Vallée de Mai, Praslin, Seychelles

Vallée de Mai Nature Reserve is a beautiful national park with an easy and relaxing hike through a lush natural forest. The trails are very well maintained and clearly marked, making it easy to explore. Tickets can be purchased at the counter or online. Guided hikes are also available for an additional fee if you want to learn more about the park. A great place to enjoy nature in Praslin.

Vallée de Mai is a magical place - like stepping into a prehistoric forest. We visited during our stay in Praslin and were amazed by the dense palm forest, especially the famous coco de mer trees. The trails are well-marked and easy to follow, and the whole reserve is peaceful and full of wildlife sounds. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site for a reason - definitely worth a visit for nature lovers and anyone wanting to experience the wild heart of Seychelles.

You need to experience this place. There’s a lot to see and learn about the Coco de Mer and just enjoy nature. If you also need some exercise during your vacation, this is it. Try to wear closed shoes to make the walk more comfortable. It was nice visiting another UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It is expensive, but the money goes mainly to the conservation of a Tortoise Park on another island, so it all makes sense in the end. The walk was enjoyable, without so many mosquitoes despite the forest walk. We saw 2/3 of the species marked on the entrance paper, some of them you cannot really see because they are mainly visible at night anyway. Still look everywhere, it is a great game to play ! All is very well maintained, easy to navigate with informations regularly. We didn't take any guide. But expect guides to jump on you at the entrance... Not very agreeable but some people like it this way...

Visiting this place is a lifetime experience. The coco de mer trees are absolutely unreal, there are other rare species of trees as well. The uniquely shaped coco de mer seeds are something that one will never see anything similar anywhere. We were very lucky to spot the black parrots too, also spotted the geckos.

One of the best things I’ve ever seen in my life. Don’t book a tour guide but experience this breathtaking forest with your own senses. You’ll be astonished what you can see and experience.

We only visited Vallee de Mai so I can’t compare it to Fond Ferdinand but it’s definitely worth a visit. Overpriced? Maybe. But at least for a good cause. At the beginning of December even 12 pm on a Saturday is not too crowded. The long trail took us a bit more than 2 hours. We chose not to get a guide and I’m very happy with that choice. After our Curieuse guided trip and some googleing we knew what to look for and the small info stations gave us enough on site. Private guides are very loud and won’t stop talking, you can hear them all around the park and that keeps you from enjoying the sounds of the forest. If you stay quiet and still, animals will appear around you. We saw many black parrots, some other birds, lizards and geckos too. It is an amazing experience.

Beautiful park, you can see many plants including the coco de mer palm trees, wild animals. The entry fee is a bit high but it’s worth it