An Indian Ocean Threesome

Many travelers who venture out far into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa do so to have the ultimate threesome – not that kind of threesome, get your head out of the gutter. The threesome I am talking about are the Seychelles, Mauritius, and Reunion.  These three very different groups of islands attract people from across the world and you can find people from Africa, Europe, Asia, and even a handful of Americans traveling or living on these Indian Oceans gems.

I traveled through the islands from Dec 2021 – March 2022 when there were still relatively strict COVID restrictions due to the emergence of th Omicron variant.

Below is a quick write up about my experience traveling through the islands with information on how I handled the logistics of traveling during a slightly challenging time.

Seychelles

This beautiful group of islands was originally part of France before gaining independence.  There are basically three main islands that tourists go to, La Digue, Mahe, and Praslin.  La Digue is by far the most touristy of spots and you can rent a bike and cruise around the whole island in just a few hours.  The small town on the island isn’t exactly charming but the beaches are pretty and the ride is nice.  

First impressions

The capital of Victoria on the island of Mahe is one of the smallest capital cities in the world and you can walk pretty much the entire place in just a few hours (and that is a slow few hours). It is pretty close to the airport and also to the ferry terminal that takes tourists to the other islands. 

The last island is mostly just residential but it is supposed to have some great hiking trails.  I got there too late during the day and had to leave early the next morning so I didn’t get a chance to do any of them sadly. 

While the Seychelles are pretty (and surprisingly doable by public transportation), they are very, very expensive and unless you are staying in one of the high end resorts, the people can be extremely rude. I kind of expected the same African island vibe that I had experienced in Zanzibar and Kenya but that definitely wasn’t the case.  People, at least the ones who weren’t of Indian descent, even seemed openly hostile.  The only exception was the middle-aged woman who ran my guest house in La Digue and was very friendly.  Sadly, I only saw her once or twice in the few days that I was there.

Would I go back?

Probably not.  I found it to be extremely expensive for what it was and as a backpacker, you can easily get the same experience by visiting islands in Southeast Asia or off the coast of Mexico. 

Mauritius

Located about a two hour flight south of the Seychelles, Mauritius is made up of one big island and a few outlying smaller islands that you can take day trips too.  There is also an island called Rodrigues that lies about a two hour flight east of Mauritius.  The island was art of France for a very short period of time before becoming a British colony which it stayed for around 150 years.  

There isn’t a ton of stuff to do in Mauritius besides hiking, swimming, and diving.  Most of the coral is dead so the snorkeling doesn’t compare with other parts of the world but there are tons of fish and you can even snorkel amongst sea turtles.  Everything is made super easy for tourists and you can hire a taxi to take you pretty much everywhere, rent a car if you want to go off on your own, or try your luck at the bus service.  I took the buses throughout the southern part of the island and from Port Louis to Grand Bay without having any issues at all. 

First impressions

Virtually everyone there is of Indian descent besides the handful of South African and French expats who have relcoated there.  In my experience, people were extremely welcoming and helpful and although pretty much everyone speaks French as their first language, they can easily switch back and forth between both languages (unlike most native French speakers).  I personally loved the Indian vibe that you have there and it reminds me of going to India without having to deal with some of the negative aspects of it. 

Would I go back?

Absolutely! I was supposed to stay in Mauritius for just two weeks and instead stayed for nearly two and a half months. I felt very comfortable there and even managed to befriend a group of South African expats who took me under their wings.  It isn’t the best place if you want an action packed holiday full of museums and cultural activities but it is a great place if you want to rest and recharge your batteries in the middle of a much longer trip (which is what I greatly, greatly needed).

Reunion

Reunion lies about a 45 minute flight west of Mauritius and is still very, very much part of France.  It is a volcanic island so very different from the relatively flat islands of Mauritius and Seychelles and some of the most popular things to do there are hiking, mountain biking, and other outdoor adventure activities. The island is surrounded by sharks so you can’t swim anywhere unless you want to get nibbled on by a tiger shark and although diving is possible, I haven’t heard great things about it.  

First impressions

Reunion itself is extremely beautiful with two soaring mountains (one of which is still an active volcano) dotted with emerald green crevases that seem to go halfway up the mountain. While my friend and I didn’t tackle any of the longer hiking trails that the island is famous for, the shorter ones were well-maintained and relatively easy to follow, except never trust the expected time that they give on the trail signs.  They are always way off and I think they were written by French ultra-hikers who weigh 100 pounds of sheer muscle and can bound up steep cliffs like a mountain goat. 

The downside of visiting Reunion is that it is extremely expensive.  Everything from food to accommodation costs about 5 times more than what you would pay for it in Mauritius.  Also, pretty much no one speaks English so you really need to dust off your old high school French if you want to even be able to do basic things. 

There is what seems to be an extensive bus service that goes up to even the highest of villages but we rented a car so I didn’t have the chance to take one of them.  There are bus stops at many of the hiking trails though which is great for anyone who wants to do the island by public transport.

Would I go back?

Honestly, no.  While it is definitely beautiful, the high costs associated with traveling there make it pretty unappealing.  There are very few food options that aren’t extremely expensive French cuisine overloaded with meat and there seems to be little in the way of museums or culture.  If I wouldn’t have been sharing costs with someone else and going it alone like I normally do, it would have simply been out of reach financially and honestly, I would rather spend that same amount of money going to a much more interesting destination. 

How I planned my trip

I first began dreaming about Mauritius and Seychelles when I was living in India a few years ago. (I actually had no idea that a place called Reunion even existed) I would check flights from Delhi or Mumbai, be shocked at how outrageously expensive they were, and then would shelve the idea.  The closest I came to going was when I got excited to find a flight to Mauritius with a stopover in Seychelles (or the other way around, I don’t remember anymore).  Alas, I didn’t have time to visit them as I couldn’t miss that much work.


Then came along COVID and I found myself on the other side of the planet, living and traveling in Mexico for a year.  While this was an amazing experience (and you can read about it in some of my many Mexico blog posts), I was still itching to hit some more exotic places.  So imagine how excited I was when I saw an advertisement for a cruise that would leave from Dubai heading to South Africa stopping in those three destinations plus Madagascar along the way.  I quickly found someone to share a cabin with me and we booked the cruise less than a month before we were supposed to set sail.


Then came Omicron and countries around the world shut their borders again.  The cruise was cancelled, I had many flights canceled or delayed, and I somehow found myself unexpectedly back in India with just a 30 day visa.  As the end of my stay there got closer and closer, I scurried around to find somewhere to go.


Lo and behold, I found a cheap flight to Seychelles via Sri Lanka on Sri Lankan Airways.  It seemed like my dream of finally hitting one of the major Indian Ocean island countries was finally going to come true!  I hurriedly booked my flight and then began researching where to go next.  Onward flights to Mauritius with Air Austral were equally as cheap so I snapped up one of those too and then finished off the ticket booking frenzy with an onward ticket to South Africa.  While it wasn’t the cruise that I had planned on, it was something even better!


Air Austral offers visitors the option of doing a layover in Reunion en route to Mauritius but due to COVID restrictions, I wasn’t able to take advantage of it. Instead, I got a round-trip  Air Mauritius flight.

The logistics and costs

Getting from place to place on all three islands is relatively easy, even by public transport.  Air Austral and Air Mauritius offer relatively inexpensive flights connecting all three islands so once you pay the hefty ticket price to get to the Indian Ocean in the first place, you don’t have to fork out tons more to island hop.  To get between the islands of La Digue, there is a frequent ferry service that links the islands but keep in mind that it is pretty pricey ($60 for Mahe to La Digue) so make sure that you budget that in when you are planning your trip. 


When it comes to food and accommodation, both Reunion and the Seychelles are very expensive (I couldn’t find anything cheaper than $80 in the Seychelles).  In Seychelles, I booked everything through Booking.com and for Reunion, we used AirBnb.  


Luckily, accommodation in Seychelles was pretty high quality though considering I was booking the cheapest spots on the island and Reunion was a bit hit or miss (even though we scored an absolute winner in Chilaos!).