Praslin & La Digue

Praslin and La Digue are the second and third largest of the inner granitic Seychelles, lying 44 km and 56 km northeast of Mahé respectively. Praslin is 11 km long and holds the Vallée de Mai — a UNESCO World Heritage forest that is the only wild habitat of the Coco de Mer palm (Lodoicea maldivica), whose seeds, at up to 25 kg, are the heaviest produced by any plant. La Digue, 10 km further northeast, is 9 km long and home to roughly 2,500 residents; it is the main island in the Seychelles without a road network to speak of, and bicycles and ox-carts remain common transport. Tidal regime and tidal range on both islands are essentially identical to Mahé. The mixed predominantly diurnal pattern means the number of perceptible tide cycles per day varies through the lunar month: full spring tide produces two clear highs and two clear lows; near the solstices and around certain lunar phases, one cycle dominates and the day effectively has a single high-low swing. Spring range here is 0.9–1.3 m above chart datum; neap range 0.3–0.5 m. The small range means the lagoon depths and beach widths vary less dramatically through the day than on macrotidal coasts — but on a 1.3 m spring tide, the rock ledges and reef flats change character significantly between low and high water. Praslin's ferry connection to Mahé takes approximately 55–65 minutes on the Cat Cocos service (depending on sea state) and departs Victoria four to five times daily. La Digue is reached by a 15-minute ferry from Anse Volbert (Praslin) or a slower inter-island service from Mahé. Both islands are small enough that all beaches are within 30 minutes of the ferry landing by bicycle or shared taxi. The prevailing monsoon directions on both islands track Mahé — the NE sides of Praslin and La Digue are exposed to NW monsoon swell and the SW sides to SE trade swell — though the islands' smaller size and lower elevation mean the wind shadow effects are less pronounced than on Mahé's steep ridgeline. Open-Meteo Marine predictions for Praslin and La Digue carry typical accuracy of ±45 minutes and ±0.2–0.3 m.