Granite and coral: how the inner islands are made up
The inner islands of the Seychelles are all granite, apart from Bird and Denis Island. The Seychelles are a small island nation in the Indian Ocean, lying between roughly 4° and 10° south and 46° and 56° east.
Depending on how you count, the inner islands include around 41 granite islands grouped around the main islands of Mahé, Praslin and La Digue. On Mahé the peaks rise to over 900 m. There are also two low-lying coral islands: Denis Island and Bird Island.
There are two distinct regions: the granite islands, the only oceanic islands in the world made of granite rock, and the coral islands of the outer islands. The granite islands are the oldest oceanic islands in the world, while the outer islands are mostly very young. The Aldabra group and St. Pierre (Farquhar group) are the exception: unusual raised coral islands which, over their long history, have emerged and been submerged several times, most recently about 125,000 years ago.
Which island suits you?
Getting there and further overviews
How to travel between the islands is explained in Seychelles from A to B, on the page about domestic flights and in the overview of boat trips. All the islands, with their size and location, are in the list of Seychelles islands, and Islands of the Seychelles gives a general overview. For the wildlife and plants of the granite islands, read on at Flora and Fauna and Nature and Conservation.
Below this text you will find all the inner islands as a list of cards.
