The ferry is a 36-metre catamaran, and between Mahe and Praislin it's about 25nm sailing distance. It's no speed boat - the schedule says
about an hour, but it took much longer. The "direct ferry" from Mahe departs at 10:30am and makes a stopover in Praislin,
so direct means, you don't have to switch boats. From Praislin to La Digue is about another 4nm. Note, you should book your ferry online in advanced on
http://www.seychellesbookings.com/ as upfront it costs significantly more, and they do get sold out last minute. The ferry also has baggage limitations, business class allows 40kg combined checked-in luggage, and 7kg to take on board. As far as the inter-island flights, they are 18 passenger DHC-6 Twin Otter, with no overhead compartment. They didn't weigh my hand luggage. I managed with my 20kg duffle bag on my knees for the short hop.
The supermarket in La Digue is quite basic, but I got my necessities such as eggs, cooking oil (OU), bottled water, etc. from there. You can
also buy fresh fish from the fisherman, just majority of what they have is not kosher, e.g. Red snapper, Groupers. Although the fruits there are quite nice, the place I stayed served locally grown papaya, starfruit, and soursop each morning. My trip to Seychelles was solo, and arriving in Seychelles and going straight to La Digue, it's extremely peaceful but feels like millions of miles away from civilization. When I travel, I go with the flow, only booked my stay for La Digue beforehand. If you decide to do Mahe, I would schedule it for the final days, but you would want to rent a car to get around, and Mahe can be time-consuming to get around due to the traffic. On Mahe, you have the Victoria Market, Saint Anne National Marine Park, botanical garden, hiking / beautiful mountain excursions, and you have stunning beaches as well.
On La Digue, visiting the Anse Marron is a must - just you either need to hire a guide for the 2-hour walk through forest and granite boulders. Or if you are adventurous like me, you could purchase the Wikiloc outdoor navigation GPS app, and download the trail on your smartphone.
Also, most of the day trips to the various islands are either from Praislin or La Digue, although they are not cheap either.
Thanks!
We are flying into AUH and are going to do some nights in Dubai and then I think it's a 4.5 hour flight to SEZ.
I've thought about adding on the 15 minute flight to Praslin with a separate ticket. The issue is that we plan to bring two bags each since we will be gone for a month and I've only read one report that Air Seychelles will allow two bags when coming from an international flight. We've done a similar speed boat ride from Bali to near by islands and you are right... after about 30 minutes you are ready for it to be over. Though, I thought there was a direct ferry to La Digue that was offered less frequently each day?
I think the biggest complaints I've heard about La Digue is the lack of food options and things to do. I think possibly the excursions could take care of that? The lack of food options is a downside, but we've been in places in the Philippines that were similar and it wasn't bad.
Do you think its worth spending any days on Mahe if we are planning days on Praslin and La Digue?