The trades arrive. Change coast, not country
May, June and the summer holidays
The long Indian school break lands exactly as the wind turns. That is not a problem as long as you know which side of the island to be on.
The trades arrive. Change coast, not country.
The long Indian school holiday, roughly May to early July, lands exactly as the south-east trade winds set in over Seychelles. Every article you will read about the islands describes those months as the windy season, and they are right, and they almost never finish the sentence.
The sentence finishes like this: the wind comes from the south east, so the north and west coasts of every island are flat calm for the whole of it. Beau Vallon in July is a swimming pool. It is also the cheapest good month of the year.
Which coasts are calm, precisely
On Mahé: Beau Vallon, Glacis, Bel Ombre, Port Launay and the whole north-western shoulder of the island. On Praslin: Anse Lazio, Anse Georgette and Côte d'Or on the north coast. On La Digue: Anse Sévère, Anse Patates and the north-western side.
Which coasts are not: Anse Intendance, Anse Takamaka and Anse Royale on Mahé, and the whole eastern side of La Digue including Grand Anse. Those are still worth seeing in these months. They are not worth swimming at.
The seaweed, said plainly
Sargassum weed washes onto the windward shores through the trade-wind season. Hotels rake their own frontage in the morning. Public beaches are not raked. It is not dirty and it does not smell for the first day or two, and it is entirely absent from the other coast twenty minutes away.
People arrive surprised by it because operators do not mention it. Knowing about it in advance turns a ruined fortnight into a short drive, which is the entire difference between the two versions of this holiday.
Why June is the cheapest good month
It is low season here, and low season in Seychelles does not mean bad weather, it means wind. The rates on rooms fall, the islands are quiet, the restaurants take walk-ins, and the beaches on the calm coast are as good in June as they are in January.
For a family with fixed school dates and a real budget, this is the best value the country offers, by a distance. The saving usually pays for the boat days.
What the wind is actually like
Steady rather than gusty, and constant rather than occasional. It is pleasant, it keeps the nights cooler than the wet season, and it is the reason the trades are the drier half of the year. It is not a storm and nothing gets cancelled for it.
What it does affect is small boats. Crossings to the outer islands and some of the longer charters run less comfortably in July and August, and the Cat Cocos between Mahé and Praslin is a livelier hour than it is in October. Anybody in the party who gets seasick should take something before boarding rather than after.
Travelling with children in these months
The calm coasts in the trade-wind season are the shallow ones, which is the coincidence every family should know about. Beau Vallon is a long shallow bay with a gentle shelf. Anse Volbert on Praslin sits behind a reef. Both are exactly what you want with small children in the water.
It is also the emptiest time of year on the beaches, and the giant tortoises do not observe seasons.
A car, delivered
Ten cars, no deposit, handed over at the airport, the jetty or your hotel. The small ones do the whole of Mahé and the Jimny does the hill roads.
See the fleetWhat we would book for the summer break
A fortnight, north-west coast, self-catering for at least half of it, one hire car for the whole trip and two boat days. Mahé for the first week, Praslin and La Digue for the second, with the crossings taken in the morning when the strait is kindest.
In June that is a genuinely mid-range family holiday, and it is the version of this country that almost nobody in India has been shown.
The one thing to avoid
Booking a hotel on the south or east coast because the photographs were better and the rate was lower. In June and July that rate is lower for a reason, and the reason will be sitting outside your room for a fortnight.
If you have already done it, hire a car. Both coasts of Mahé are twenty minutes apart and the calm one is always there.
May, June and the summer holidays, in six frames.
Photographs, under Creative Commons: rokker, CC BY 3.0 A.Savin, FAL A.Savin, FAL dronepicr, CC BY 2.0 A.Savin, FAL Didi0032, CC BY-SA 3.0
What people ask.
Is May or June a good time to visit Seychelles?
Yes, with one condition: stay on the north or west coast. The south-east trades set in through those months, which leaves the north-western shores flat calm and the south-eastern ones windy. June is also the cheapest good month of the year.
Where should we stay in the summer holidays?
Beau Vallon, Glacis, Bel Ombre or Port Launay on Mahé. Anse Lazio, Anse Georgette or Côte d'Or on Praslin. Anse Sévère or the north-western side of La Digue.
Is there seaweed in June and July?
On the windward south-eastern shores, yes. Hotels rake their own frontage and public beaches are not raked. There is none at all on the north and west coasts, which is twenty minutes away by car.
Is the sea rough for the ferry?
Livelier than in October but the Cat Cocos runs through all of it. Anybody prone to seasickness should take something before boarding rather than after, and morning crossings are calmer than afternoon ones.
Is it cheaper in the summer break?
Considerably. May to September is low season here, and June is the lowest. Low season means wind rather than bad weather, and the calm coasts in those months are as good as they are in January.
Is it good for young children?
Very. The coasts that are calm in these months are also the shallow ones: Beau Vallon is a long shallow bay and Anse Volbert sits behind a reef. The beaches are also at their emptiest.
School dates are fixed. The coast is not
Send us the weeks the school gives you and Meera will send back the coast that will be calm in them, and the places on it worth staying.