Coco Island in the Seychelles is a dream island come true. You should not miss this day trip from La Digue or Praslin. Our recommendation is a tour to the dream islands Coco and Big Sister Island. If you are on the paradisiacal islands of the Seychelles you can’t miss a boat trip. A boat trip is also the perfect way to discover the most beautiful snorkeling spots. After we made a rather disappointing trip to Moyenne and Saint Anne Marine Park on Mahe, we went to the fantastically beautiful islands of Big Sister and Cocos Island on La Digue.
Boat trips are among my favorite excursions on vacation, even though we usually tend to stay away from tourist group excursions. A boat trip from la Digue to Big Sister and Cocos Island you should plan in any case. We had a wonderful day on the islands and the snorkeling spots in front of them.
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Hi Guys!
We are Sabrina and Andreas, two adventurous travelers who never miss an opportunity to discover the world. Whether by plane to distant countries or with our campervan Bruno, we just love to travel. We hope to give you helpful tips for your next trip on our blog.
Sabrina & Andreas Globetrotters, Travelers, Adventurers
Day trip Coco Island Seychelles – Our tour provider
We booked the tour through our hotel (La Digue Self-Catering Apartment*) with the tour provider Simplicity Boat Charter. The owner has fulfilled a lifelong dream with his own boat and that is exactly what you notice in the tours. The guys pay attention all the time that all participants are doing well and want to make sure that everyone has a great time. The barbecue on the beach was also very tasty and had something for everyone.
Price: 115 Euro per person (incl. BBQ and mooring fee for the islands)
Contact Simplicity Boat Charter:
- Tel: +248 – 2575102
- E-mail: simplicityboatcharter@gmail.com
Of course you can also book a tour in advance* from another provider:
Day Trip To Coco Island and Big Island*
Hotel Recommendation on La Digue
On La Digue, we can recommend the La Digue Self-Catering Apartment* right near the Jetty. Our beautiful little apartment was super central at the harbor and was the perfect starting point to reach all the different corners of the island by bike. We also had several supermarkets, restaurants and a great bakery nearby so we could get enough provisions for our bike baskets and spend the day on the most beautiful beaches on La Digue.
The Recommended La Digue Self-Catering Apartment*
The Islands off La Digue and Praslin
Just a 20-30 minute boat ride away are the three small islands of Cocos Island, Big Sister and Felicite. The islands are combined differently on the various day trips and snorkeling excursions from La Digue or Praslin. I had informed myself a little in advance and wanted to visit Cocos Island in any case.
Coco Island
Coco Island could also be called Mini-Island, as small as the island is. Coco Island measures just 250m x 100m. Nevertheless, the view of the small island impresses already from a distance with its towering granite rocks, the palm trees as well as the birds buzzing around, which live on the island protected from predators.
The island has been part of the Marine National Park since the late nineties and is a protected area, which is why a fee of 15 Euro per person is required for the visit. The fee is usually paid directly to the tour operator. Since Coco Island is a popular destination for day trips from La Digue, there are usually several boats moored in front of the island.
Both a visit to the island and a snorkeling trip around Coco Island are worthwhile. On the island you have the opportunity to climb on the rocks or take great photos between the rocks. During a snorkeling trip along the surrounding coral plates you will see a lot of fish and with a little luck also reef sharks, turtles or moray eels
Sister Islands (Grand Soeur & Petite Soeur)
The Sister Islands are not only one, but two islands, located about 6 km from La Digue and in the immediate vicinity of Felicite and Coco Island. As in real life, there is a small sister (Petite Soeur) and a big sister (Grand Soeur or Big Sister).
As the name suggests, Big Sister is the slightly larger island and is regularly visited during the excursions. The smaller sister Petite Soeur is usually not visited during the excursions due to its rocky coastline.
What you do on Big Sister depends on whether you booked a full day excursion or just a half day excursion. On a half day trip from La Digue, you usually go snorkeling off Big Sister. The snorkeling trip here was absolutely gorgeous. So definitely do it!
On a full day trip you will also visit the island itself. This means that you can enjoy a wonderful barbecue on the beach and still have time to explore the island afterwards. Within a few minutes you can walk across a large green meadow with the famous giant turtles to the other side of the island to enjoy the paradisiacal beach and take a break after the delicious meal.
Felicite
The granite island of Felicite is the largest of the islands and is located just 4 km off La Digue. The island, which used to be a coconut plantation is now privately owned with a resort and is off limits. During the day trips, the island is therefore approached for snorkeling on the reef.
We did not visit Felicite on our trip. Actually, we should drive to the island at the beginning of the tour. However, there was a misunderstanding between the guides, so the island was left out in the end. Instead, we did a guided snorkeling tour near Cocos Island, which was simply fantastic. More about this below in our experience report.
Snorkeling in the Seychelles
The Coral Bleaching
I had read quite a lot about coral bleaching beforehand, but I couldn’t really imagine it. Since I was already in Indonesia in the Komodo National Park or also in Belize diving and snorkeling, I am very spoiled with amazing experiences under water. The more shocked I was during my snorkeling trips in the Seychelles, where there is almost no coral to see.
The reason for this is especially an increase in water temperature, which causes the corals to die and thus pale. As a result, about 90% of the corals have been destroyed in recent years. The increased water temperature is caused on the one hand by the well-known natural phenomenon El Nino and on the other hand by the climate warming. Accordingly, you should be careful during your excursions underwater, so as not to accidentally damage more corals.
What has remained despite the coral bleaching are the fish. Especially on our trip to Coco Island and Big Sister, we really saw a lot of different fish that made this experience unique.
What you should keep in mind when snorkeling in the Seychelles!
- Keep your distance. To avoid accidentally hurting corals or other creatures you should always keep enough distance and especially watch out with your fins. Also you should never touch anything under water. Some of the corals are very sharp and can hurt you.
- Do not take anything home from the sea. This applies to your snorkeling adventures as well as your walk on the beach.
- Buy coral-friendly, mineral-based sunscreen. I did a lot of research on this topic before our vacation and ended up buying eco Cosmetics sunscreen. Normal sun creams are very harmful to corals due to their chemical ingredients, and should therefore not be used when snorkeling near corals.
What to expect on a Day Trip to Coco Island and Sister Island
We were picked up at 9:30am at our hotel Bord Mer Luxury Apartments* right next to the Jetty. After a short waiting period, during which the other participants of the tour were picked up, we went on the boat at shortly before 10 with a total of 6 participants. Our first destination was the bay in front of Big Sister Island for snorkeling.
We reached the bay after just 15 minutes of sailing. From the boat we already saw the first huge fish under water. In addition, there was a turtleswimming peacefully next to the boat. So quickly put on fins and masks and jumped into the cool water.
The Bay in front of Big Sister Island
The water in the bay of Big Sister Island is crystal clear and for the first time we had perfect visibility under water and could see several meters far. Around us were schools of surgeon fish and zebra fish. Again and again long trumpet fish mingled in between, spotted groupers, colorful butterfly fish, green-blue butterfly fish, yellow-white-black banner fish and many more.
Around us were always whole schools of fish and you didn’t know where to look and swim first. We had hoped for such an experience from our trip to the St. Anne Marine Park near Mahé, but were disappointed there.
Coco Island
After the spectacular experience in the bay of Big Sister Island we continued towards Coco Island. Not 10 minutes later, we jumped again into the water and also visited Coco Island itself. We spend a total of one hour here. Around Coco Island you can see, besides all kinds of colorful fish, that the coral reef is slowly recovering. Again and again you can see single orange, brown and reddish corals between the bright and faded coral fields. But until it is a real reef again it will take some years or decades.
After the snorkeling trip we could admire the big rocks and the numerous birds for a few minutes. The birds have no natural enemies on Cocos Island, so that these sit numerous in the treetops and circle the island again and again. The huge rocks are again a great photo motif.
BBQ and Relaxation on Big Sister Island
After the snorkeling trip at Coco Island we went back to Big Sister Island. Here a delicious BBQ with Creole delicacies like papaya salad, grilled fresh fish, rice, octupus salad (is apparently a delicacy, but not our cup of tea) and salad with smoked fish awaited us. After the exciting underwater experiences, this was the perfect lunch for us.
With our full bellies, we headed to the other side of Big Sister Island. Here another dream beach of the Seychelles was waiting for us. On the left side there are also great rock formations that you can climb up and get a beautiful view of the complete book. Only on the way back to the front side of the island we noticed that there are lots of large, free-ranging giant turtles. The animals sat comfortably on the large lawn and plucked again and again tufts of grass from the earth.
Guided Snorkeling Tour near Coco Island
After relaxing on Big Sister, we jumped into the cool water one last time. Just outside of Cocos Island we did a guided snorkeling tour. Since there was a noticeable current, our guide led the tour so that we snorkeled with the current along the granite pinnacles under water and had the opportunity to discover the many colorful fish that hide in the granite crevices. Besides the known smaller fishes, we also spotted a shark, as well as a turtle that was just on the surface of the water.
At the end of the tour we took the boat around La Digue and had a look at the beaches we had already visited and the ones that were still ahead of us. For us the day was just perfect and fulfilled all our Seychelles wishes.
Conclusion: Snorkeling Tour to Big Sister and Coco Island Seychelles
In fact, this day trip was my Seychelles highlight. The whole day was just perfectly organized and made my Seychelles underwater dreams come true. Had I known this earlier, I would have done without the day trip from Mahe and rather made two times the trip from La Digue to Coco Island and Big Sister Island.
Overall, La Digue with its beautiful beaches and other great highlights, such as the Crystal Kayak Tour, was my favorite island in the Seychelles. Next time I will just stay here for two weeks.
Have you already been to the Seychelles? What was your best trip on La Digue? Leave us a comment with your highlights and tips. You are also welcome to ask us a question.
what is the budget you basically work with
Hi Dotty, the cost for a day trip on the Seychelles is approx. 100 Euro.