Embracing those guilt-free moments by reading on the balcony
Elevated Travel

Everyday in Seychelles is one remarkable beach after another

Everyday in Seychelles is one remarkable beach after another. Following a couple of astonishing days in Anse La Mouche, Port Launay and a gorgeous sunset dinner at Del Place, the next day, we packed up our bags and moved further south of Mahé to Baie Lazare for some quality R&R in Valmer Resort and Spa. After four days of undisturbed serenity with no agenda, we packed our bags one last time and headed north to the remarkable Beau Vallon beach. Where we spent the rest of our holiday soaking up the last bits of the island sunshine and indulging in the crystal clear turquoise water. Every. Single. Day! And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Valmer Resort and Spa is set in a lush tropical garden

Valmer Resort is located by the Baie Lazare coast tucked away on top of a hill surrounded by a lush tropical garden and beautiful palm trees. We were here for our 10th wedding anniversary, so we splurged on a luxurious deluxe balcony room with an ocean view. But if this was our honeymoon, I would’ve booked the villa with a private pool!!

This is the restaurant area where we had our meals, drinks and afternoon snacks.
Or you can have your drinks and snacks here too.
The balcony of our room at Valmer Resort
Our room was surrounded by luscious palm trees and greeneries with an ocean view.
The poolside of Valmer Resort & Spa
The property also comes with a public pool and spa facilities. This resort has all the luxurious feel without the price tag.
Don’t you just want to jump right into that pool?

They also have an onsite restaurant that catered for our meals. I highly recommend booking on all-board or at least half-board. The thing with Seychelles, a lot of the surrounding areas are not very developed. Unless you have a car to drive out to specific restaurants for food, you are pretty much constrained to the resort’s offerings. And typically the resorts only service their own guests. The only exception is in Beau Vallon. But more on this later.

We had a friend who joined us for breakfast most mornings
We had a friend who joined us for breakfast most mornings.

We learnt this the hard way! Valmer is kind of close to Kempinski and the Four Seasons. So we thought we could just pop in for a meal or a drink. But it doesn’t work like that! They only serve their own guests.

If staying on beachfront property is important to you, then I would recommend the Kempinski. But obviously, it’s a lot pricier. However, if you don’t mind going for a bit of a walk, Valmer is only 15 minutes away from the beach. Make sure you wear a hat and sunscreen. Because a 15-minute walk under 30-degree heat is a pretty hard slog!

Having said that, the walk was absolutely worth it. Look at the landscape and the boulders!

Everyday in Seychelles is one remarkeable beach
Baie Lazare beach with picturesque boulders just 15 minutes walk from the Valmer Resort & Spa. Can we just take a moment to appreciate the soft white sand?
Standing on top of boulders at Baie Lazare beach
Alan standing on one of the boulders admiring the turquoise water, whilst catching his breath from the heaty walk! We had plans to come back the next day for a dip but we were rained in.

The beach is a bit more wavy compared to Anse La Mouche, but equally beautiful and secluded. In particular the “public” private part of the beach along the Kempinski strip of the beach.

It is true, everyday in Seychelles is one remarkable beach after another!

This was an interesting day... to be covered in a future post. But walking along this endless white sand beach was an unforgettable experience.
We thought it was a good idea to walk to the Kempinski resort from Valmer. Only to find out when the locals say “it’s only 15min walk”, they really meant 1hr and 15min!! We eventually arrived, hot and sweaty (hence the sweat patches on my top!), and in desperate need of a cold drink. Only to find out they don’t serve outside customers!! But walking along this remarkable public-private white sand beach was a pretty spectacular experience.
Another beachside resort
We also found this by accident. How beautiful is this landscape?

Sometimes a ‘no agenda’ holiday is just what you need

We hit the jackpot with the tropical rains when we were here. We experienced two days of heavy rainfall. The staff told us it wasn’t meant to rain as it wasn’t rainy season. But when it does rain, it really pours!

When in rains, it pours!
When it rains, it pours!
Watching the rains from our room

I absolutely loved it though. We were resort bound, but I didn’t mind it at all. It brought me back to my childhood when I used to run around and played in the rain. That was my favourite thing to do of all time! Have you ever played in the rain? Or go swimming in the rain? What about singing in the rain? haha… Sorry, I just had to! But it was truly a nostalgic moment for me.

I used to get so upset when it rains while we were on holiday. But since I’ve been on the elegant transformation journey, I have learned to live in the moment and find joy in everything we do. Even being rained-in for two days whilst on holiday on our anniversary. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed those quiet days at Valmer. It was a hard-to-come-by opportunity to do nothing. We literally didn’t have an agenda. We moved from our balcony to the poolside to the restaurant and then back to our room.

Embracing those guilt-free moments by reading on the balcony
Embracing those guilt-free moments and no agenda days.
I’m wearing a Voluminous puff sleeve midi dress from & Other Stories, which has just come back in stock; Hat is an old one that I picked up from a market stalk in Italy. I’m reading Manifest by Roxie Nafousi.

How often do we have the time that we can ultimately say it’s our own? We’re always running around and juggling between work deadlines, business meetings, emails to reply to, dishes to wash etc. etc. etc. I always feel like any free time I have at home is on borrowed time. Because I always think that time could be spent on something else. But at that moment, I fully embraced the slowness of life. I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything else when I sat and watched droplets from the rain rippling through the pool. I felt content and will always cherish these guilt-free quiet moments. And spending quality time with myself, my thoughts and obviously the husband. I couldn’t ask for a better 10th-anniversary celebration.

Everyday in Seychelles is one remarkable beach in Beau Vallon

Our final destination in Seychelles was Beau Vallon, north of Mahe island. This is probably the most touristy spot in Seychelles. And after being restricted to our resorts, I welcomed a bit of touristy actions here. This means we had a number of restaurants and bars to choose from. Market stalls for souvenir shopping, fresh fruits and coconut stalls, and tour desks for day trips and excursions.

We stayed at Coral Strand, located right on the beach of Beau Vallon and in the heart of all the markets stalls and restaurants. There are also service apartments and Airbnb here for family and budget friendly accommodations. Coral Strand is part of the Savoy Group, so you can also pop into any of their restaurants for a meal. Which we did on one of the nights. The rooms here are small but cosy compared to our spacious room in Valmer. It is likely not as luxurious as The Savoy. BUT they are right on the beach, unlike The Savoy. So just for that alone, I will stay here again.

Everyday in Seychelles is one remarkable beach view
The rooms are small, but we woke up to this view every day.
Alan admiring the view from our room.
And me. Loving life right there!

Everyday here was beach day. Each morning, we’d bag our sun lounge for the day, ideally under an umbrella. And park ourselves there for the day. Have a dip and a swim in the shallow turquoise water to cool down. I even managed to backstroke for the first time ever!! haha

Things to do

When in Seychelles, swimming in the crystal clear water from one remarkable beach to another is a given. But when in Beau Vallon, there are many other things you can also do:

  • Walk along the boulevard and check out the market stalls
  • Have a fresh coconut juice. Tip: there are many stalls that sell fresh coconut, a lot feel like a tourist trap, except for one. So make sure you walk right to the end, past The Boat House restaurant and La Page. You will see an honest gentleman with a coconut and fruit stall. Get your coconut from him. He will pick a big and sweet one for you. We were there every day!
  • There are a number of water activities along the beach, which you can sign up to
  • Watch the spectacular sunset from the beach. The sky puts on a different show every night. One not to be missed!
  • Sign up for excursions and day tours. We went on a day trip to La Digue and Praslin with Mamilla Tour. I highly recommend it. I feel like you haven’t been to Seychelles until you’ve seen the world’s most beautiful beach in La Digue! But this deserves its own post!

I recommend you bring cash with you. Cards are not widely used, particularly outside the resorts and taxis. They accept Euros and USD, which is handy. Tours take cards but be prepared to pay a 5% commission on the transaction!

Our daily dose of fresh coconut juice. So sweet and fresh! You can just about see the gentleman who owns the shop behind Alan.
Remarkable sunsets by the beach in Seychelles
Every sunset in Seychelles is different. This is the first time I’ve seen the sunset fan out like this!
Another sunset in Seychelles
Another day, another sunset!

Places to eat

The other great thing about staying at Coral Strand and Beau Vallon is having access to many other restaurants outside of your resort. You can choose from a range of cuisines such as local Creole, Italian, Japanese, Indian, burgers and chips, just to name a few. However, not all restaurants are equal (we’ve had some very suboptimal food here).

I am listing the ones we have tried and would recommend here. A local dish you must try is the octopus curry and freshly chopped chilli. Apparently Seychellois loves chilli and they have it with everything. So every restaurant has its own version. If like me, you love a bit *cough* a lot of heat with your meals, they make the best ones in Seychelles!!

  • Grand Savoy is part of The Savoy hotel. It’s an international buffet style restaurant with a different theme every day. We went there on the seafood evening. It was delicious. I ate way too much than I want to admit. There was a plethora of grills, BBQ, stews, curries, salads and desserts, and more!
  • Boat House Restaurant is a local restaurant that serves a Creole (which is their local cuisine) buffet with a broad selection of BBQs, main courses, rice, salads and desserts.
  • Le Perle Noir restaurant is a cosy family-owned Italian restaurant with some Creole dishes. Booking is a must though as they are always busy!
  • Coral Asia is part of the Coral Strand resort. They do the standard Japanese dishes. It is a bit expensive for what it’s worth but it’s a nice to option and mix it up. Plus the restaurant is like an open straw hut that overlooks the beach. So it gets points for atmosphere!

Everyday in Seychelles is one remarkable beach after another. This is a wrap of our amazing escape to Mahé Island and all the different beaches, one more beautiful than the last.

So have you booked your summer holiday yet? Hopefully, I have convinced you to add Seychelles to your bucket list. It really is an amazing holiday destination!

Everyday in Seychelles is one remarkable beach to another!
Everyday in Seychelles is one remarkable beach to another!

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2 Comments

  1. Whoa, it must be sucky to walk all that way only to learn that those places only serve their own guests, lol. Any walk above one hour is definitely a lot of work. Awesome pics as usual, and great pointers for those who’ve not been to Seychelles. This post felt so complete. Thanks for taking the time to create this!

    1. I know right. I was not impressed!! Lucky they have beautiful beach to make up for it!!
      Thank you so much. That means a lot coming from you!! And I hope it has inspired you visit Seychelles one day!! 😄😄

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