No doubt Mahé has some of the most beautiful beaches not only on the Seychelles but all over the world. In this category, we will introduce you to the beaches of Mahé. We try to cover all of them, but some are still missing and we give our best to complete the list with images and info. Since we have to start somewhere, we will do that with our favourite beach Anse Intendance in the very south and continue clockwise around the island. Enjoy the tour.
Beautiful Anse Intendence in the south of Mahé sure is one of the most impressive beaches of the Seychelles. Strangely it is never overpopulated even though it is easily accessible by car. Perhaps due to its wildness. Most people just come, take their pictures and leave again. There is a big enough parking ground and from there, it's only a few meters walk to the beach. The luxury Banyan Tree Resort is situated at the end of the beach. This amazing stretch of sand is about 1 km long and depending on the season and weather conditions about 30 to 40m wide. So there´s definitely enough place for everyone ;-).
In the afternoon you can relax in the shade of the trees right at the "entrance" of the beach. You can walk all along the Anse Intendance, but the area behind the beach is the private property of the Banyan Tree Resort.
Like on many Seychelles beaches be careful of waves and currents. There might be a red flag on the beach to warn you that it´s too dangerous to swim, and there are even guards on duty at times. If the sea is calm and the waves are not too high, it´s easy to get into the water, but to be honest: on our many visits we have only experienced that one single time. Anse Intendance is usually not a place for relaxed swimming or a family excursion with small kids, but rather something for adults who want to play in high waves.
Situated in the beautiful south of Seychelles main island Mahé, Anse Takamaka used to be one of the most picturesque beaches in the Seychelles. Sadly some of the overhanging palm trees (read more about overhanging palm trees) on Anse Takamaka have been washed out by the surf. Leaving a still beautiful beach, but losing some of its past attraction. New ones will grow, promised ;). If you´d like to get a print of the perfect look that beach had once - we are preparing a webshop for prints - you can contact us in the meantime for individual requests. The beach is around 400m long, spotted by some takamaka trees and the typical granite rocks. At the southern end of the sandy beach, there is a typical Seychellois restaurant which belongs to the small Hotel Chez Batista and serves very good fish. If you ever wanted to taste a red snapper right on a beach, this is the place to go.
Access to the water is pretty good. There are some coral blocks and stones in the sandy lagoon, but you can find ways to into the water, especially near Chez Batista. Waves are usually rather gentle, so this beach is good for a day on the beach with your family.
Parking is limited, but Anse Takamaka is right along the very calm road that circles Mahé, so it is very easy to access by car and taxi.
Forming a beautiful half moon bay, just north of Anse Takamaka on Mahé, Baie Lazare is an about 2 km long sandy beach, divided in two by a few granite rocks right in the middle. On one part you can find the villas of the Kempinski Resort widely scattered in a garden behind the beach, the other part is easily reached from the coastal road. Corals are coming near the beach almost all along, but depending on the tides it is good for relaxing in the shallow water. There is one place that is almost coral free where you can easily access the water. Watch our video about Mahé beaches, our aerial view of Baie Lazare will give you a good impression.
If you would like to get to the other half of Baie Lazare you have to take the road around the Kempinski Hotel. Follow the main road to the north and drive left at the junction after the petrol station. After a while, you have to turn left and follow a very narrow road. Be aware, opposing traffic is nothing you´d want on this road, so if you don´t feel comfortable using your reverse gear, you´d better skip this part of Baie Lazare and watch it from the top of the rocks that divide the two parts.
If you are keen enough and managed to drive to the beach, you can park your car there and follow the dirt-road to Anse Government. That´s something we plan for our next trip.
Petite Anse, also called Anse La Liberté on Mahé is one of the beaches that are the property of a big luxury hotel group. It is the home of the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles. Luckily visitors are allowed to access the beach. You are welcome to register at the hotel entrance, leaving your car at the parking ground, and can walk down the road to the beach. This beach is one of the most amazing on the Seychelles and while the Four Seasons Resort is really built beautifully into the surrounding hills, it must have been even more beautiful and perhaps one of the most beautiful beaches in the world before the hotel was built. The hotel staff btw. is really friendly and may even ask you if you need a ride in their golf cart when you walk back up the hill after your visit.
Swimming on Petite Anse is great and there is even some shade. If you have booked the four seasons hotel there are enough sunchairs under palm thatched umbrellas that don´t even disturb the look of the beach.
Anse Soleil is a beach that isn´t too well known. It is not really easy to find. However, if you know where it is and how to get there, it is pretty easy to access. Driving on the West Coast Road to the north, go to the left, taking the road to Four Seasons Resort Seychelles right after the church in Baie Lazare. Follow the road to the Four Seasons and right at the entrance follow the small road to the right and you´ll arrive a few seconds later. A "small" problem is parking. It is prohibited on the private property there and people (from Anse Soleil Restaurant) fiercely approach you as soon as you reach the place, offering to park for € 50.00 before you even stop your car - not particularly friendly. So better look for a parkground further up the road and walk down. Unfortunately, you also have to walk right through the same restaurant to reach the beach. Other than that, Anse Soleil is a really nice beach with usually rather calm waters and a nice lagoon.
Anse a la Mouche is a beautiful, very flat bay in the southern part of Mahé. Depending on the season and the tides the sandy beach is narrow or extremely wide (up to 100+m), but the water is always shallow. Anse a la Mouche is perhaps not the perfect beach for swimming. You have to walk out very far before the water gets a little deeper. Walking in the water though is only comfortable in a rather small area which is sandy and free of corals or seagrass beds. Anse a la Mouche is not very famous, but still a very picturesque bay and worth a visit. Especially at low tide when the fishing boats lay in the sand, or in the evening to watch beautiful sunsets.
The sandy beach of Anse Boileau is rather narrow and the water shallow depending on the tides. To be honest: the Seychelles do have more beautiful beaches to offer, but compared to some beaches in Europe it´s still nice and definitely less crowded ;-)
Grand Anse is a beautiful sandy beach more than 1 km long from the mouth of the Dauban river to the other end near the coastal road. Unfortunately, a power plant with huge power poles distracts a little from the natural beauty of this beach. You can easily park your car where the road bends sharply, right in front of the beach. Be careful when driving with a car, because there is a huge bump when you leave the road. Despite the size of the beach, the parking ground is hardly ever used and the beach is almost always empty. Lately, there was a new structure built at the entrance of the beach in an effort to make the beach more popular. It looks like a wooden jetty, but it´s rather a sun-terrace you can use for relaxing.
The area between Port Glaud and Port Launay has changed from an unspoilt quiet place to a small touristic hot spot during the last years (of course for Seychelles only - it´s still a really calm beach compared to other places). Whether this development is positive is not for us to decide. As you can see on our old pictures from 2003 of Port Launay we´ve been the only people on the beach. Now there is the beautiful Constance Ephelia Resort between the two beaches of Port Glaud and Port Launay.
The coin always has two sides, many tourists want to see untouched nature and have at best a beach for their own, but as we travel we all are tourists who want to stay in beautiful accommodations with hot water and electricity. So we are all responsible for the change of not only the Seychelles. Be aware of your responsibility, no matter what kind of resort you are staying at. Some people think that wasting water on the Seychelles is no real problem because it rains so often, and they pay for it anyway because of the high prices of some hotels. But remember that you can never pay nature. Wasting water, electricity and other resources is nothing that you can make unchanged. And besides - the Seychelles do have seasons where water supply is a problem. Not so much on Mahe, but on the other islands (read more about it here).
To be honest, at first sight, we were a little shocked to see Port Launay „crowded“ with tourists after we´ve had an untouched beach in our memories. But as said the coin always has two sides. Locals have to earn money and find jobs and many tourists are looking for a comfortable hotel with many beach activities. Let's hope that the Seychelles will keep the balance between nature and tourism on their way of further touristic development. So far they have done a comparatively good job. You can help them by choosing your resort wisely and keeping your footprints small.
Only a short distance from Mahés west coast near Port Glaud lays the jewel Therese Island with one of the most beautiful tropical beaches we have ever seen. The tiny uninhabited island is about 1,6 km long and 160 m high with an abundance of coconut palm trees and lush tropical vegetation. Getting there isn´t really easy and so we ourselves have only been there once yet. But staying all alone on a tropical island is an experience to be had. Shady trees are available.
The touristic hot spot on Mahé. Many different hotels, self-catering apartments and other facilities at various prices are threaded along the road and the green hills behind this wide sandy beach. You can find restaurants, shops, along with providers for water-sport activities, boat trips, excursions and even a casino.
The continuous stretch of Beau Vallon is an about 1,5 km long sandy beach, if you take the whole bay interrupted with some granite rocks it is more than 2 km.
The fine sandy beach slopes gently down to the sea. The main part is free of corals and therefore perfect for swimming. You can find lots of shadow under the trees starting at noon.
For us, Beau Vallon is not the typical Seychelles beach. It has a slight European touch, but if you are looking for a long sandy beach with all comforts close by, or if you are travelling with small children, this might be your place. If you are looking for peace an tranquillity choose one of the many other Seychelles beaches on Mahé.
The beach near Glacis on Mahé is a rather small one and hardly used by tourists. There are a few fishermen with their fishing huts using the beach and there is plenty of shadow around. The northern end of the beach has an interesting yellow colour and is quite attractive with many different sized granite boulders in the water. This area is also pretty nice to go swimming. Unfortunately, there are a few walls that protect some properties from erosion that are a little distracting.
This part of Anse Nord D´Est in the northern part of Mahé will soon be home to a new hotel. The beach can be wild at times and then it can be hard to get into the water. If it is calm, it is perfect for swimming. There is also some shade available. Parking is difficult, so this beach isn´t particularly easy to get to.
As the name Anse Nord D´est tells you, this is the rather rough coastline of Mahé in the northeast, probably not a beach to linger around the whole day, but tastes are different and the beaches along this coast at least are not crowded. The northernmost part of Anse Nord D´Est is an actually pretty nice sandy beach, but unfortunately, investors have left a big building shell that is visible all over the place and spoils the otherwise nice beach. Shadow is rare to not available at all. The road is always close by but there isn´t much traffic on that road.
Anse Aux Pins is the beach right after the Seychelles International Airport on Mahé, heading south. It is pretty long and rather narrow. You´ll regularly find a few fishing boats and quite some seaweed. The waters are usually rather shallow and not perfect for swimming. While there is some shade from trees, on some parts of the beach, it is pretty hard to find in other parts. Expect to be alone on this beach because hardly anybody ever finds his way here, despite the road being close by.
Anse Royale on Mahe is a beautiful long stretched but narrow beach with lots of different looks. Right at the northern tip, there is a small parking ground. This part is the shadiest one. Going into the water is possible on large parts of the beach. Along the central part of the beach, you will find a lot of picturesque fishing boats anchoring on the shore. The further you go south, the less attractive the beach gets. But at the end of the bay, there is a beautiful photo-spot where you can shoot the church from a wall towards the north.
Anse Baleine is a beautiful tiny hidden beach between Anse Royal and Anse Forbans, with coconut palm trees spending shadow (be careful not to sit right underneath) and granite boulders spread around the beach and in the water. Don´t be disappointed if there is hardly any beach at all. These images were shot at low tide. And depending on the season there is more or less beach which is very natural. Anse Baleine is situated along the south coast road, 300-400m before you reach the surfer's beach restaurant. If you want to visit that little beach you might have to walk a bit along the road, because there is only space for one car to park in the corner of the road and we are not even sure if this place is meant for parking ;-). 
Anse Parnel on Mahé is the home of the Surfers Beach Restaurant and Self Catering Chalets on the South Coast Road. Therefore Parking is rather easy and you may take a snack during your stay. The beach is really nice, offering some shade especially from noon to afternoon. The water can be really shallow though, so swimming is not perfect.
It is not surprising that the Double Tree by Hilton (former Allamanda Hotel) and the Anse Forbans Chalets have chosen Anse Forbans for their facilities. This wonderful beach is great for a walk along the southeast of Mahé because it is nearly 1,5km log and hardly populated. Depending on the tide, Anse Forbans (which merges into Anse Marie-Luise in the south) is a rather narrow pure sandy beach that only gets interrupted by typical granite rocks once. These rocks are easy to climb and give you a great view over Anse Forbans and the Double Tree Hotel. Swimming, however, isn´t easy here because the waters are quite shallow, but bathing is quite nice - of course depending on the season again.
Anse Marie-Louise continues from Anse Forbans towards the south. It is either accessible via Anse Forbans, or via a dirt road that heads towards the south right after the property of Anse Forbans Chalets. It is the last easily accessible beach on this side of the island and definitely worth a visit. The waters are usually shallow and the beach rather narrow. Shadow is available under bushes and trees. Not too much, but considering that only very few people find the way here, the place usually is reserved for you ;).
In the very remote south of Mahé almost at the end of the road, even after Anse Intendance, you find the wild and beautiful Anse Bazarca. It is not a beach for swimming and at the time when we´ve visited it there have always been huge waves and no police was present like on many other Mahé beaches, but it´s worth to walk or sit on the beach and enjoy this outstanding natural view for a while, or lay on the beach in the waves. Anse Bazarca is one of the little secrets of Mahé that you should not miss.
