The Walk to Anse Major

Anse Major is a small beach on the north-west coast of Mahé with no road to it. You reach it on foot along the coast or from the sea, and this day does both: you walk in with a guide, and a catamaran is waiting in the bay to take you home.

The path runs through Morne Seychellois National Park, the high, forested country that covers much of this end of the island. It starts where the road gives out and follows the coast, rising over bare granite and dropping back into forest, with the sea below you and views back along the shore each time the trees open. The guide knows the plants and the birds, and when to stop for water.

It is not a climb, and it is not a stroll either. The path is rough in places, the granite can be slippery, and the heat on the open stretches is real. The reward is coming down onto a beach most people only ever see from a boat, hot and pleased with yourself, with the catamaran already riding at anchor off the sand.

The afternoon belongs to the bay. Swim off the beach or off the boat, snorkel round the rocks, or lie on the sand and do nothing at all. Lunch is served on board, and the boat is shoes-off, which after a morning in walking shoes is no hardship.

Then the slow sail back along the coast to Victoria, with the mountains you walked through standing over the shore. Anyone who would rather not walk boards in Victoria in the morning and sails round both ways, so a mixed party meets in the bay and nobody waits for anyone.

The day runs only while the south-east trades blow, when this side of the island is in the lee and calm enough to anchor off. On a Mahé week it pairs well with the day from coast to coast, which crosses the same mountains by road, and with a morning snorkelling Ste Anne.

Good to know

• Walking shoes with grip for the path. They come off on the boat, so make them easy to carry.
• It is hot and partly exposed. Water, a hat and reef-safe sunscreen, and drink before you are thirsty.
• Non-walkers sail both ways. Tell us when we book, so the boat expects you in Victoria.
• It runs in the trade-wind season only, on set days. We check your dates against it before anything else.
• A small dry bag for phone and cash. Getting between beach and boat can mean wet legs.