Paradise Found in The Seychelles

Lots of places pride themselves as being “the ultimate holiday destination”. Very few deliver. The Constance Lemuria Resort, on the island of Praslin in the Seychelles, delivers in spades. Don’t take it from me. Take it from the Hawksbill Turtle.

These turtles are famously shy, fussy, nervous creatures. When they shuffle up the sand to make their nests, they demand absolute perfection on a beach if they are to lay their eggs. The smallest bit of evidence of development or pollution and they’re trotting back off into the Indian Ocean.

Three beautiful sandy beaches, which could easily have been used for the Bounty chocolate bar commercials, have met the turtles’ approval recently, and this is where the five-star hotel is sited. The hotel (part of the Constance group, which also own hotels in Mauritius, the Maldives and Madagascar) has a spa, three restaurants (and bars) and a swimming pool (split into three levels flowing from the hotel to the sea).

To get there, you fly into the international airport on the island of Mahe, before taking a slightly smaller plane for the 30-minute trip to Praslin. This is the second largest of the 115 islands which make up the archipelago of the Seychelles, but is still only two-and-a-half miles wide and seven miles long. The hotel itself is wonderfully comfortable, and most of the luxury villas have their own private pools and butlers, just in case the thought of making your own rum cocktail makes you break into a sweat.

The first thing you notice about the Seychelles, after the beaches and the coconut palms (which are everywhere), are the colours. You need sunglasses here, and that’s not just because the sun tends to shine every day of the year. Wherever you look, a psychedelic kaleidoscope of vibrancy and brilliance awaits. The water really is a rich turquoise hue and the sand is so fine and white it has the texture of Johnson’s baby powder.

Snorkelling is a must (sailing, diving, and fishing are also popular) and under the water you see exotic fish which are yellow, pink, green, blue, orange, purple and red and straight out of the children’s film A Shark’s Tale.

But, if all this hasn’t yet persuaded you, a new, bigger, better reason to visit has recently arrived on Praslin in the shape of a spectacular, 18-hole Championship layout. Designed by Marc Farry (the prematurely grey Frenchman who won the 1996 BMW International) it is an extraordinary feat of engineering, given the craggy cliff-side which the final five holes have to circumnavigate.

I have been fortunate enough to play golf all over the world, but have never come across a hole like the 166-yard par-3 15th. Basically, the tee is carved into the cliff-face and you flick with a wedge then wait 10 seconds as your ball drops down the mountain. Some of you may have seen (or even played) the Extreme Nineteen hole on the Legends course in South Africa. Well, this is the Seychellois version.

But, Farry’s creation is no one-hole wonder. The pick of the bunch on the front nine is the par-5 6th, which bends slowly left, with water all down the left, with an approach to an island green. The tiger who is courageous hugs the water, while the rabbit gives it a wide berth; but the message to both here is that three solid hits with a 4-iron beats a slash into the rubbish with the driver every time. (I smashed a driver right, into the trees, and ended up in the garden of one of the houses where the hotel workers stay.)

In fact, as so often at resort island courses, straight and steady is almost always better than long and wayward here. Island and near-island greens abound, often with massive boulders which front the putting surfaces, so that anything a bit short risks bouncing to kingdom come.

The course builds to a crescendo, and the final five holes will live on in the memory for years. The 520-yard par-5 18th is again played off a spectacular tee box, high up on the cliffs. (In fact, at sun-down, VIPs are often brought up here in a golf buggy for a bottle of Moet.) If you land your drive on the fairway, you are left with a tricky decision. To go with a wood to a green with water in front and on the right; or to lay up and play cautiously. My advice, all the way round, is to do the latter. And then, when the fat lady (not that there were any on the island) starts to sing, there are few better places to have a post mortem, armed with a cool cocktail.
One of the many refreshing things about playing golf on the Seychelles is that you can play pretty much anytime you want.

Because Praslin is a small island, the course is never busy. ‘Fancy a few holes before breakfast? No problem sir.’ ‘A buggy to take you out to play the final five holes as the sun goes down? We’ll have it waiting for you.’ For hotel guests, the golf is free and unlimited. It is also a great course, whatever level of golfer you are. So often, at so-called “championship” courses with multiple tees, amateurs feel intimidated because of pressure from behind. No need for such fears at Lemuria because this is still, as yet, an undiscovered gem.

It’s also the place to come if you are a celebrity, wanting to get away from it all. The island is used to dealing with those who frequent the pages of “Hello”, “Heat” and “Zoo” magazines, and the hotel has a bit of a reputation for making life difficult for the paparazzi. When Zinedine Zidane was being pursued by one particularly clingy and tenacious limpet, the snapper was chucked off the island before he could take one frame of the former Real Madrid football star. Mr Bean (aka Rowan Atkinson) visits on a regular basis, but given his performance in “Mr Bean plays Golf” let’s pray he leaves his clubs behind.