Thirteen kilometres of beach
Desroches
Island · Amirantes
Desroches in short.
Desroches is the main island of the Amirantes, two hundred and twenty-seven kilometres south west of Victoria. It is five and a half kilometres long, flat, planted with coconut, and has a beach running the whole thirteen kilometres of its circumference.
Can you go?
Open, with one resort and a scheduled flight. The most reachable of the outer islands.
Desroches, in 3 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: David Jones, CC BY 2.0 David Jones, CC BY 2.0 David Jones, CC BY 2.0 Acp at German Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
The most accessible outer island
Desroches is the one outer island that works as an ordinary holiday rather than an expedition. There is a scheduled flight, one resort, bicycles, and a great deal of empty sand. It is the outer islands without the logistics.
The island was named Île des Roches in 1771 and was a copra producer for most of its history. It was split off into the British Indian Ocean Territory in 1965 and returned to Seychelles in 1976.
The wall
The reef drops away close to shore, and the diving along that wall, with its caves and its large fish, is what brings divers this far out. Conservation on the island is run by the Island Conservation Society, and turtles nest on the beaches.
How you arrive
About forty minutes by aircraft from Mahé. Flights are scheduled and arranged through the resort.
The sheet.
Checked 2 September 2026 against the sources named in our island file.
- Area
- 4.03 km², 5.5 km long
- South west of Victoria
- 227 km
- Beach
- 13 km of it, right around the island
- Named
- Île des Roches, in 1771
What people ask.
Can we visit Desroches?
Open, with one resort and a scheduled flight. The most reachable of the outer islands.
How do you get to Desroches?
About forty minutes by aircraft from Mahé. Flights are scheduled and arranged through the resort.
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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