Baie Sainte Anne

Baie Sainte Anne

Baie Sainte Anne is one of Praslin's two districts and one of its main settlements. It is the more populous district, with 4,272 residents in the 2022 census against 3,610 in Grand Anse Praslin. The bay itself is on the east side of the island.

Ferries

Cat Cocos catamarans stop at the Praslin jetty in Baie Sainte Anne. The operator gives journey times of 1 hour 15 minutes to or from Mahé and 15 minutes to or from La Digue, and some Mahé to La Digue sailings call here on the way. For anyone planning to split a stay between the two islands, this is the crossing point.

Beaches nearby

The tourism board describes Anse Takamaka as the last reachable beach at the end of Baie Sainte Anne. It is long and narrow, with little sand at high tide, sheltered by takamaka trees and close to a kayak rental. The board suggests it for couples marking an occasion. Anse La Farine, off the south-east of the island, can only be reached by boat. It lies in front of a hotel and has calm, shallow water behind a coral reef, used for snorkelling, kayaking and swimming.

Getting around

The Seychelles Public Transport Corporation runs public buses on Praslin and keeps a bus depot on the island. Taxis and hire cars are also available.

The bay and the village

Baie Sainte Anne, on Praslin's east coast, is the island's main transport hub. The government district profile says the district was first called Anse L'Amour and was named in 1851 by the Catholic priest Father Leon Des Avancher, as the profile spells it; it lists the shoreline as Anse Takamaka, Anse Bonnet Carre, Anse Madge, Anse L'Amour, Anse Badamier and Anse Lafarin, and records one hospital, one port, one police station, one primary school and one Roman Catholic church, with eight sub-districts under it, Anse La Blague, Anse Possession and Anse Boudin among them. SeyVillas notes that the village lacks a direct beach and is primarily residential, with grocery shops, banks and pharmacies, and that reclaimed land has created Eve Island, now joined to the village by bridges.

Arriving by sea

Cat Cocos, trading as Inter Island Boats, gives Mahé to Praslin as 1 hour 15 minutes, Praslin to La Digue as 15 minutes, and Mahé to La Digue as 1 hour 45 minutes via Praslin or 1 hour 10 minutes direct, and says trips marked with an asterisk on its schedule call at "Praslin Jetty (Baie Ste Anne)" (catcocos.com, 20 September 2026). Two landing points are mapped. OpenStreetMap places the Cat Cocos pier and ticket office at the southern end of the bay, the office mapped as opening at 06:30 or 07:30 depending on the day and closing at 18:00, except Wednesday and Thursday at 17:45 (node 5525774162, last edited 22 March 2022), with a Cat Cocos ticket machine beside it and free public toilets 10 m away in a straight line whose step-free access is tagged as limited (node 5649696241, last edited 2 January 2023). An Ero Passenger Terminal is mapped about 1.1 km north in a straight line (node 10690288522, added 24 February 2023), and Tourism Seychelles puts Hall Cuisine there, calling it the only takeaway on the terminal selling Creole food, open Monday to Saturday 08:00 to 16:00 with seating by the sea (record updated 30 September 2025). On 26 May 2026 State House said the President had been shown plans to redevelop the jetty, covering harbour upgrades, redesigned roads and traffic flow, expanded berthing and a "Harbour House" maritime service hub.

Getting on from the jetty

A car park is mapped 214 m from the centre of the Cat Cocos pier in a straight line and the Jetty bus stop 249 m, the stop on relations named "61 via Jetty" and "62 via Jetty"; Jetty Junction, 398 m away, is on "61 via Jetty" and on "62 Mont Plaisir via Consolation" (OpenStreetMap relations 13449329, 13449330, 13449331, 13449334 and 13449335). SPTC publishes no Praslin timetable, its August 2026 download covering Mahé routes only, but sells a Visitor Travel Card valid on Mahé and Praslin at SCR 100 or EUR 5 for one day, SCR 198 or EUR 12 for four and SCR 363 or EUR 22 for eight (sptc.sc, 20 September 2026). Vallée de Mai lies 3.3 km from the pier in a straight line and Praslin Island Airport 8.9 km.

Beaches around the bay

Two named beaches inside the bay are used mainly by fishermen.

Anse l'Amour is a small, sheltered bay protected by a small artificial island, so the water stays calm, flat and shallow. SeyVillas says seaweed is in the water most of the time, and a retaining wall built against erosion can cause strong tides. There is parking and a bus stop nearby.

Anse Madge, about 1 km of narrow sand, has fairly deep water with plants on the seabed, and currents often push seaweed and flotsam ashore. Fishing boats are sometimes pulled up for repairs. A bus stops nearby and there is parking.

Regulation 16 of the Beach Control Regulations, made under section 3 of the Beach Control Act (Cap. 14), requires the Minister to take the traditional interests of fishermen into account when deciding what beach and inshore activities are allowed.

Who it suits

SeyVillas presents both as places to watch the fishing fleet rather than beach-day destinations, close to the shops of the village. For a beach holiday, it says travellers tend to prefer Anse Volbert or Grand Anse.