Cards in the hotels. Cash everywhere else
Money, cards and cash
Two currencies are in play and the rules about which one you may pay in are not the ones you would guess.
Cards in the hotels. Cash everywhere else.
The currency is the Seychellois rupee, written SCR or SR, and it is what the country runs on. Prices to visitors, though, are very often quoted in euros: hotels, car hire, tours, transfers and the ferry all price in euros, and that is what this site publishes.
Which of the two you may actually pay in depends on what you are buying, and it is not a rule you can guess. The practical answer is to carry both, put the large things on a card and the small things in cash, and stop trying to work out the logic.
The photograph above: mwanasimba from La Réunion, CC BY-SA 2.0
Where cards work, and where they stop
Cards work at hotels, at the larger restaurants, at car hire desks, at supermarkets in Victoria and for the ferry booked in advance. Visa and Mastercard are widely accepted. American Express is not, in most places.
Cards do not work at the market, at roadside takeaways, on the bus, at most small shops, at a good number of guesthouses and at many small restaurants on Praslin and La Digue. That is a wide category, and it includes the best-value food in the country.
How much cash to carry
Enough for a week of small things at a time, drawn on Mahé. The market, lunch, the bus, entry fees, tips and the small shops all want cash, and the cash they want is Seychellois rupees rather than euros.
Draw it before you cross to Praslin or La Digue. There are ATMs on both, and there are also more of them not working than there are on Mahé, and on La Digue in particular that becomes a real problem on a Sunday.
ATMs, and the fee you do not see
The main banks have ATMs at the airport, throughout Victoria, at Beau Vallon, at Baie Sainte-Anne on Praslin and at La Passe on La Digue. They dispense rupees. Your Indian bank will charge an international withdrawal fee and its own exchange margin on top of the network rate.
If your card offers to convert to rupees at the machine, decline and pay in Seychellois rupees. Dynamic currency conversion at an ATM is always worse than letting your own bank do it.
Airport transfers
A driver who watches your flight number and waits with your name on a board, at a price agreed before you fly rather than at the kerb.
See transfersDoes UPI work in Seychelles?
Not as a general payment method. UPI is an Indian domestic system and it is not something you can assume will work at a counter in Victoria or at a beach kiosk on La Digue. Plan the trip as though it does not exist and treat any exception as a bonus.
International card networks and cash are what this country runs on for visitors. The honest advice is a card that does not charge foreign transaction fees, plus cash drawn locally.
Tipping, which is not obligatory
Not expected and always appreciated. A service charge is often already on a restaurant bill, and where it is, nothing more is required. Where it is not, rounding up is normal and generous is noticed.
For a driver who has waited two hours at an airport for a delayed flight, or a skipper who found you the good snorkelling, something is right. There is no percentage and nobody is counting.
What things actually cost
The figures this site publishes are on the trip cost page: car hire from forty-five euros a day, the ferry to Praslin at fifty-six euros, transfers, tours from fifty. Those are ours and they are current.
What we deliberately do not publish is a room rate or a restaurant price, because we do not sell either and quoting somebody else's price as if it were ours would be dishonest and out of date within a season.
Two small things that save money
Buy the ferry ticket in advance rather than at the quay, because the sailings sell out and the alternative is a domestic flight at seventy-five euros. And do one large supermarket shop in Victoria rather than several small ones on the outer islands, where the same items cost more.
Neither is dramatic. Together they are about the price of a boat day.
Money, cards and cash, in six frames.
Photographs, under Creative Commons: Radosław Botev, CC0 Henning Leweke, CC BY-SA 2.0 Fabio Achilli, CC BY 2.0 Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 4.0 Radosław Botev, CC BY-SA 4.0 Vasilii Martynov, CC0
What people ask.
What currency is used in Seychelles?
The Seychellois rupee, SCR. Prices to visitors are very often quoted in euros instead, including hotels, car hire, tours, transfers and the ferry, and which currency you may pay in depends on what you are buying.
Do cards work in Seychelles?
Visa and Mastercard work at hotels, larger restaurants, car hire desks and Victoria supermarkets. They do not work at the market, roadside takeaways, on the bus or at many small places on Praslin and La Digue. American Express is not widely accepted.
Does UPI work in Seychelles?
Not as a general payment method. UPI is an Indian domestic system and you cannot assume it will work at a counter here. Plan on an international card and cash drawn locally.
How much cash should we carry?
Enough for a week of small things at a time, in Seychellois rupees, drawn on Mahé before you cross to Praslin or La Digue. The market, lunch, the bus, entry fees and small shops are all cash.
Are there ATMs on Praslin and La Digue?
Yes, at Baie Sainte-Anne on Praslin and La Passe on La Digue, and rather more of them out of service than on Mahé. On La Digue that becomes a genuine problem on a Sunday. Draw cash before you cross.
Is tipping expected?
Not obligatory and always appreciated. A service charge is often already on the bill. Where it is not, rounding up is normal. There is no percentage and nobody is counting.
Everything we quote, we quote in both
Ask for the ground cost of your trip and Meera will send it in euros with the indicative rupee figure beside every line, and the rate it was worked out at.