades blow from May to September with winds of between 10 to 20 knots, bringing cooler and windier conditions.

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December-February

As mentioned above, the months of December and January are the rainiest months in the Seychelles.

Although rain is most frequent during this time, showers don’t seem to last long, most just a few minutes, which means that your outdoor activities won’t be interrupted all day.

These months also experience the least amount of sunlight per day, with most days seeing just 5-6 hours of sunlight.

March-May

These months are usually the hottest months of each year in the Seychelles.

The humidity is still high and, even though cyclones hardly ever reach the main islands of the Seychelles, these months have the highest possibility of cyclones and tropical storms.

June-August

This is the Winter season in the Seychelles, but thanks to the islands’ proximity to the equator, the temperatures drop to a comfortable warm opposed to the extreme summer highs.

There isn’t much rain during this season, leaving mostly sunny, dry days at the beach.

Thanks to the winds, surfing and sailing is perfect but large amounts of seaweed get washed up on a lot of the beaches, somewhat ruining their pristine image.

September-November

Once September comes around, tourists start to dwindle and the wind starts to calm down.

The weather is not yet at summer highs, Spring daily highs range from 30.4°C and 28.7°C.

You can expect some rain during this period, but not often and for very short periods.

boat-island-seychelles

The Absolute Best Time to go to the Seychelles

As you can see, the best time to go to the Seychelles depends largely on who is going, and what they intend to do while there. Most people agree, though, that visiting the islands during the months of April or November, will ensure you experience an all-round great time. The weather is calm, the crowds are manageable and there are ample activities to keep you busy.

It is safe to say that no matter when you plan to go to the Seychelles, you have an island paradise waiting for you. The fantastic part of visiting such an ideal holiday destination is that there is always the beautiful scenery and island culture to create the perfect relaxing vacation.