The Outer Islands of the Seychelles are all built on coral
Good to know about the Outer Islands of the Seychelles
The Outer Islands, or coral islands, of the Seychelles archipelago are the islands that do not lie on the shallow Seychelles Bank (the Seychelles Plateau). This bank defines the position of the granitic Inner Islands in the east. The local Creole name for the Outer Islands is Zil Elwannyen Sesel, and the French name is Îles Éloignées. They are all built of coral and lie in the western Indian Ocean.
Together they make up around 46 per cent of the country's land area, yet fewer than one per cent of the population lives there.
The island groups at a glance
The usual division is into the Amirantes, the Alphonse Group, the Farquhar Group and the Aldabra Group, plus the southern coral islands. Bird and Denis are also coral islands, but they sit on the Seychelles Bank and so count as Inner Islands: Bird Island and Denis.
On Seychellen.com, the two atolls with an airstrip and a resort have their own pages: Desroches and Alphonse. For a general overview, see Islands of the Seychelles and the list of Seychelles islands.
Getting there and visiting
There is no public ferry linking the Outer Islands with Mahé. Desroches lies roughly 230 kilometres from Mahé, and Alphonse about 400 kilometres. The flight to Desroches takes around 35 minutes and leaves from the domestic terminal at Mahé airport. According to the flight information from the resort there, the return flight costs 550 euros per adult between 1 October and 20 December 2026 (as of November 2026). It is best to book flights and accommodation together through the resort concerned. For general information on domestic flights, see Domestic flights in the Seychelles, and for trips by boat, Boat trips in the Seychelles.
The reefs around the atolls are of most interest to divers; you can read more on the page Diving & Snorkelling. To find out how the delicate island environment is protected, read Nature and Conservation.
