North Island Lodge

a heavenly private island retreat

North Island Lodge is located on North Island in the Seychelles.

Set at the back of a fabulous beach, North Island Lodge is, quite simply, one of the finest beach properties in the world.

The lodge centred on a stylish open-sided structure with lounge, dining and library areas. Alongside is the watersports centre and gift shop. Beyond there is a private dining sala with an attached wine cellar.

Up the hillside beyond are substantial gym and luxurious spa facilities, leading round to a gorgeous 45m long organically shaped swimming pool.

Over the other side of the island, on West Beach, there is a rather cool and rustic Sunset Bar

Because people tend to spend so much time in their lavish villas and thanks to the relatively large size of the island, the place always seems to feel wonderfully peaceful, in stark contrast to some of the much more busy private islands in the area.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at North Island Lodge is in eleven enormous and completely self-contained villas, all with expansive lounge and air-conditioned bedroom areas, lavish bathrooms, discreetly disguised satellite televisions, music systems, WiFi, private plunge pools, butler service and an electric buggy …

Presidential Villas : 10 : 450 sqm : The ten large Presidential Villas are widely spaced along the back of the East Beach, providing great privacy, yet direct access to the ocean. Each villa has one master bedroom suite with a huge indoor and outdoor bathroom. A separate room can be used as a lounge or a second bedroom for up to two children aged 0-19. At night it can be transformed into a private cinema. Between the two rooms is an open-sided lounge and dining area, which leads outside to the deck, outside sala (day bed) and plunge pool.

Villa North Island : 1 : 750 sqm : Also known as Villa Eleven, this enormous villa lies below the granite slopes at the far end of East Beach and is totally private. The villa has one master bedroom suite with a huge indoor and outdoor bathroom. A separate room can be used as a lounge or a second bedroom for up to two children aged 0-19. At night it can be transformed into a private cinema. Between the two rooms is an open-sided lounge and dining area, which leads outside to multi-level decks, with an outside sala (day bed), plunge pool and private spa area. In case you were wondering, this is the room that William and Kate stayed at during their honeymoon.

Activities

North Island Lodge offers the following activities, not all of which are necessarily included in the room rate …

• Diving on North Island : not included
• Diving on Praslin Island : not included
• Advanced Wreck Diving : not included
• Snorkelling
• Kayaking
• Paddle-boarding
• Sunset cruises
• Nature trails
• Bird-watching
• Giant tortoises
• Turtle nesting
• Spa and gym
• Conservation evenings
• Helicopter trips to other islands

Although we can and do combine the Seychelles with safaris on mainland Africa, this tends to happen relatively rarely. The main airport on Mahé is 2200 km from Nairobi and 3800 km from Johannesburg. For most people, the tropical beaches of East Africa end up being an easier and cheaper option.

But for some, the powerful allure of these beautiful islands is too much to resist and they are happy to stay overnight in Nairobi or Johannesburg, before flying out to the Seychelles.

These islands are far more commonly visited as a separate trip. There are direct flights to the islands from Europe and the Persian Gulf.

Most visits to the Seychelles run to 7-14 nights, usually split between two or three lodges. The usual stay duration at this particular lodge is 3-7 nights.

Seasonality

The best time of year to visit the Seychelles is generally considered to be during the May-Oct dry season.

It is worth pointing out that the Seychelles experiences prodigious rainfall, far more than most other islands in the Indian Ocean.

Getting there

The Seychelles really are tiny specks of land, set out in the vastness of the Indian Ocean.

From Mahe International Airport, North Island is accessed by helicopter flights.

only occasionally combined with safari on mainland Africa