Seychelles Tourist Office

41 of these islands represent the most ancient mid-oceanic granitic islands on earth while 74 are low-lying coral atolls and reef islands, set like gemstones amid the sparkling azure waters of the western Indian Ocean.

Formed 150 million years ago when the super-continent of Gondwanaland began to break apart, Seychelles was left in splendid isolation between, India, Africa and Madagascar. Until today, it has remained a sanctuary for exotic life forms and primeval forests so spectacular that it was once believed to be the original site of the Garden of Eden.

Seychelles is host to two UNESCO World Heritage sites: The legendary Vallée de Mai where the fabulous Coco-de-mer, the world’s heaviest nut in the perfect form of a female pelvis, grows on towering palms, and Aldabra, the planet’s largest raised coral atoll.