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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 plantation, its newly refurbished lodge with 25 charming
chalets is the perfect honeymoon getaway offering seclusion in comfort and with
excellent gourmet cuisine.
For fishermen it is ideally situated for deep-sea fishing expeditions on the
nearby edge of the Seychelles’ bank where marlin, sailfish, barracuda,
wahoo, dorado and tuna will thrill novice and seasoned fisherman alike.
With its lush greenery Denis makes an attractive home for roaming tortoises
and nesting sea birds and turtles.
Denis offers excellent nature walks as well as the facilities of tennis, diving,
windsurfing, canoeing and of course sunbathing on its gleaming white beaches.
History and Culture
Named after Denis de Trobiant, whose ship L'Etoile called there in 1773 to
claim the island for the king of France, Denis has also been known in the past
as Orixa Island.
Like many Seychelles islands, in the heyday of the coconut industry Denis was
a coconut plantation owned by the Seychelles Coconut Estates whose population
of between 70 and 100 persons were engaged in collecting guano, (decomposed
bird droppings) producing coprah (refined coconut flesh) and fishing.
In 1975 the island was purchased by Pierre Burkhardt, a French paper magnate
who ran the island as a successful lodge with the marketing slogan 'the island
at the edge of the world'.
The island was sold to Mason's Travel, a local destination management company
(referred to as a ground handling operator in this website), in the mid 90's
who maintain the tradition of a lodge which has been newly refurbished.
There is a lighthouse at the northern end of Denis Island that dates back to
1910.
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