Seychelles in 3 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)
Three days in Seychelles: Mahe plus a real night on Praslin
Three days still means picking two of the three main islands, not all of them; La Digue’s extra CAT ROSE ferry leg is the thing to cut, not Mahe or Praslin. Unlike the rushed 2-day version , which day-trips Praslin and comes straight back, this plan sails over once, spends the night, and comes back unhurried the next afternoon. That single overnight is worth roughly EUR40-70 more in guesthouse cost and saves you a second ferry crossing, since you only pay the CAT COCOS fare one way instead of round trip in a single day. Total budget across the three days lands around EUR230-310 per person, ferries and entry fees included.
Book these before you go:
- Praslin guesthouse or self-catering villa : book the overnight stay ahead in July-August or around Christmas and New Year, when both rooms and ferry sailings tighten up.
- Vallee de Mai guided walking tour : a guide is optional here, but useful for spotting the endemic Seychelles black parrot in the canopy, which is easy to miss on your own.
- Curieuse Island tortoise and snorkel day trip : a genuine add-on if your Praslin night stretches into a fuller second day; the island’s giant tortoises were introduced in the late 1970s and now roam freely.
| Day | Island | Travel time | Rough cost (per person) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Mahe | none (arrival day) | ~EUR55-80 |
| Day 2 | Praslin | ~1h by CAT COCOS ferry, one way | ~EUR140-175 |
| Day 3 | Praslin, then return to Mahe | ~1h by CAT COCOS ferry, one way | ~EUR110-140 |
Day 1: Mahe arrival
Land at Seychelles International Airport (SEZ), the only international gateway in the country, with your paid Travel Authorisation already approved; the roughly EUR11 fee (occasionally closer to EUR12 with card charges) has to be sorted online before you fly, not on arrival. A fixed taxi into Victoria or Beau Vallon runs about SCR300 (~EUR19-21) for up to four passengers, and cash is the safer bet since many drivers don’t run cards.
Walk Victoria’s Clock Tower and Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke Market in the morning, both free, then head to Beau Vallon in the afternoon for a swim; it’s Mahe’s main beach and costs nothing to use. Keep bags and phones off the sand when you’re in the water; opportunistic theft from unattended belongings, not violent crime, is the real safety issue here. A Creole takeaway dinner (fish curry, grilled reef fish) runs roughly SCR40-80 (~EUR2.50-5), well under a resort restaurant’s SCR150-300+ for a similar plate.
Day 2: Praslin, arriving and settling in
The CAT COCOS ferry to Praslin takes about an hour and costs from EUR56 economy one way plus a EUR2 port fee. Check into your Praslin guesthouse, then spend the afternoon at Vallee de Mai, the UNESCO-listed coco de mer forest: entry is SCR450 (~EUR27-30), with a 10% discount for online tickets booked in advance via the the Seychelles tourism board . This is meaningfully more than the roughly EUR20 figure some older guides still quote, so budget for the current rate.
Day 3: Anse Lazio, then back to Mahe
Spend the morning at Anse Lazio, free to access with paid parking around SCR100 (~EUR6) for the day; go before mid-morning, since the small lot fills and the beach visibly crowds by late morning. Take an afternoon CAT COCOS sailing back to Mahe ahead of your departure, allowing a buffer in case of any schedule delay.
Is 3 days enough to add La Digue too?
Not comfortably. Adding La Digue means a separate CAT ROSE ferry from Praslin, roughly 15-20 minutes and about EUR15 one way, on top of the Mahe-Praslin leg you’re already taking, and La Digue rewards an overnight stay rather than a rushed pass-through. Fitting all three islands into 3 days usually means seeing none of them properly; the 4-day itinerary is the shortest version of this route that adds La Digue without feeling rushed.
Is the overnight on Praslin worth it over a day-trip?
Yes, for two reasons: you pay the CAT COCOS fare once instead of twice, and Vallee de Mai plus Anse Lazio genuinely fill an unhurried day and a half rather than the single squeezed afternoon a day-trip allows. The extra guesthouse night, roughly EUR45-70, is cheaper than the second ferry crossing a day-trip would otherwise cost.
Carry SCR cash for the Praslin taxi stand and any market stall; card acceptance is patchier outside Mahe’s bigger hotels, and running out on a small island is a genuinely inconvenient problem.