Granite, bicycles and no traffic
La Digue
Fifteen minutes from Praslin, ten square kilometres, and the rocks everybody has already seen.
La Digue in short.
La Digue is the third inhabited island and the one people remember. There are almost no private cars. You get around on a bicycle, on foot, or in an ox cart at L'Union Estate, and the island is small enough that this is a convenience rather than a hardship. At the southern end, at Anse Source d'Argent, the granite has been worn into shapes that have been photographed so many times they have stopped looking real, and they are still worth the ride down.
La Digue, in six frames.
Harvested from this island's own Commons categories and its named beaches, and checked one frame at a time.
Photographs, under Creative Commons: A.Savin, FAL A.Savin, FAL A.Savin, FAL A.Savin, FAL A.Savin, FAL A.Savin, FAL A.Savin, FAL
The granite
The boulders at Anse Source d'Argent are the oldest granite in any ocean island on earth, weathered smooth and stacked into shapes that catch the light differently every hour. The beach is a series of small pools behind a reef, which makes it gentle rather than dramatic to swim in, and photogenic beyond reason at low tide in the late afternoon.
It is inside L'Union Estate and there is an entrance fee, which also covers the old plantation house, the vanilla, the copra mill and a pen of giant tortoises.
No cars, and it matters
The absence of traffic changes the sound of a place more than anything else on this list. La Digue is quiet in a way the other islands are not, and it is the one island where children can be let off the leash on a road.
Bicycles are rented at the jetty for a few euros a day and everybody uses one. There are some taxis and a handful of small trucks. There is no reason to hire a car and mostly no way to.
Beyond the postcard
Most day visitors ride to Anse Source d'Argent and back and see a third of the island. The east coast, Grand Anse, Petite Anse and Anse Cocos, is a harder ride and a walk over a headland and is emptier than anything on Praslin. The water there is not always safe to swim: there is a current and there are no lifeguards.
Nid d'Aigle, the summit at 333 metres, is a steep hour on foot from the top of the road and gives the whole island and Praslin beyond it.
What to see on La Digue
A day does the famous half. Two days does the island.
Anse Source d'Argent
The granite, inside L'Union Estate, with the old plantation house and the tortoises on the same ticket.
Anse Patates
The small north-tip beach, granite on three sides, best at high tide.
The east coast
Grand Anse, Petite Anse and Anse Cocos: bigger, emptier, and not always safe to swim.
Anse Sévère
The quiet north-coast beach, ten minutes' ride from the jetty.
Anse Fourmis
The far end of the east road, where the tarmac gives up.
Where to stay
Guest houses and small self-catering places around La Passe.
Anse Marron
A guided scramble to a beach you cannot reach on your own.
Nid d'Aigle
The island's summit at 333 metres, and the view back over Praslin.
La Passe
The village, the jetty, the bicycle sheds and everything else.
Félicité and Île Cocos
The islands east of here, and the best snorkelling near by.
A boat to Curieuse
The long day out, taking in Anse Lazio on the way back.
Eating on La Digue
Small kitchens, takeaway creole and two proper restaurants.
How you arrive
The ferry from Baie Sainte-Anne on Praslin takes about fifteen minutes and runs many times a day. It is the normal way in.
There is a direct ferry from Mahé that takes around ninety minutes. Most people break the journey on Praslin instead.
There is no airport. A helipad handles medical flights and charters. Bicycles are rented at the jetty as you walk off the boat.
The sheet.
- Area
- 10 km², the third largest inhabited island
- Nid d'Aigle
- 333 m, the island's summit
- Getting about
- bicycle, on foot, or an ox cart at L'Union
- From Praslin
- about 15 minutes by ferry
What people ask.
Can we do La Digue as a day trip?
Do we need to be able to cycle?
Is there an entrance fee for Anse Source d'Argent?
Where should we stay on La Digue?
Is La Digue good for children?
What is the best time of day for the granite?
Building a trip around La Digue?
Send the dates, the number of people and what you want out of it. Meera answers with a plan and a price, not a brochure.