Saltwater fly-fishing, and a limit on rods
Alphonse
Island · Outer atoll
Alphonse in short.
Alphonse is an atoll four hundred kilometres south of Victoria, one island of one and three-quarter square kilometres inside nineteen square kilometres of reef and lagoon, with a hundred and eight people living on it. It is one of the most written-about saltwater fly-fishing destinations in the world.
Can you go?
Open to guests of the single lodge, in fixed weekly slots, booked far ahead.
Photographs, under Creative Commons: NASA, Public domain
The flats
The reef flats around Alphonse and neighbouring St François run for kilometres and hold bonefish, giant trevally and triggerfish. The number of rods on the water in any week is capped deliberately, which is the reason the fishing has stayed what it is.
Outside the fishing there is diving on the atoll walls and a serious marine conservation programme. One lodge occupies the island.
The name
Chevalier Alphonse de Pontevez, commanding the French frigate Le Lys, arrived on 27 June 1730 and named the islands after himself. The wider group had been drawn on Portuguese charts as San Francisco since 1562.
How you arrive
About an hour by aircraft from Mahé, on the lodge's own schedule. Weeks are limited and booked months in advance.
The sheet.
Checked 2 September 2026 against the sources named in our island file.
- Island area
- 1.71 km², inside a 19 km² atoll
- South of Victoria
- 400 km
- Resident population
- 108
- Named by
- Chevalier Alphonse de Pontevez, in 1730
What people ask.
Can we visit Alphonse?
Open to guests of the single lodge, in fixed weekly slots, booked far ahead.
How do you get to Alphonse?
About an hour by aircraft from Mahé, on the lodge's own schedule. Weeks are limited and booked months in advance.
What we do arrange.
We do not sell islands, and most of these could not be sold to anybody. What we do arrange is everything that gets you to them and around them once you land.
Car hire, from €45 a day
Ten cars, no deposit, handed over at the airport, the jetty or your hotel.
Days out and excursions
Island tours, boat days, snorkelling and walks, with real ratings and free cancellation to twenty-four hours.
Airport transfers
A driver who watches your flight number and waits with your name on a board.
The terminal photograph above: Remi Jouan, CC BY-SA 3.0
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