Two holidays, or one holiday and a long airport
The Dubai stopover
Most Indian routings to Seychelles pass through the Gulf. Whether that is a bonus or a cost depends almost entirely on how many hours you are given.
Two holidays, or one holiday and eleven hours of duty free.
There is a nonstop from Mumbai to Mahé and it takes about four and a half hours. From anywhere else in India the routing goes through the Gulf, usually Dubai or Abu Dhabi, and that connection is either an asset or a cost depending almost entirely on how many hours you are given.
The rule of thumb is simple: under six hours, stay airside and treat it as a connection. Over eighteen, leave the airport and treat it as a night in Dubai. Between the two is the worst of both and it is the one people accidentally book.
The photograph above: Simisa, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nonstop from Mumbai
Four and a half hours, and it is the only nonstop from India. If you can get to Mumbai for the outbound, this is the routing that makes a Seychelles trip feel close rather than far, and it is the single biggest reason this country is easier for an Indian traveller than the map suggests.
It is not daily and it does not always sit at a convenient hour, which is why so many bookings end up going through the Gulf. Our flights page carries a live search rather than a timetable we would have to keep correcting.
What a Gulf routing costs you
Time, mostly. Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad to Mahé via Dubai is typically ten to sixteen hours door to door including the connection, against about seven from Mumbai on the nonstop. On the way back it is often longer, because the evening departure from Mahé lands you into a morning connection.
What it buys you is choice. Far more departures, more airlines competing, and the flexibility to fly out of your own city rather than positioning to Mumbai the day before, which is itself a cost people forget to count.
When the stopover is genuinely worth it
When it is long enough to be a night. Two nights in Dubai on the way out, with the bags checked through separately and a hotel booked, turns one holiday into two and costs a fraction of flying there on its own. For a family who have never been, that is a real proposition.
It works best on the outbound rather than the return. Nobody wants a city on the way home from a beach, and a stopover at the end of a fortnight is a chore rather than a treat.
The visa question for the stopover
Leaving the airport in the UAE is a separate immigration matter from your Seychelles trip and it has its own rules for Indian passport holders, which depend on your documents and change from time to time. Check the current UAE position before planning a stopover that involves leaving the terminal.
Staying airside needs nothing beyond your onward boarding pass. If your connection is short, that is the whole of it, and Seychelles does not care that you passed through.
Bags, and the thing that goes wrong
On a single ticket the bags are usually checked through to Mahé and you do nothing at the connection. On two separate tickets they are not, which means clearing immigration, collecting the bags, and checking in again at the other airline's desk, and that needs hours rather than minutes.
Self-connecting on two tickets is the single most common way a Seychelles trip goes wrong at the start, because a delay on the first leg is not the second airline's problem. If the fare difference is small, take the single ticket.
Arriving at Mahé, whichever way you came
Flights from the Gulf tend to arrive in the small hours and flights from Mumbai in the afternoon or evening. That matters for the first night: an arrival at two in the morning is not the night to be finding a hotel on Praslin.
Book the first night on Mahé, near the airport or at Beau Vallon, whatever the rest of the itinerary does. It is fifteen minutes from the terminal and it turns a brutal arrival into a lie-in.
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 transfersWhat we would book
Mumbai nonstop if you can reach Mumbai without an extra flight. Otherwise a single ticket through the Gulf with a connection under six hours, or a deliberate two nights in Dubai on the way out. Never a four-to-twelve hour layover, and never two separate tickets to save a small amount.
And the first night on Mahé regardless, because whichever routing you take, you will arrive tired.
The Dubai stopover, in six frames.
Photographs, under Creative Commons: Remi Jouan, CC BY-SA 3.0 Mozzihh, CC BY-SA 4.0 Simisa, CC BY-SA 3.0 shankar s., CC BY 4.0 A.Savin, FAL
What people ask.
Is there a direct flight from India to Seychelles?
Yes, from Mumbai, in about four and a half hours. It is the only nonstop from India. Everywhere else routes through the Gulf, usually Dubai or Abu Dhabi.
Is a Dubai stopover worth it?
If it is long enough to be a night or two, yes, and it turns one holiday into two cheaply. Under six hours, stay airside and treat it as a connection. A layover between six and twelve hours is the worst of both.
Do we need a UAE visa for the stopover?
Only if you leave the airport, and the rules for Indian passport holders depend on your documents and change from time to time. Check the current UAE position directly. Staying airside needs nothing beyond your onward boarding pass.
Will our bags go straight through?
On a single ticket, usually yes. On two separate tickets, no: you clear immigration, collect the bags and check in again, which needs hours. Self-connecting on two tickets is the most common way a trip goes wrong at the start.
What time do flights arrive in Seychelles?
Gulf routings tend to land in the small hours and the Mumbai nonstop in the afternoon or evening. Either way, book the first night on Mahé rather than trying to reach Praslin on arrival.
How long does the whole journey take?
About seven hours door to door from Mumbai on the nonstop. Ten to sixteen from Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai or Hyderabad through the Gulf, and often longer on the way home.
Whatever time you land, somebody will be there
Send the flight number. Meera will arrange a transfer at a fixed price and the driver will be inside the hall with your name on a board, at two in the morning if that is when you arrive.