Guano, dunes, and Aldabra next door
Assumption
Island · Coral island
Assumption in short.
Assumption lies a thousand one hundred and thirty-five kilometres south west of Victoria, just south of Aldabra. Where its neighbour was saved by being useless to everybody, Assumption was mined for guano for most of the twentieth century and carries the marks of it.
Can you go?
Restricted. There is no ordinary tourism.
Assumption, in 2 frames.
Every frame below was found in this island's own Commons category and its own title names the island. Captions are the file's title, so you can check the call.
Photographs, under Creative Commons: unknown astronaut, Public domain unknown astronaut, Public domain Lisa_James, CC BY 4.0
Charted on a feast day
Captain Nicolas Morphey charted the island on 14 August 1756 and named it for the Feast of the Assumption the following day. It was leased in 1908 for a coconut plantation, and the guano camp that followed ran from 1907 until 1983 and stripped most of the original vegetation and wildlife off it.
That is the difference between the two islands in one sentence. Aldabra survived because nobody could make it pay. Assumption did not.
Dunes and water
The island has sand dunes, which are rare in Seychelles, and the visibility in the water around it is exceptional. It was used as a location for underwater documentary filming in the mid-twentieth century for exactly that reason.
There is an airstrip and limited facilities, and the island is tied to the conservation and surveillance logistics of the Aldabra group next door.
How you arrive
There is no visitor access to arrange. The airstrip serves the island's own operations.
The sheet.
Checked 2 September 2026 against the sources named in our island file.
- South west of Victoria
- 1,135 km
- Charted
- 14 August 1756, by Captain Nicolas Morphey
- Named after
- the feast day that followed
- Guano mining
- 1907 to 1983
What people ask.
Can we visit Assumption?
Restricted. There is no ordinary tourism.
How do you get to Assumption?
There is no visitor access to arrange. The airstrip serves the island's own operations.
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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