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Seychelles Islands

Desroches Island

Seychelles Islands, Indian Ocean

Desroches Island beach, Seychelles
Return to Map of Seychelles

View Images of Desroches Island: Desroches Island Images

DESROCHES ISLAND RATES: Desroches Island Rates

DESROCHES ISLAND RESORT - SEYCHELLES ISLANDS
Desroches Island is an idyllic coral island surrounded by white sandy beaches and a protective reef and home to some of the best diving sites in the Seychelles.

Desroches forms part of the Amirantes group of islands, 230km south-west of Mahé. With 14km of immaculate white, soft sandy beaches and crystal blue waters, the exclusive island is one of the most beautiful in all of the Indian Ocean. The entire island has only one luxurious resort with 20 Junior Suites and 28 four bedroom Villas, all with sea-views and just a few steps from the beach. Located only 4º south of the equator, Desroches is approximately 6 km long and 1 km wide, and is blessed with one of the world’s healthiest, malaria-free climates.

Accommodation            For images of Desroches Island, click Desroches Island Photos
Desroches Island offers 20 suites, 28 four-bedroom villas and one Presidential suite.

Facilities Overview
• Lounge
• Dining Room
• Bar
• International wine list
• Swimming pool
• Desroches Island Spa
• Internet access area
• Watersports Centre
• Diving Centre
• Boutique Shop



Suites
Around the central area, dining room, swimming pool and spa, the 20 luxuriously spacious and air-conditioned suites are ideally positioned along the west-facing beach.  The suites are set amongst tropical gardens, palm trees and green lawns, just a few metres from the beach. Each suite offers privacy, with its own veranda, lounge area, flat-screen TV and mini bar.  The well-designed bathrooms have double basins, a covered outdoor bath, an outdoor shower and a separate toilet and bidet.  Adding to the exclusive experience, the suites offer in-room dining on your patio or private dinners on the beach.

• 20 Suites (King size or Twin beds)
• Glass Fronted
• Private Patio
• 25 meters from the water
• Air-conditioned
• Fully stocked mini-bar
• Mosquito nets
• Outdoor baths and showers
• Private lounge
• Telephone
• Hairdryer and shaver outlets
• Plasma satellite television
• Electronic safes
• 2 bicycles per suite

Villas
Perfectly positioned on the unblemished, northwest-facing beaches and surrounded by dense, green gardens, the 25 four-bedroom villas and one Presidential villa offer an exclusive and private experience for families and friends looking for their own private domain. Each fully equipped deluxe villa has its own private swimming pool, central living and entertainment area, as well as a modern kitchen.  The villas are well appointed in a style that is modern and luxurious, yet blends in with that sensuous, remote island atmosphere.

All bedrooms are air-conditioned and three overlook the main entertainment deck towards the sea. The bedrooms all have their own outdoor shower and decks with outdoor loungers.

In-villa dining and private chefs are available for more intimate entertaining. Meals may also be enjoyed at the resort's various exotic dining locations.

• 25 four-bedroom Villas
- 23 Villas are 440 sqm
- 2 Villas are 660 sqm
- All bathrooms have a bath and indoor & outdoor showers
• Air-conditioned bedrooms
• Private rim flow swimming pool
• Entertainment area
• Dining room
• Fully-equipped kitchen, including a microwave, coffee maker, kettle, ice machine, washing machine, dryer, and two fridge/freezers.
• Lounge
• Plasma screen satellite TV
• DVD player
• I-pod connection
• Electronic safe
• Hairdryer and shaver outlets
• Two kayaks
• Bicycles
• Laundry service
• Personal butler
• Golf cart transport on arrival

Presidential Villa
The Presidential Villa offers all amenities described above for the other villas, but has an extra bedroom and 100m of private beach frontage.
• 1 five-bedroom Presidential Villa (750 sqm) - All bathrooms have a bath and indoor & outdoor showers.

Dining
Le Veloutier Restaurant serves a variety of menus, from international cuisine, seafood barbeques, creole buffets and more, all complemented with an extensive international wine list.

In addition to the restaurant, private dining arrangements may be made to enjoy your meal on the terrace of your room or villa, on a special spot on the beach, or alongside the pool. The balmy weather and beach activity will improve your appetite, so make the most of the glorious outdoors to create a special mood for that romantic dinner or gathering of family and friends.

L'Amirantes Bar serves a variety of freshly mixed cocktails. One can enjoy a cold Seybrew beer after riding around the island or a lovely "Madame Zabre" cocktail while watching the sunset on your terrace.

Activities
The activities on offer at Desroches are designed to give guests the opportunity to enjoy the island and its magic either under guidance from one of your hosts or to give you the complete freedom to move around the Island at your own pace, either on foot or on your mountain bike. The activities are almost endless... with over 13km of unspoilt beaches and forested hinterland, Desroches is ideal for nature walks and includes an ancient tortoise colony, nesting sea turtles, and an array os marine life, including magnificent whales and soaring sailfish.

Cycling tours of the island's jungle (on your own personal bike) or explorations to the northern point and deserted beaches allow you to lose yourself in this island paradise. For a more relaxing option, enjoy sensuous spa treatments or catered picnics either on the beach or in the jungle and private sunset cruises, which offer stunning views of the island from a different angle. The flood lit tennis court is a super way to do a little exercise once the sun has set and the temperature has dropped a little. For something a little less strenuous, try a game of table tennis, pool or a round of darts.

Bicycling
Island bicycles are available for each guest to use and are suitable for getting from one side of the Island to the other with ease.

Tennis
Equipment can be rented from the reception area to use on the floodlight lit tennis court.
Table tennis is also on offer.

Windsurfing

Snorkeling
Scuba diving with friendly and attentive professionals, exploring 14 classified sites, including mysterious underwater caves and columns. Various PADI and NAUI diving courses are offered at the dive centre. Deep sea diving of the world renowned Desroches 'drop off' is an option for the more intrepid. Masks and fins are available at the dive centre if you wish to explore these sites.

Fishing
Desroches offers big game, vertical jigging, drop shot and salt-water fly fishing. The resort is fully equipped with quality fishing boats that are outfitted to take you around the atoll or further afield to Poivre and St Josephs in the Amirantes. Casting your fly lines will afford you the chance of landing several energetic bonefish, permit and even the GT - Giant trevally. Desroches practices strict catch-and-release fishing, except for limited quantities caught freshly for the Le Veloutier Restaurant.

• Deep sea Fishing: Big game fishing with hard fighting adversaries such as wahoo, kingfish, tuna, sailfish, marlin, dorado, bonefish, giant and bluefin trevally, green & rosy jobfish and a large variety of grouper.
• Fly-fishing: Some of the best fly fishing in the world can be enjoyed on the outer islands, with an abundance of bonefish, permit and trevally species to target on fly while you simply get 'lost' in the utter beauty of the extensive shoreline surroundings.
Desroches Island has fishing rods, tackle and flies in stock for guest use. However, we recommend that serious fly-fishermen bring their own rods and tackle.

Sea Kayaking
Those wishing to explore the island from the water are able to do so using sea kayaks with all the necessary tuition and guidance provided.

Island Explorations
Guests can enjoy an Island exploration to one of the nearby islands, St. Josephs and enjoy a fish barbeque on the beach.

Sunset boat cruises

Scuba Diving
The Seychelles forms part of the world’s longest coral reef system and has some of the world’s best scuba diving sites. The deep, clean waters offshore of Desroches provide marine life which is rich and diverse. There are a number of great and easily accessible snorkeling reefs and coral outcrops around the island. The fully equipped NAUI/PADI scuba centre offers a range of exciting dive sites to choose from. There are no less than 14 classified sites, such as the amazing 'Desroches Drop' or 'The Canyon', a mysterious labyrinth of unusual caves and columns, which will provide a host of unforgettable experiences, all in the company of a dedicated team of attentive professionals. The water sports centre will also organize excursions to prime sites such as 'The Aquarium' and 'Madame Zabre', which offers the very best in snorkeling and opportunities to sight a turtle gliding between schools of multi-colored fish.

Numerous dive sites have been identified around Desroches Island. Desroches offers ‘guided’ scuba experiences and the dive masters and instructors are not only experts in scuba practices, but also in the underwater world. The Dive Centre is fully equipped with the latest BCD’s, regulators, wetsuits, fins & masks. Guests wishing to dive need not bring their own hard or soft gear, only their diving licence!

None of the local dives sites are further than 20 minutes away by boat.

Top Five Dive Sights
The Canyon: This is a formation of big stone blocks with some very nice swim troughs and a real canyon (long and narrow) where lots of soft corals and gorgonian fan corals grow. The fish life is remarkable on this dive site - with big shoals of snappers and fusiliers, sweetlips, sleeping stingrays and especially nurse sharks, which enjoy this spot for naps underneath big rocks.

Big Cave: The challenge for every experienced diver - it is deep and dark. The long tunnel is 6m wide and goes straight into the reef wall, ending after 60m into a big round room. Nurse sharks and sea turtles are often found resting here. The best part is the way back, when you will see the entrance again - a blue hole with terrific light showing your way back.

Airport Reef: A large overhang is the main part to explore on this dive site. Come across one the famous sea grass pipefish living together with napoleons and bumphead parrotfish. Grey reef sharks and turtles may also swim your way. The rest of the wall is completely covered with many soft corals.

Secret Passage: Away from the main reef, we find a huge rock with a secret passage that leads to a tunnel. Inside it is home to many lionfish, lobsters and glassfish. Once outside again, the water is full of fusiliers, snappers and young barracudas.

Mini Wall: While drifting along this beautiful wall, explore the larger and smaller overhangs, which are full of soft corals and gorgonian fan corals. Spot special kinds of nudibranches or snails as well as a variety of moray eels. In the open water, eagle rays, turtles and napoleons are often encountered.

Scuba dives are also offered to the nearby St Josephs atoll as well as Poivre. The boat ride across to these islands is around one hour and usually includes sightings of spectacular jumps from the many spinner dolphins, bottlenose dolphins and the odd whale on the ride across. The above mentioned sites are only a small selection - there are many more excellent dive sites to visit, from easier dives for beginners up to challenging sites for experienced and more advanced divers.

Wellness Centre / Spa
Desroches Island Spa is run by experienced and fully trained Balinese masseuses who offer a range of soothing and energizing spa treatments. Enjoy a relaxing & refreshing massage treatment at either the Spa centre, your own Suite or on the beach! Over and above the standard Desroches spa treatments, they specialize in designing personalized treatments to rejuvenate the mind, body & soul.

They offer treatments that relieve stress, that are suited to after-exercise, that detoxify, cleanse & purify, that refresh and rejuvenate and those that provide finishing touches before leaving Desroches Island.

Some of the treatments include:
• Discovery Massage
• Asian Traditional Massage
• Four Hands Massage
• Warm Stone Massage
• Ayurveda Massage
• Shiatsu Massage
• Coconut Massage
• Island Massage
• Body Scrub
• Natural Asian Facial
• Manicure
• Pedicure
• Chocolate body exfoliation
.

Conservation
Environmental responsibility is a passionate mission for the developers; building on the government's initiatives to protect Desroches Island. The Desroches Farm, with its organic farming methods using compost from waste material will further protect the island's ecological sensitivity.

The developers are involved in a number of conservation related projects in Africa and act on various boards to raise funds and implement projects that protect the natural environment. The Desroches Foundation and Fund will be responsible for managing, maintaining and protecting the natural state of the island. A number of projects are already underway with funds that have been raised. The Island Conservation Society (ICS), a non-governmental organization registered in Seychelles and working with many of the islands in the Seychelles, interacts with the Desroches Foundation to look after the environmental management of the island.

Sustainable building practices include the manufacture of wooden furniture and structures derived from the Casurina trees on the island - a non-indigenous hardwood species which weathers extremely well. All timberwork on the island is undertaken by a group of talented Indian craftsmen.

There is strict control of all water sports and activities, including fishing, to ensure longevity and prevent over utilization of the sensitive marine life.

Organic produce from the Desroches Farm will contribute to the eclectic cuisine on the island. A culinary delight for the palette will be served within the selection of three restaurants which blend into the environment and derive their inspiration from the Indian Ocean.

Beyond the farm, in the heart of the local village, lies an old colonial establishment which is to be renovated to serve traditional Creole cuisine. Much care will be taken to restore it to its former grand state.

History of Desroches Island
Originally names Wood Island by the British because of its dense tree vegetation, Desroches was an important producer of Copra, a coconut product, in its early days. The island was renamed by Commander Chevalier de Roslan of the ship L'heure du Berger, after Chevalier des Roches, the Governor of Mauritius and Réunion (1767-1772).  It was explored by Chevalier de la Billiorére in 1771.  The island is 6.2km long, with a land area of 3.24 square kilometres and is the largest outer island of the Amirantes Group of islands in the Seychelles. The Amirantes group comprises 28 islands, named in honor of Portuguese Admiral Vasco de Gama when his expedition stopped at Poivre Island in 1501.

Along with the remaining Amirantes Islands, Desroches has been a part of the Seychelles since it became a separate colony in 1909. On November 8, 1965 the United Kingdom split Desroches from the Seychelles to become part of the newly created British Indian Ocean Territory, together with Farquhar, Aldabra and the Chagos Archipelago. The purpose was to allow the construction of military facilities for the mutual benefit of the United Kingdom and the United States. On June 23, 1976 Desroches was returned to Seychelles as a result of Seychelles independence.


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For further information about the Seychelles Islands, click More Seychelles


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