Before you choose a stay, it is worth knowing the place you are choosing. Seychelles is older, stranger and quieter than the brochures let on. Here is a little of it, from the people who live here.
Most tropical islands are young. They are coral, or they are the fresh cooling of a volcano. Seychelles is neither. The inner islands, the ones with the mountains and the boulders, are made of granite, and that granite is a broken-off piece of a continent that no longer exists.
When the ancient landmass of Gondwana tore apart and India drifted away from Madagascar, a fragment was left behind in the middle of the ocean. That fragment is here. It makes Seychelles the only granitic ocean islands in the world, and the stone under your feet is counted in the hundreds of millions of years. The great smooth boulders on the beaches are not decoration. They are the oldest thing you will touch on your whole holiday.
There are 115 islands in all. Alibel sits on Mahé, the largest of them, on a southwest bay called Anse a la Mouche, where the water is calm and the hills come down close to the sea.
The rock does not care that the light leaves every evening. It holds the bay, so the light has somewhere to fall.
On the island of Praslin, an hour by fast boat from us, grows a palm found nowhere else on Earth. It carries the largest, heaviest seed of any plant in the world, a coco de mer.
For centuries no one knew where these giant nuts came from. Sailors found them washed up on far away shores, and since they had never seen the tree, they decided the nut must grow on the floor of the ocean. A coconut of the sea. That is what its name still means. When a British general finally stood in the forest where they grow, in 1881, he became convinced he had found the original Garden of Eden.
You can walk that forest, the Vallée de Mai, on a day out to Praslin. It is one of the quietest, oldest woods you will ever stand in.
Seychelles is one of the last places on Earth where giant Aldabra tortoises still live, and you do not have to travel to meet one. We keep our own small family of them here at Alibel, in the garden you will walk through every day.
Thomas is 197 years old, an heirloom passed down through William's family, from one generation to the next, longer than any of us have been alive. Melony is 70. Tipti wandered in from somewhere eight years ago and simply decided to stay. They move slowly through the shade in the cool of the morning, and guests are always welcome to say good morning.
It is a humbling thing, to share your breakfast with a creature that has been quietly here through nearly two centuries of everything. You can read their whole story on The Giants.
We can arrange any of these for you before or during your stay, so you settle it all in one place. Nothing is compulsory. Some days the best thing to do is nothing at all.
Guided walks up into the hills of Mahé, including the Montagne route, through cinnamon and granite to views over the whole coast. We match the walk to how far you want to go.
A glass-bottom boat over the marine park, two snorkelling stops in warm clear water, and the giant tortoises of Moyenne Island. Small groups, with a trusted local guide.
A full day to the sister islands, the pink granite beaches of La Digue, and the coco de mer forest on Praslin. One of the great days out in the Indian Ocean.
Warm, clear water and reefs close to shore. We can point you to the calm snorkelling spots, or connect you with a dive centre if you want to go deeper.
The southwest coast picks up a gentle swell in season, and the mangroves are made for a slow paddle. We will tell you honestly when the conditions are right.
A day at sea on a 40ft vessel, fishing the way the islands always have. Best for a group, and a proper adventure. We can cook what you catch.
A house built to face the afternoon light, on a bay the whole island comes to for its sunsets.
Choose a villa and a length of stay, and we will have the island already arranged when you arrive, the tours, the boat days, the welcome. All you have to do is turn up.