Sheena Whittle (Head of Personal Travel Agents) shares her view on her recent Honeymoon trip to the Seychelles.....

As I write this is my view........

so it's easy to see why this island is called The Enchanted Island.

We arrived 5 days ago, the "grand finale" to our 2 week honeymoon where we have explored the beautiful Cape Town, by air, cycle, sea and foot and have been mesmerised by the beauty and adventure at the Shamwari Game Reserve before heading to the Seychelles which have definitely not disappointed.  We have found what feels like the most beautiful place on earth, a combination of lush green hills, the most stunning white sandy beaches and a sprinkling of small islands like jewels in the azure Indian Ocean.....and it's one of these jewels we have had the pleasure of calling home for the last few days.  I say home because as a private island, with just 10 private villas, a spa and a small, informal, friendly restaurant and bar you certainly won't feel like you're in your average resort hotel.


Enchanted Island is a luxury hideaway located in a National Marine Park.  You may or may not see your fellow island guests as it's as easy to have meals and drinks delivered to your villa as it is to walk the short distance to the restaurant and the villas do lure you to make them your home as they are beautiful.

We stayed in the villa named Vakwa, rustic in design with high beamed, wooden ceilings and an airy colonial feel (all the villas are very similar in decor with access to different beaches around the island) 



The villa was made up of the main bedroom, with huge picture window looking out to sea (we couldn't bring ourselves to close the curtains for our whole stay) sofa and TV ( with a good list of DVDs you can borrow should you wish). The dressing room comprised of a walk in wardrobe with plenty of space, a well stocked mini bar and Nespresso machine and two stylish sink areas



......the rest of the bathroom facilities are al fresco out on the decking with the large bath on the veranda enticing you to have a soak whilst soaking up the view. It's worth mentioning that the villas are very private and certainly in ours there was no risk of being overlooked however for anyone feeling a little shy or exposed bamboo blinds easily roll down creating more privacy.  Outside is your own pagoda with a table to dine at if you chose to have your meals delivered, or just to sit and take in the views which were spectacular......



however, our favourite spot to do this from was our own infinity pool on the decking which whilst only 3 strokes in length was more than ample to cool down in and while away time watching passing boats or simply the tide coming in and out.  



Speaking of the tide....our villa was in the fortunate position of looking over the most stunning stretch of sea with two other islands close by.......as the tide went out it revealed a pure white sandy stretch creating the most beautiful walk to your fellow island....the sort of walk where you look back at your footprints in the sand, meander through the warm sea gently lapping the shore, sigh and collect a few more shells whilst pinching yourself to make sure everything is real!.....and if you wanted to decamp from your villa to the beach for low tide your Butler was more than willing to provide a couple of sunbeds and snorkelling gear so you can while away time watching the array of marine life in the calm, shallow waters.  For the slightly more energetic and adventurous you can also take one of the kayaks which we used to paddle our way one afternoon to the nearby nature reserve island (all of 300 meters away) where for a few pounds you can walk round the reserve, meet the giant tortoises and if you're lucky, which we were, stumble upon a turtle returning from the beach to the sea in one of the small sandy coves.



The restaurant, Bounty and the Castaway bar were where many of the island guests headed to for meals and drinks. With breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and evening meals being served the menus were creative filled with much locally sourced produce. Prices for drinks and food were typical of 5* Seychelles from what we gathered, not particularly cheap but the quality of the food and wine selection was excellent.  It was the bar/restaurant where we met Suresha our charismatic Indian waiter who having worked in a string of quality hotels around the world worked tirelessly to ensure all of his guests had a personal and enlightening stay.  It was Suresha who noticed we drank our morning tea with milk so encouraged us to try his own brew of Masala tea which we loved.....it was Suresha who organised a personal BBQ for us on our final evening where the chef grilled a variety of seafood and meat next to our candlelit table out on the decking of the restaurant....a magical and romantic evening.  Suresha with his years of experience took time to get to know his guests and understand how he could help make their stay what they wanted it to be and our stay was all the better for meeting him.


Finally, this place is like nowhere we had visited before. Without the distraction of local shops, bars, markets and sightseeing we completely disconnected, unwound and spent quality time with each other.  You can't avoid the romance of the island and the area and this made it perfect for our honeymoon.  

The name of the island is spot on,  it is truly enchanting and we will certainly visit again.