Cousin Island Special Reserve

Cousin Island was bought in 1968 to save the Seychelles warbler, then down to about thirty birds surviving in a single patch of mangrove. The coconut plantation was allowed to revert to native forest, introduced predators were kept out, and the warbler recovered so completely that birds have since been moved to repopulate other islands. Today the small granitic island is a special reserve carrying dense colonies of noddies, tropicbirds and shearwaters, skinks and geckos underfoot, and one of the western Indian Ocean's most important hawksbill turtle nesting beaches. Visits are by guided walk only, on set mornings, with landings made by beaching the boat through the shallows.

What you actually see

• The seabird colonies - nesting noddies and white-tailed tropicbirds at arm's length.
• The Seychelles warbler - the bird the island was bought to rescue.
• Hawksbill turtle nesting - tracks and nests on the beaches in season.
• The regenerated native forest - what a Seychelles island looked like before plantations.

When to go

Guided visits run on set mornings through the week and pause seasonally - check with Nature Seychelles or a Praslin operator before planning. Hawksbill nesting peaks roughly October to January; seabird breeding is busiest in the southeast season from around May to September.

Honest expectations

Access is genuinely restricted: no independent landings, no swimming or snorkelling from the island, and visits are short guided walks on fixed paths. Landing involves stepping off a boat into shallow water, so waterproof footwear and a dry bag help. Seabirds nest at eye level and on the ground - staying on the path is not a suggestion. It is a wildlife visit rather than a beach day, and rewards anyone who arrives expecting exactly that.

Nearby

Praslin's Vallee de Mai and Anse Lazio, and the neighbouring Curieuse Island tortoise reserve.