Original photo pending rights clearance
Private islands & atolls
Cerf Island
Cerf lies under ten minutes by boat from Victoria, inside the Sainte Anne Marine National Park, gazetted in 1973 as the first marine protected area in the Indian Ocean. The island covers 1.31 square kilometres, counts about 100 residents, and has no roads for vehicles.
- Location
- Sainte Anne Marine National Park, about 4-5 km northeast of Mahé
- Area
- About 1.31 km², 1.7 by 1.0 km
- Population
- About 100 residents (2014 census)
- Access
- Boat transfer only, arranged by hotels, about 10 min from Mahé
Cerf takes its name from the French frigate Le Cerf, which anchored at Port Victoria on 1 November 1756 during the Seven Years' War; its commander, Corneille Nicolas Morphey, used the visit to claim Seychelles for France with a Stone of Possession on Mahé. The land is divided into private plots, some of them former coconut plantations - the hotel L'Habitation stands in the old manor house of one such plantation. A coral reef surrounds the granite island; the seagrass meadows offshore, an important habitat for green turtles, rank among the largest in the granitic Seychelles, the beaches are nesting sites for hawksbill turtles, and fishing and water-skiing are banned throughout the national park.
Selected stays
Cerf Island
Original photo pending rights clearance
Original photo pending rights clearance
Before you book
Three islands in seven nights?
It is the most common mistake in Seychelles. Every island change costs half a day, and the transfer days land in the middle of the trip. One conversation beforehand prevents it.
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