Tourist Guide Bird island
Bird, Seychelles’ most northerly island is 100km or a 30-minute flight north of Mahé. Bird is situated 28 miles distant from Denis Island and on the edge of the Seychelles bank, where the ocean drops off to more than 2000 metres. During the period of the southeast trade winds (May-September), Bird is colonised by a million sooty terns that each lay their eggs on their own exclusive square foot of territory.
Home to ‘Esmeralda’, the world’s heaviest land tortoise, this island is also an important nesting site for turtles year-round.
Twenty-four comfortable bungalows, excellent beaches, a reputation for good cuisine and a convivial atmosphere complement great opportunities for snorkelling, deep-sea fishing, and nature watching.
History and Culture
Bird Island, once known as Ile aux Vaches because of the dugongs or sea cows that thrived there, lies directly in the path of seafarers approaching Seychelles from a northerly direction.
As such, it can be expected that early Arab seafarers visited her shores on their voyages of exploration that took them down the east coast of Africa.
The island comes under history's spotlight in 1891 when a boatload of Seychellois bound for Bird for the harvesting of birds eggs, encountered a storm and were driven to the shores of Arabia. It took them a year, during which many of them died, before they were able to finally return home.
In the early 1970's, Bird turned to tourism, which thrives until today with the Bird Island Lodge sharing this magnificent coral isle with over 1 million sooty terns between April and September.
With several conservation programmes in place, Bird stands at the forefront
of eco-tourism in Seychelles.
Explore map
Related Contents
| Denis island - 32.1 mi | |
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Denis lies 85km north of Victoria, Mahé and 28 miles distant from Bird
Island making it one of the most northerly of all the Seychelles' islands.
Once a thriving coconut... |
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