Book a Moyenne Island tour for an easy boat-based day around the marine park. 14 tours compared, from $83, with free cancellation; the top-rated option scores 4.2 from 1,139 reviews. A former editor planted 16,000 trees here and made a 9.9-hectare national park.
Trips from
14 listings compared$83
Today's lowest price across all 14 tours
Average rating
12 rated tours44
2,284 verified reviews across 12 tours
Your day
Shortest to longest4–8h
Shortest: St. Anne Marine Park
Longest: Tour of Cousin & Curieuse
Everything you can book here
Fourteen listings, and the switch decides what kind of boat you are on. Four are glass-bottom boats, which is how most people see the coral without getting wet. Six are cruise-and-snorkel days around Sainte Anne Marine National Park. Four are private charters. All of them anchor in the same protected water.
★ 4.6 · 568 reviews
★ 4.5 · 49 reviews
★ 4.2 · 1 139 reviews
★ 4.1 · 19 reviews
★ 4.4 · 36 reviews
★ 4.6 · 321 reviews
★ 4.9 · 76 reviews
★ 4.8 · 15 reviews
★ 5.0 · 2 reviews
★ 4.9 · 43 reviews
★ 5.0 · 7 reviews
★ 5.0 · 9 reviews
Two questions
Fourteen listings, and they come down to three decisions: whether you want to be in the water or above it, whether landing on Moyenne itself matters to you, and how much of the day you are giving it. Pick what matters and the page picks the trip.
See it before you pay for it
Three things. An island of nine and a half hectares covered in trees that were all planted by hand. Around fifty Aldabra giant tortoises walking about on it. And the reef of Sainte Anne Marine National Park, which has been protected since 1973 and shows it.
Side by side
Every listing here is one of three things. A glass-bottom boat shows you the reef without swimming, which suits families and non-swimmers. A cruise-and-snorkel day puts you in the water at two or three stops. And a private charter is the same places with nobody else aboard and a route you agree on the day.
Swipe the table sideways →
| MOST BOOKEDMahé: Saint-Anne Marine Park and Moyenne Island Cruise | Glassbottom boat & Crystalkayak SteAnneMarinePark Snorkeling | St. Anne Marine Park, Moyenne & Cerf Island Tour with Lunch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per person | $163 | $83 | $87 |
| Duration | 7 hours | Full day | 6 hours |
| Cost per minute | $0.39 | $0.20 | $0.22 |
| Lands on Moyenne | Yes | Check the listing | Yes |
| Departs from | Cruise & snorkel | Glass-bottom | Cruise & snorkel |
| What you see | Moyenne, the tortoises and two snorkel stops | The reef through glass, and a crystal kayak | Moyenne and Cerf with lunch on a beach |
| Snorkelling | Yes | Optional | Yes |
| Rating | 4.6 · 568 | 4.5 · 49 | 4.2 · 1,139 |
| Best for | The island itself | Families and non-swimmers | Two islands and a beach lunch |
| Book this one→ | Check dates | Check dates |
Free cancellation up to 24 h · Reserve now, pay later
Verdict
Seven hours across Sainte Anne Marine National Park with a landing on Moyenne itself: the paths, the tortoises and two snorkelling stops. Five hundred and sixty-eight ratings at 4.6 stand behind it, and it is the listing most people mean when they search for a Moyenne Island tour. The one reason to book something else is if you care about the reef rather than the island.
Check dates and availability→Before you book
One listing on this page carries 1,139 ratings and four carry fewer than twenty between them. That does not make the smaller ones bad — but a 5.0 from two people tells you far less than a 4.2 from a thousand. Read both numbers before you decide.
Two-minute check
Fourteen listings that mostly visit the same protected water. Three answers narrow it to one: whether you want to be in the sea or above it, whether landing on Moyenne matters, and how much of the day you are giving it.
In the water, or above it?This decides the kind of boat
What are you willing to spend?Per person
How much of the day?Most listings are most of it
You'll get the flight that fits your answers, the thing about it that catches people out, and an honest word about how much evidence its rating rests on.
Six kinds of trip
Ratings are the operators’ own numbers on GetYourGuide, shown exactly as published. We do not write reviews and we do not average other people’s into a score of our own. One listing here carries 1,139 ratings and four carry fewer than twenty, and we say which is which on every card.
★★★★★
Based on 2,284
verified reviews
Every rated listing on this page, scored by the people who took it on GetYourGuide.
Read all 2,284→Mahé: Saint-Anne Marine Park and Moyenne Island Cruise
From $163 · 568 reviews
★★★★★
Seven hours in Sainte Anne Marine National Park with a landing on Moyenne itself: the paths, the tortoises and two snorkelling stops. 568 ratings at 4.6.
Glassbottom boat & Crystalkayak SteAnneMarinePark Snorkeling
From $83 · cheapest here
★★★★★
A glass-bottom boat and a crystal kayak over the reef, which is how families and non-swimmers see the coral. 49 ratings at 4.5.
St. Anne Marine Park, Moyenne & Cerf Island Tour with Lunch
From $87 · 1,139 reviews
★★★★★
Six hours to Moyenne and Cerf Island with lunch on a beach. 1,139 ratings — twice as many as anything else on this page.
Mahe Island: St. Anne Marine Park Snorkeling Trip
From $154 · 76 reviews
★★★★★
Four hours of snorkelling in Sainte Anne Marine Park, with 76 ratings at 4.9. A half day rather than a whole one, and the strongest score on this page.
Mahe: St. Anne Marine National Park Reef Safari with Lunch
From $146 · 321 reviews
★★★★★
Seven hours of reef safari with lunch, 321 ratings at 4.6. If you want a whole day in the water rather than half of one, this is it.
Luxury Private Boat Charter Praslin, Seychelles with BBQ.
From $1155 · the highest price
★★★★★
Eight hours of luxury charter from Praslin, priced for the boat rather than per person. It is here to show you the ceiling — our top pick costs about a seventh of it.
What it really costs
A full day in Sainte Anne Marine National Park with a stop at Moyenne runs $83–$163 a person, usually with lunch. A private boat for your group starts at $535. There is also a small national park fee paid on the island itself.
Swipe sideways →
| What you are paying for | Price | What you get | Cancellation |
|---|---|---|---|
| A shared day in the marine park, 4–8 hours | $83–$163 | Snorkelling stops, a glass-bottom viewing or both, and usually lunch on a beach or on board | Free cancellation 24 h |
| A day to the outer islands, 8 hours | $258 | Cousin, Curieuse and St Pierre by catamaran — a different archipelago entirely | Free cancellation 24 h |
| A private boat, 4–8 hours | $535–$1,155 | The same water with nobody else aboard, and a route you decide with the skipper | Per boat, not per person |
The honest answer
Yes, and for a reason that has nothing to do with the beach. Every tree on Moyenne was planted by one man. Brendon Grimshaw bought a neglected island in 1962, spent forty years turning it into a forest with paths and tortoises, and left it as a national park. Standing on it is not like standing on any other island in the Seychelles.
The day, hour by hour
Most trips leave from Victoria or Eden Island on Mahé. Both are a short drive from Beau Vallon and the airport side of the island.
Sainte Anne Marine National Park starts a few minutes offshore. Four islands sit inside it and Moyenne is the smallest.
Shallow coral in protected water. On the glass-bottom listings this is where the floor panels earn their keep instead.
A jetty, a path and a hand-drawn map. The paths were cut by one man and they still follow his route.
Around fifty of them, mostly in the shade in the middle of the day. They were brought here one at a time.
On the island, on a beach or on board, depending on the listing. It is included on most of them.
Often Cerf Island or a sandbank, and another swim before the wind gets up.
Four to eight hours in total. The afternoon breeze is why almost nothing runs late.
The one thing to know
Everything else on this page is a preference. This one is a matter of record. Moyenne was abandoned from 1915 until 1962, when Brendon Grimshaw, a newspaper editor from Dewsbury, bought it for eight thousand pounds. With René Antoine Lafortune he cleared it, planted sixteen thousand trees across its nine and a half hectares, cut nature paths that visitors still walk today, and brought in Aldabra giant tortoises — around fifty of them live there now. He moved onto the island in 1972 and stayed to the end of his life in 2012, and he spent about twenty years persuading the government to protect it. On 28 July 2009 Moyenne was declared a national park. The BBC has called it the smallest national park in the world. You are not visiting a beach; you are visiting one person’s forty-year project.
Four parts of the day
9.9 hectares, 16,000 planted trees, a national park since 2009.
Around fifty of them, brought to the island one at a time.
Sainte Anne Marine Park has been protected since 1973.
Granite, not limestone — which is why they look like nowhere else.
Start here
Most islands are older than anyone who visits them. This one was made by a man from Yorkshire, on purpose, starting in 1962. Brendon Grimshaw was a newspaper editor in Nairobi when he bought Moyenne for eight thousand pounds. It had been abandoned since 1915 and was so overgrown that coconuts lay two feet deep on the ground.
He and René Antoine Lafortune planted sixteen thousand trees. They cut nature paths across the whole nine and a half hectares, built a house, and brought in Aldabra giant tortoises — there are around fifty on the island now. Grimshaw moved there permanently in 1972 and lived there to the end of his life in 2012.
He turned down every offer for it. The story that follows him is that he refused fifty million dollars from a buyer who wanted to build on it. What is a matter of record is that he spent twenty years lobbying for the island to be protected, and on 28 July 2009 Moyenne was declared a national park. The BBC has called it the smallest national park in the world.
The island sits inside an older protection. Sainte Anne Marine National Park was established in 1973 and was the first marine park in the Indian Ocean. It covers the water around six islands off Victoria, and half a century of protection is exactly why the coral there still looks the way it does.
Which is why the boats matter. Moyenne has no airstrip, no causeway and no ferry of its own. Every visitor arrives on a tour boat, and the listings differ mainly in whether they actually land on the island or only pass it on the way to a snorkelling stop.
The glass-bottom boats are not a lesser option. Roughly a third of the listings here use them, and for families, non-swimmers and anyone who would rather stay dry they show the same reef from above. Several trips do both: glass panels on the crossing, snorkels at the stops.
And the last thing, which no listing says plainly: there is a national park fee, paid on the island. It is small, it is usually cash, and it goes to the park rather than the boat operator. Bring a few notes.
If the island is not the point
Half the people searching for a Moyenne Island tour actually want the reef. Sainte Anne Marine National Park has been protected since 1973, and these three put you in it rather than walking around above it.
4 h · ★ 4.9 (76)
$154See dates 7 h · ★ 4.6 (321)
$146See dates 6 h · ★ 4.8 (15)
$156See datesPractical
Four things decide how this goes: whether your listing actually lands on Moyenne, whether you are in the water or looking through glass, the national park fee nobody mentions, and how much sun you can take on an open deck.
Seven hours with the paths, the tortoises and two snorkel stops, from $163.
Six hours, and the most reviewed listing in the niche.
The reef without swimming, from $83.
Four hours and the best rating on this page.
Cousin, Curieuse and St Pierre — a different archipelago entirely.
From $535 for the boat, not per person.
Twenty-four acres, and the whole of it walkable in under an hour.
All planted by hand, from 1962 onwards.
Aldabra tortoises, brought to the island one at a time.
Declared on 28 July, after twenty years of lobbying.
Sainte Anne Marine National Park has been protected since 1973.
Every visitor arrives on a tour boat.
Several trips pass Moyenne without stopping on it.
It is paid on the island and goes to the park.
Granite and coral rubble rather than sand at some entries.
And the sun is four degrees from the equator.
But check — on a few listings it is not.
Almost everything is back by mid-afternoon.
On most listings on this page.
A week over Christmas and in the April and October turns.
One listing has 1,139 ratings and four have fewer than twenty.
Decide before you compare prices; they are different days.
Victoria and Eden Island are both on the north-east of Mahé.
Which for four or more people changes the arithmetic.
Best time
The Seychelles sit four degrees south of the equator, so there is no season in the European sense — it is warm all year. What changes is the wind, and the wind decides the visibility underwater and how comfortable the crossing is.
Apr & May
The turn between the two monsoons: the sea goes flat, the visibility underwater is at its best, and the crossings are calm. Everything runs and the islands are at their greenest.
Oct & Nov
The second changeover, with the same flat water and clear visibility. Slightly warmer than April and usually a little quieter.
Jun – Sep
Cooler, breezier and drier. The sea is choppier on the crossings and the visibility drops, but everything still runs and prices are lower.
Dec – Mar
Warm, humid and the wettest months, with short heavy showers rather than all-day rain. Calmer seas than the trade-wind months, and the busiest period over Christmas.
Worth knowing
Check that your listing actually lands on Moyenne. Several trips into Sainte Anne Marine Park pass the island on the way to a snorkelling stop without stopping on it. If the tortoises and the paths are why you are going, the listing has to say so.
Bring cash for the national park fee. It is paid on the island itself, it is small, and it is almost never mentioned in the booking. Card is not reliably accepted.
The tortoises are in the shade at midday. Which is exactly when most tours land. Look under the trees rather than on the paths and you will find them.
Glass-bottom is a real choice, not a consolation. A third of the listings use them, and for families or non-swimmers they show the same reef from above without anybody having to be brave.
Reef shoes are worth packing. The Seychelles are granite islands, and some entries are rock and coral rubble rather than sand.
The afternoon breeze ends the day. Trips run in the morning and are usually back by mid-afternoon, which is why almost nothing here is an evening cruise.
Round out the trip
Go deeper
Common questions
A full day in Sainte Anne Marine National Park runs $83 to $163 a person, usually with lunch. A private boat starts at $535 for the boat.
Not easily. The island has no ferry of its own, no causeway and no airstrip. Almost everyone arrives on an organised boat trip from Mahé, and a private charter is the only other realistic option.
Brendon Grimshaw, a British newspaper editor, bought it in 1962 for £8,000. He and René Antoine Lafortune planted 16,000 trees and brought in giant tortoises. He lived there from 1972 to the end of his life in 2012.
Yes. It was declared a national park on 28 July 2009, after about twenty years of lobbying by Grimshaw. The BBC has described it as the smallest national park in the world.
Around fifty Aldabra giant tortoises live on the island today. They were brought over one at a time from the 1970s onwards.
No — and this is worth checking. Several listings cross Sainte Anne Marine Park and anchor at snorkelling stops without setting foot on Moyenne.
Yes, a small national park fee paid on Moyenne itself, usually in cash. It is separate from what you pay for the boat.
April, May, October and November: the turns between the two monsoons, when the sea is flattest and underwater visibility is at its best.
Free · no account needed
One PDF: all fourteen trips by price and length, which of them actually land on Moyenne, what the park fee is, and the months when the water is clearest.
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Why trust this page
Prices, durations and ratings are read off the live listings. The dates, the acreage and the tree count come from the published record rather than from other affiliate pages.
Several listings cross Sainte Anne Marine Park without stopping on Moyenne. That is the single most useful thing to know before booking, so it is on every card.
One listing here carries 1,139 ratings and four carry fewer than twenty between them. Both can be good; only one has been tested.
Fourteen listings, ordered as a shop window rather than by price, ranked on what they actually include. We earn a commission when you book, and it does not change what we recommend.
The answer
If the point is Moyenne itself, book the seven-hour day at $163: it crosses Sainte Anne Marine National Park, lands on the island, and gives you time on the paths Grimshaw cut and among the tortoises he brought. 568 ratings at 4.6. If you mainly want the reef, the four-hour snorkelling trip at $154 holds the best score on this page.
Check dates and availability→ Free cancellation up to 24 hours · Reserve now, pay laterBefore you go
All fourteen trips by price and length, which of them land on Moyenne, the park fee, and the months when the water is clearest.
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Mahé: Saint-Anne Marine Park and Moyenne Island Cruise
★ 4.6 · 568 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h
