Moyenne Island: Giant Tortoises and the Trail

Moyenne Island is small enough to walk round in about half an hour. The Seychelles Parks and Gardens Authority (SPGA) describes a 30-minute trail around the island past giant tortoises roaming freely, numerous birds, the remains of early settlers’ homes, pirates’ graves, a small thatched chapel and a restaurant. The easiest way to walk it with someone who knows the story is Creole Travel Services’ Mahé: Saint-Anne Marine Park and Moyenne Island Cruise, which includes a brief guided tour of the island and the landing fee, from $163 per adult (checked November 2026).

The calendar above is the cruise, with 606 reviews (checked November 2026).

The giant tortoises

SPGA writes of giant tortoises roaming freely on Moyenne, and Creole Travel Services sells its walk as a chance to see “the free roaming giant land tortoises”. Brendon Grimshaw, the Englishman who bought the island in the early 1960s, looked after them: The Nation, reporting his death on 7 July 2012, called him the caretaker of 120 giant tortoises. Reviewers describe tortoises all over the island. “Giant tortoises were all over the island and appeared to be well looked after”, a British reviewer wrote on 25 May 2026.

The trail and what is on it

The island is just under half a kilometre long, in SPGA’s description. Its trail goes round it, and SPGA lists what you meet among the trees: the remains of early settlers’ homes, pirates’ graves, a small thatched chapel, the tortoises, numerous birds and a restaurant. Vision Voyages DMC's reef safari describes the same walk as a visit “on foot in search of giant tortoises”, with “old ruins and pirate graves” and the island’s beach.

How long you spend on it depends on the boat:

• Creole Travel Services' cruise: “a brief tour of Moyenne Island”, then leisure time on the island’s small beach. Lunch may take place on the island. A German reviewer on 30 May 2025 put the guided walk at about 30 minutes, with free time afterwards to explore or rest on the beach.
• Vision Voyages DMC's reef safari: lunch and music on the catamaran first, then ashore on Moyenne; its includes list “Moyenne Island visit with giant tortoise”.
• East coast Explorer's glass boat day: a 45-minute nature trail on Moyenne, marked “on request”. A reviewer on 15 July 2026 wrote that you choose between Moyenne and a second snorkel, and another on 8 November 2026 went round with no guide.
• Mae Guide's tour with lunch: the Moyenne trail “upon requests”, with its fee paid at the site or online. Several reviewers of this day did not land on Moyenne at all (April to July 2026).

Book the cruise with the guided walk

Getting ashore

A reviewer of Creole Travel Services’ cruise wrote on 30 May 2025 that the catamaran does not tie up at the island: a small inflatable boat takes you across, and you climb out into the water, so you need to be fairly mobile. The cruise is not offered to people with mobility impairments or to wheelchair users, and its what-to-bring list starts with comfortable shoes.

Turtles on the far beaches

The two small beaches at the back of Moyenne host a few nesting turtles, in SPGA’s 2021-2025 management plan for the marine park, and the plan sets as an objective the closure of those beaches to the public from October to March, the main nesting season.

Who may not enjoy it

Reviewers split on the island itself. Some call it beautiful and the guided history the best part of the day; others found it small and the stop too long. “The stay on Moyenne island could have been shorter”, wrote a British reviewer on 5 October 2026, who still gave the day five stars. If you mainly want to snorkel, note how much of the day the island takes: a German reviewer of Creole Travel Services’ cruise counted two and a half hours on Moyenne between the two snorkel stops on 19 July 2026.