Original photo pending rights clearance
Private islands & atolls
Cousine Island
Cousine is a private island of about 30 hectares, 8 kilometres west of Praslin. A five-villa resort is the only accommodation; about 78 free-roaming Aldabra giant tortoises live on the island, and between September and January an estimated 14,000 newly hatched sea turtles enter the water there each year.
- Location
- 8 km west of Praslin, about 41 km northeast of Mahe
- Area
- About 30 hectares, a granitic Seychelles island
- Population
- About 16 residents: resort staff and researchers (2014)
- Access
- Only by boat or helicopter from Praslin, no airstrip
There is no airstrip: visitors fly via Mahe to Praslin and switch there to a resort boat or helicopter. Only about 16 people live on Cousine year-round, the hotel manager and family and a resident ornithologist and family; day visitors are not admitted. Since a South African investor took over the island in 1992, introduced livestock and casuarina trees have been removed, and twenty Aldabra giant tortoises were added between 1992 and 2004. The Seychelles magpie-robin (Copsychus sechellarum), reintroduced in 1996, now numbers over 50 birds across twelve territories. BirdLife International lists Cousine as an Important Bird Area: an estimated 55,000 breeding pairs of shearwaters, tropicbirds, terns and noddies nest here each year, along with the Seychelles warbler and the Seychelles fody. The separate Cousin Island lies about 2 kilometres to the northeast, a nature reserve in its own right.
Selected stays
Cousine Island
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.
A reply within 24 hours — from Miguel himself, not from a bot.
Get my proposal Ask a question first
Free and non-binding. No card details, no deposit to enquire.