The 5 Ultimate Places to visit in La Digue

La Passe

Anse Source D’Argent

Well..there is not much to say here, Anse Source D’argent is the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in my life and one of the most photographed in the world!

But let’s start….first of all you reach Anse Source D’Argent from La Passe in around 15/20 minutes by bicycle. Keep in mind that the streets are not big and are full of people walking and riding bicycles so if you are thinking of doing the “tour of Italy”  think again. You need to ride slowly and very carefully. The ride is easy as it is all flat.

You have to pay to go to Anse Source D’Argent  as, to do so, you have to enter and pass the Union Estate. The ticket is 100 Seychelles rupies. After passing through the Union Estate you arrive at a bycicle parking where you can leave your bicycles. Then you walk through a path, pass some stones and palms and then you won’t believe your eyes….the place is simply astonishing and so beautiful that it is impossible to describe it!

The beach is long and covered by plants and palms so it is easy to find some space where you can lay down and have some shadow. The water is low and crystal clear and you can swim with the nicest fish. They are so used to humans that I succeeded in touching them 🙂  Each swim is a discovery so take your goggle and snorkel to dive! At the beach there are some stalls with people selling coconuts, coconut water and fruits. If you like, they can cut the fruits for you and serve on a plastic plate as fruit salad or prepare some fruit juice or drinks with fruits or coconut….try the batida de coco…it is fabulous!!! And take your camera with you because the beach will produce the most beautiful photos for your album…and the best ones can been taken from the water to the beach at sunset…. simply amazing!

Union Estate

The Union Estate is a heritage site covering a few acres of land and including the famous Anse Source D’Argent. As soon as you pass the gates (and pay the ticket) you will find a cemetery with some old graveyard from colonial times. Then you will arrive at an old copra factory with its own mill and ox. In this area you can find some shops selling crafts and vanilla.

On the left instead, just at the bottom of a black and large monolithic stone you will see a giant turtles sanctuary. You can stop and feed the turtles with the cut grass left outside the pen for this purpose. In the same place you can also view the Old Plantation House, a beautiful french colonial architecture house where dignitaries stayed when visiting the island. Then you keep going (by bicycle or walking) and you will pass through a vanilla plantation…the sweet smell of the vanilla is incredibile.

After the plantation you reach a bicycle parking where you can leave your bicycle and walk to the beach. There is a nice restaurant at the park serving local food. Coming back from Anse Source d’Argent at sunset was one of my favourite moment of the day. It was such a strong sensorial experience… the twilight was followed by complete darkness, the birds were making the most incredible noise in the trees while the sweet vanilla smell of the plantation surrounded you like in a bubble!

Anse Severe

          

Anse Severe is located on the North of the island and it is only 10 minutes from La Passe. Anse Severe is the place where I spent most of my time after Anse Source d’Argent as it is very easy to reach, very beautiful with clam and clear water. The water is shallow as it is covered by the coral reef and some rocks. I suggest to go snorkeling because here I have seen the most colourful and beautiful fish. In my opinion, the best snorkeling site is on the left end of the beach which my friend and myself nickenamed “the Aquarium”. In fact the water was so clear and the number of fish I saw so amazing that you could believe to be swimming in a acquarium!!! 🙂 Along the beach there are a couple of places where you can buy fruit salad and fruit juice and a small little restaurant where you can get some food and that sell souvenirs too.

Grand Anse and Petit Anse

Grand Anse is located on the west side of the island. So if you hire a bicycle at La Passe you need to cross the island to reach this beach. It is a bit tiring (especially if you are lazy like me) but it is worth the effort. To go to this beach you need to follow the path and  ride across the jungle going up and down the hills. The good thing is that you can stop along the way as there many small bars serving fruit juices, food and ice creams. Actually I discovered a very nice one, called Mimi, which is the first or second on the road you need to climb to go to the beach. They served me the best mango juice I have ever had in my life!!! I came back next day to get another one as it was so tasty. To be honest, all fruits are very tasty there, quite different from the fruit I eat in London ….

Grand Anse is a beautiful and large sandy beach with an incredible scenary. As soon as you arrive you will see a sign telling you to be careful because of the strong currents. This is a dangerous beach to swim. The waves were high and the sea rough as there is no coral reef protecting this beach. Water becomes deep immediately but its blue colour and the white of the foam produced by the waves is amazing. Be careful as the under currents are strong, I tried myself what that means as I was churned by the waves like in a washing machine!!! 🙂 There is a restaurant on the beach if you need some food or drinks.

From Grand Anse you can walk to the beach nearby, Petit Anse. The walk is about 15 minutes long, over the hill. As Gran Anse, Petit Anse has no coverage from the coral reef so the water is deep, the sea rough and the currents are quite dangerous. It is a beautiful undiscovered sandy beach where you can spend a day laying down and tanning!