Best Curieuse Island + Snorkeling Tour: A Detailed Review

✔️   It’s 100% private

✔️   You get a custom itinerary

✔️   The captain is friendly and clearly knows his stuff

✔️   The boat is spotless and beautiful

✔️   We snorkeled at 4 unique sites

✔️   They had snacks, fresh fruit, and actual wine glasses (yes, really)

I honestly can’t stress enough why choosing a private or small-group snorkeling tour is crucial. The last thing anyone wants is someone else’s fins in their face or fish scared off by crowds.

Every tour with Tranquility is private, which makes the whole day feel relaxed and personal. No herding, no rushing. Just us, the reef, and time to actually enjoy it.

Customization is another big deal for me.

When researching, most tours offered either Curieuse Island with a BBQ lunch and St. Pierre Island from Praslin or snorkeling around Coco, Felicite, and Sister Islands from La Digue.

But I’d heard St. Pierre wasn’t the greatest snorkeling spot.

And though lunch sounded nice, I preferred spending more time underwater.

Tranquility Boat Charter totally got this and helped craft our perfect itinerary!

Even though Tranquility Boat Charter is based in Praslin, they kindly agreed to pick us up and drop us off in La Digue.

The business is run by Sherelle and Jacques, a husband and wife team who clearly care about what they do.

Sherelle was so easy to coordinate with and helped plan everything seamlessly via email.

Jacques, our captain, was fantastic. He was friendly, calm, knowledgeable, and safety-conscious.

The day of our tour, the ocean had a little chop. Nothing too crazy, but Jacques gave us a heads up and offered to tweak the itinerary.

We appreciated that. Ultimately, we stuck to our plan, but it was great knowing he wanted to make sure we felt comfortable.

Fun fact: he previously built boats, and his current one is sleek, sturdy, and so spotless I could have eaten papaya off the floor.

Seeing how meticulously he cared for his boat immediately put me at ease.

Jacques even attends the Dubai International Boat Show yearly. He’s serious about his boat and your comfort!

On the day of our tour, he arrived promptly at 9:30 am at the La Digue ferry station near Tarosa restaurant, just a five-minute walk from our amazing boutique hotel, Le Nautique.

Be sure to read why I think this is the top hotel in La Digue if you are still trying to figure out where to stay.

Now for the fun part: the snorkel stops and the tortoises!

Felicite Island might be famous for the upscale Six Senses hotel (yes, they have a helipad), but you don’t need a reservation to snorkel its stunning reef.

Jacques dropped us on the western side, where we drift snorkeled near the beach. My favorite sighting was the tiniest eagle ray we’ve ever encountered. It was pocket-sized.

Watching eagle rays is always fun.

We’ve enjoyed snorkeling with them on a Bora Bora tour, Angel City in Bonaire, with Alex in Moorea, Hol Chan/Shark Ray Alley in Belize, and at Le Meridien house reef in the Maldives. They have the cutest faces with their upturned snouts.

By the way, Jacques provides snorkeling equipment.

However, since we often travel to snorkel some of the top sites in the world, we always bring our own snorkeling gear (which I’ve discussed in this review post).

We also swam through a huge group of convict surgeonfish (reminded me of snorkeling at the Sofitel in Moorea), mullets, and some friendly smallspotted darts.

This was the first time I saw a smallspotted dart.

They were like little puppies following us around. When they turned to their side, you could see their little silvery spots, which sparkled in the sunlight like little diamonds.

Other cool finds included:

• Parrotfish
• Threadfin butterflyfish
• Blue surgeonfish
• Scissortail sergeants
• A shy, big pufferfish

See my full Felicite Island Snorkeling Guide if you want to know more!

Unfortunately, choppy seas meant skipping Coco Island and Ave Maria.

I’ve heard Ave Maria is phenomenal on calm days, like swimming in an aquarium. Another reason to revisit the Seychelles!

If you have snorkeled Ave Maria, please let me know what you thought!

Next was Big Sister Island, practically deserted except for one other snorkeler.

It was deeper snorkeling here, with impressive underwater boulders and canyon-like crevices.

The best part? Swimming alongside a gentle sea turtle.

We also encountered plenty of scissortail sergeants, schools of bluestreak cleaner wrasses, a few Moorish idols, and a small school of Bengal snappers under a coral overhang.

Little Sister Island treated us to an exciting sight. A blacktip reef shark darting along the seafloor. Blink-and-you-miss-it moment, but so cool.

We also spotted large, friendly batfish and my first beautifully colored surge wrasse (which I initially mistook for a parrotfish).

Also spotted:

• More scissortail sergeants and smallspotted darts
• Blue surgeonfish and lined surgeonfish
• Black triggerfish
• A bluefin trevally (I’ve only seen these at Le Meridien’s house reef in the Maldives)

See my detailed Sisters Island Snorkeling Guide for more photos and maps of where to snorkel!

Curieuse Island was a highlight because of its charming residents, the Aldabra Giant Tortoises!

Yes, we saw them at L’Union Estate after our kayak tour and Fond Ferdinand too, but Curieuse Island is where hundreds roam freely.

There’s also a turtle nursery for the babies, where they’re raised until about age 5.

We hiked the boardwalk trail through the mangroves (about 40 minutes) to the opposite beach where Jacques was waiting for us.

There are some rocky sections, so wear sturdy shoes. Bring water. Seychelles’ humidity is no joke.

Bathrooms are available at the end of the trail at the opposite beach. You can opt for a BBQ lunch here, but we skipped it to squeeze in more snorkeling.

Back on the boat, Jacques served up little sandwiches, delicious fruit (the papaya came from his own garden), beer (local Seybrew), and wine in real glasses! Super thoughtful. 

We ended our day at Anse Lazio, snorkeling the right side of the beach (as you are facing the water from the beach).

Visibility wasn’t perfect at Anse Lazio, but we still saw:

• Very friendly scissortail sergeants
• Few more smallspotted darts
• Beautiful lined surgeonfish
• A few threadfin butterflyfish
• A mullet
• A skinny needlefish
• Few batfish

We snorkeled the left side of Anse Lazio later in our trip and saw turtles there (here’s my full Anse Lazio Snorkeling Guide with maps + more photos!). But only go if the water’s calm.

Jacques also offered a stop at Anse Georgette, but we had plans to snorkel there the next day so we passed. See our Anse Georgette Snorkeling Guide for more details!

We were back at the ferry station by 3:30 pm.

As experienced snorkelers, we’re particular about tours.

Jacques and Sherelle at Tranquility Boat Charter delivered everything we were looking for: the best snorkel sites around Praslin and La Digue, expert local guidance, thoughtful touches, and a peaceful, private experience.

If you’re in the Seychelles and want to combine snorkeling with a visit to Curieuse Island without wasting a minute, this is the way to do it.

Highly recommend!

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Questions about our Curieuse Island + Snorkeling Tour?

Let me know in the comments below!