The mountain on the horizon
Silhouette
Island · Granite island
Silhouette in short.
Look west from Beau Vallon on Mahé and there is a mountain in the sea. That is Silhouette, the third largest granitic island, almost entirely national park, and covered in forest that has barely changed in millions of years.
Can you go?
Open. There is one resort, a small village, and a boat from Mahé.
Silhouette, 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: A.Savin, FAL Cybersister27, CC BY-SA 4.0 Hansueli Krapf, CC BY-SA 3.0 Pom', CC BY-SA 2.0
A forest that was never cleared
Most of Silhouette's interior is national park and much of it is primary forest, which almost nowhere else in Seychelles can say. Mont Dauban rises to 751 metres, the second highest summit in the country after Morne Seychellois.
The island holds endemic plants, fruit bats, the rare Seychelles sheath-tailed bat, and giant tortoises kept in semi-freedom. The reefs around it are protected and it is a serious diving destination.
La Passe, and no roads
About two hundred people live at La Passe on the east coast, alongside the island's one large resort. There are no roads and no cars: you walk, or you take an electric buggy. The trails into the interior are steep and worth a guide.
It is geologically odd as well as biologically odd. Much of Silhouette is syenite about sixty-three million years old, younger than the granite around it, and the country's only surface volcanic ash is on its coast.
How you arrive
About forty-five minutes by fast boat from Bel Ombre on Mahé, normally arranged by the resort. There is no airstrip.
The sheet.
Checked 2 September 2026 against the sources named in our island file.
- Area
- 20.1 km², the third largest granitic island
- North west of Mahé
- 20 km
- Mont Dauban
- 751 m, the country's second highest summit
- Resident population
- about 200, at La Passe
What people ask.
Can we visit Silhouette?
Open. There is one resort, a small village, and a boat from Mahé.
How do you get to Silhouette?
About forty-five minutes by fast boat from Bel Ombre on Mahé, normally arranged by the resort. There is no airstrip.
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
Read next
Planning around this island?
Tell us the dates and what you want the trip to feel like, and Meera will write back with what is actually possible.