Luxury holidays to the Indian Ocean

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Luxury holidays to the Indian Ocean: bespoke luxury holidays to Mauritius, Maldives & Seychelles

Frequently Asked Questions

They are meaningfully different, and the distinction matters more than most people realise before they go. The Maldives is the most singular: each resort occupies its own coral island or atoll, often reached by speedboat or seaplane from Malé, and the world below the water — the reefs, the marine life, the extraordinary clarity of the lagoon — is the primary reason to go. Life is beautifully contained within the island resort, and the overwater villa has become an icon of the Maldivian experience, but it is an immersive, inward-looking holiday rather than one with cultural layers or much opportunity to explore beyond the resort itself. Mauritius is quite different in character — a proper island with a rich and diverse culture, mountains, botanical gardens, sugar plantations, markets and villages, and a population that reflects its extraordinary mixed heritage of African, Indian, Chinese and European. The resort hotels in Mauritius are among the most accomplished in the Indian Ocean, with exceptional facilities, serious restaurants, golf and watersports, and a sense that the island rewards exploration as well as relaxation. The Seychelles sits between the two in some respects — the inner islands of Mahé and Praslin have a culture and a landscape of genuine beauty, with granite boulders and tropical forest, and the smaller outer islands and private island retreats offer seclusion to rival anything in the Maldives. Island-hopping between two or three Seychelles islands gives you contrast within a single trip. We ask what matters most — seclusion or culture, underwater world or landscape, privacy or the option to venture out — and match the destination accordingly.
The overwater villa is real, and genuinely extraordinary when done well — waking above a lagoon of that colour, stepping off your deck into warm clear water, snorkelling straight from your own terrace is an experience with almost no equivalent anywhere else in the world. But you are right to sense that it needs to be more than an image. The quality of the resort matters enormously: the difference between a well-conceived, beautifully operated island hotel and one that is merely photogenic is something we care about deeply. The underwater world is genuinely the main event — the Maldives has some of the most biodiverse reefs anywhere on earth, and a resort with a serious PADI dive centre and marine biologist on staff offers a very different holiday from one where the reef is merely decorative. Snorkelling, diving, night dives, whale shark and manta ray encounters, sandbank picnics, dhoni boat excursions to local fishing islands — there is more activity available than people assume, even for non-divers. We also flag honestly that the Maldives suits some temperaments and not others: those who want to wander a town, eat at local restaurants or have a hire car for the afternoon will find it limiting. For those who want complete immersion in a genuinely extraordinary natural environment, with a luxury resort as their base, it is incomparable.
Considerably more than most visitors give it credit for, and this is one of the things that distinguishes Mauritius from its Indian Ocean neighbours. The island's interior is a landscape of volcanic peaks, tea estates, sugar cane fields and waterfalls, most famously the multi-coloured earth of Chamarel — a geological curiosity that rewards the short drive from the coast. The Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Gardens at Pamplemousse are among the finest in the southern hemisphere, with giant Victoria amazonica water lilies and a history stretching back to the 18th century. Mauritius has a vivid cultural mosaic — Hindu temples, colonial churches, Chinese pagodas, colourful markets — that reflects its extraordinary heritage, and the food, when you venture beyond the hotel, is an excellent expression of it: the Creole cuisine, the roti, the fresh seafood. Golf is available at a high level — several of our hotels have their own courses or access to championship layouts. Watersports are excellent, particularly on the west and east coasts, and deep-sea fishing off the south coast is some of the best in the Indian Ocean. Mauritius also has the most coherent transport infrastructure of the three destinations, making independent exploration genuinely practical. For those who want a proper luxury resort holiday with the option to genuinely engage with where they are, it is the most rounded of our Indian Ocean destinations.
The Seychelles is an archipelago of over 100 islands, though the main ones most visitors stay on are Mahé — the largest, where the international airport is — and Praslin, reached by a short domestic flight or ferry. La Digue, a quieter, largely car-free island of extraordinary granite scenery, is a short boat ride from Praslin and works very well as a day trip or a night or two. Further out, private island retreats such as Denis Island and the Six Senses Zil Pasyon on Félicité offer a degree of seclusion and intimacy that is quite unlike the larger island hotels. A well-structured Seychelles holiday often combines Mahé or Praslin — where the hotel options are wider and the snorkelling, diving and walking are excellent — with one of the smaller, more remote islands for the final few nights. The logistics of getting between islands are straightforward and we arrange them entirely: domestic flights, helicopters and ferries depending on the destination. What makes the Seychelles particularly compelling is the landscape above water as well as below it — the granite boulders and tropical forest of Praslin's Vallée de Mai, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the only place on earth where the extraordinary coco de mer palm grows wild, is unlike anything in the Maldives or Mauritius. For those who want both beauty and a sense of genuine place, the Seychelles rewards thoughtful planning.
It works very well, and for many clients it is the more satisfying option — particularly on a longer trip where the change of scene and hotel character adds to the experience rather than disrupting it. In Mauritius, the island's different coastlines have quite distinct characters: the west coast tends to have the calmest seas and the most glamorous hotel strip, while the east coast is wilder, slightly less developed and often more dramatic in landscape. Combining a few nights on each — staying in contrasting hotels that reflect the different faces of the island — gives a rounder sense of Mauritius than a single base allows. Transfers between hotels are straightforward and we arrange them as part of the holiday. In the Seychelles, a two-island combination is the natural structure for most visits. Staying on Mahé and then moving to Praslin — or adding a night or two on La Digue — gives you the capital island's beaches and walking alongside the quieter, more remote character of the outer islands and Praslin's extraordinary Vallée de Mai. The domestic flight between Mahé and Praslin takes around fifteen minutes and is an effortless connection. For those drawn to even greater seclusion, ending on one of the smaller private island properties adds a final chapter of complete quiet. We discuss the right balance — how many nights in each place, what type of hotel at each stage — as part of putting the itinerary together.

Our bespoke, luxury hotel holidays can be

● Long or short stays
● Combine a variety of different hotels in different regions
● Utilise a variety of transport arrangements including scheduled flights, private shared charter flights, seaplanes, boats and local car transfers

Included in all our holidays

● Concierge service
● Handcrafted helpful hints and local information provided with all our holidays
● Personal service by your sales consultant who looks after all aspects of your holiday
● Financial protection with our ATOL (3076) for all holidays including a flight and AFPS (6104) for all non-air holidays

Call us on 01392 441245

Luxury holidays to the Indian Ocean: bespoke luxury holidays to Mauritius, Maldives & Seychelles

Whilst it’s obvious to us at Expressions Indian Ocean and to our many regular clients, it’s worth explaining, if you are a newcomer to our site and our programme of luxury hotel holidays, what our holidays are all about and how they work. Expressions Holidays provides a framework for flexibility, personal requirements and individual arrangements. Everything we offer on this website and from our brochure can be booked as it is, or usually, customised at the request of clients. This might mean adding extra nights, reducing nights from suggestions, upgrading room types and including special arrangements. Ideally, once you have had a look at our holiday ideas, we speak to you about what you are looking for, so that we can then put together the ‘package’ for you, creating a tailor-made holiday and a price, along with upgrade and downgrade options. We find it most productive for us and our clients if we talk through the quotation, explain the day by day details and the pricing options. Then you have the full facts available in order to make your decision.

Our hotels

Our hotels and resorts in the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius, the Maldives and the Seychelles have been personally selected by Expressions Holidays for the quality and service they offer to our clients. We believe that they are the very best each country has to offer and they reflect the character of their surroundings. In Mauritius the resort hotels are luxurious with outstanding facilities and activities, geared to couples, families and honeymooners. Each hotel has a choice of land and water sports and spa facilities. In the Seychelles, there is a greater variety of hotels, with some being boutique hotels of charm and character, and other being the larger resort-hotels with amazing facilities. In the Maldives, the greatest difference is that each hotel occupies, usually, its own island or coral atoll, surrounded by a lagoon and reef, and reached by speedboat or seaplane. These island resorts vary in size and a distinguishing feature is the overwater accommodation, often sumptuous, on offer. Each description on our website is a personal description which conveys the character of each one whilst providing indispensable facts.

Travel to the Indian Ocean

We have worked with British Airways for many years and include their scheduled flights in our basic holiday prices, according to the season. We also work with Emirates, flying from several UK regional airports via Dubai to the Maldives, the Seychelles and Mauritius. We also work with Air Mauritius who have direct flights and flights via Paris or Amsterdam.

Transfers

On Mauritius we include a private car transfer in a vehicle large enough for your party size. Child and baby seats are provided. In the Seychelles, the type of transfer will depend on the island, with car transfers being the norm on Mahe and Praslin. In the Maldives, you travel from Male to your island resort by speedboat, seaplane or domestic flight plus a speedboat, depending on the location of the resort and its distance from Male.

Inter-island flights

In the Seychelles, you will need to take an Air Seychelles domestic flight between Mahe and Praslin. To reach Felicite where Six Senses Zil Pasyon is located there is a 20-minute helicopter ride, or you fly to Praslin and take a ferry.

Our bespoke, luxury hotel holidays can be

● Long or short stays
● Combine a variety of different hotels in different regions
● Utilise a variety of transport arrangements including scheduled flights, private shared charter flights, seaplanes, boats and local car transfers

Included in all our holidays

● Concierge service
● Handcrafted helpful hints and local information provided with all our holidays
● Personal service by your sales consultant who looks after all aspects of your holiday
● Financial protection with our ATOL (3076) for all holidays including a flight and AFPS (6104) for all non-air holidays

Call us on 01392 441245

Luxury holidays to the Indian Ocean: bespoke luxury holidays to Mauritius, Maldives & Seychelles

Luxury holidays to the Indian Ocean from Expressions Holidays aim to provide you with not only an outstanding beach holiday on a tropical island but a real flavour of each country, as much as possible. The Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius, the Seychelles and the Maldives enjoy a worldwide reputation for offering a holiday experience of luxury, elegance and refinement, whether sophisticated or more casual. Tourism on these islands has developed carefully, with the hotels blending into the natural environment. With the Seychelles and Mauritius, you can explore your surroundings quite easily, with many excursions and local activities. In the Maldives, you stay on often very remote islands although some are within reach of real communities where there is some interaction with the local people.

Islands of the Indian Ocean

Mauritius is a fascinating melting pot of peoples and cultures, a place where the religious traditions of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Buddhism sit comfortably with the racial mix of African, Indian, Chinese and European. It is a serene landscape of sugar-cane fields and mountain peaks, lush tropical fruit trees of banana and coconut, spices and bursts of bougainvillaea is bordered by soft white sands lapped by clear, vibrant turquoise waters. Casuarina trees line the beaches and just offshore are often moored small, flat fishing boats. Mauritius is a luxurious holiday paradise and made special and welcoming by its charming and courteous people.
The Seychelles are scenically some of the most beautiful islands in the world. Just south of the equator and outside the cyclone zone, the visitor to the Seychelles encounters the archetypal tropical island of white sand beach and palm trees. The people and culture are a mix of Arab, Indian, African and European; the institutions a blend of French and British. Laidback luxury encompasses the way of life for the visitor to the Seychelles. Island-hopping allows you to visit more than one of these beautiful islands and affords a range of island holiday experiences.
The Maldives are perfect for luxurious seclusion and outstanding relaxation, with low-lying, coral atolls, white sand beaches amid a dazzling blue-green sea. The hotels fit snugly into the landscape of the island, and great care has been taken to meet environmental regulations. Hotels on the Maldives have been constructed on designated islands so have become island resorts where little contact with the ‘real’ Maldives is possible. Below the surface of the sea an amazing world of coral beckons with some of the most extensive reefs in the world. An away-from-it all island experience with sensational underwater sightseeing.

Country facts

Unmissable holiday experiences in the Indian Ocean

Sir Seewoosagur Ramgolam botanical gardens at Pamplemousse on Mauritius, Chamarel Falls Mauritius, Trou d’Eau Douce village Mauritius, Le Vanille crocodile park Mauritius, Hindu temple at Poste de Flacq Mauritius, Beau Vallon beach Mahé, Walk from Danzilles to Anse Major Mahé, Jardin du Roi Mahé, Short eats in the Maldives, Snorkelling in the Maldives, Ride on a traditional dhoni boat in the Maldives, Try a undholi (like a hammock) and the joli (a net seat hung from a wooden frame) in the Maldives, Bodu beru traditional music and dance in the Maldives.

Call us on 01392 441245