Sailing to Giant Tortoises of Curieuse Island, Seychelles

There are a few places on earth that have such unimaginable beauty that you must have seen it to believe it. Curieuse island, and possibly the whole of the Seychelles islands is such a place. Almost every beach is lined with huge black rock boulders that give it a magical look and feel. Add to that the white sand, and huge palm trees waving in the wind.. Plus an abundance of unique wildlife both in the air and on the ground.. and you pretty much arrive at perfection..

Such was the setting in which we found the Giant Tortoises at Curieuse Island. I think you must admit it, the name itself just makes you want to explore every corner of this island. And so we did, or at least we tried.

We arrived at the island at Baie St Jose, in a beautiful secluded setting, anchored in 7 meters deep crystal clear water, with our Lagoon 42 Catamaran chartered from Marine Cat Sey on the island of Mahe, Seychelles.

As if it was al planned out, we found the first Giant Tortoise while checking on the anchor. Just to see if all was secure and we were not dragging. Actually our skipper pointed out there might be something interesting to find at the beach nearby. And so we all jumped in the dinghy and were welcomed by this amazing, giant and quite old creature!

It’s teeth looked sharp as a knife, and we were frequently warned by Jolynn that it could chew a finger off in a moment.

There are actually about 300 Giant Aldabra Tortoises to be found at Curieuse Island. When you jump of your boat from the Baie St Jose, a lovely jungle walk awaits. By the end of it, you are gauranteed to have seen lots of these giants!

As it is a bit difficult to travel these days, I’ve tried to make this video as realistic as possible. Enjoy the friendly giants of Curieuse Island.