Free Willy, a white motor catamaran with a black canopy, anchored in clear shallow water off a white beach in St Anne Marine Park
Private charter · St Anne Marine Park, Seychelles

Your own boat.
Your own crew.
The sea at low tide.

Free Willy is a 20 ft catamaran with a licensed skipper at the helm and its owner, James, aboard as your host. Half a day or a whole one in St Anne Marine Park, just you and the people you came with.

Build your trip from €350 WhatsApp James

In short: Free Willy is a private boat tour of St Anne Marine Park, off Mahé in the Seychelles. You get the whole catamaran, a licensed skipper and owner James as your host for about 3 hours (€350 for two) or about 5 hours (€550 for two). Snorkel gear, drinks and the park fee are included. The full day adds the giant tortoises of Moyenne Island and a Creole lunch. It leaves Eden Island at 09:00, timed for low tide.

4+2adults + children
09:00Eden Island
100+charters run
Why it's a must-do

The one day in Seychelles you shouldn't skip.

01

Never bussed around

No coach to the jetty, no queue for a crowded boat, no headcount. You step aboard your own catamaran and go.

02

Everything at your pace

Longer on the reef, another swim on the sandbank, a slow lunch. The day bends to you.

03

Priced for the whole boat

From €350 for two, €400 for three and €450 for four, with crew, fuel, park fees, snorkel gear and drinks included.

04

The best of the park

Reef, sandbanks, giant tortoises and a Creole lunch, all in one relaxed day.

Why low tide

James books the tide before he books the day.

When the water drops, the sandbanks between Round Island and Long Island rise out of the lagoon. For an hour or two there is white sand in the middle of the sea, knee-deep water the colour of glass, and nobody else on it.

Most boats in the park keep to a fixed timetable. Free Willy goes out when the sea is lowest, so every trip lands on the sandbanks at their best.

Low tide · sandbanks 09:00 leave Eden Island
James, owner of Free Willy, sitting barefoot on the bow of Free Willy above clear water, a green island behind him James on board Free Willy with a guest sitting on the bow
Your host

Meet James.

James is English and Seychellois, and Free Willy is his boat. He comes on every trip as your host. He knows these islands by their sandbanks and reefs: where the water is clearest this morning, which sandbank is empty, where the turtles feed.

A fully licensed professional skipper sails the boat and works as deckhand, so James is free to look after you. Guests remember him as the best part of the day: warm, easy and genuinely kind.

There's no crowd of thirty on a big catamaran and no fixed script. It's your group, a crew of two, and a day that runs at your pace.

100+private charters across the marine park, and counting
The boat

Meet Free Willy.

Free Willy is a 20 ft motor catamaran, and she was made for this park. Two hulls keep her steady and level on the water.

She's small enough to anchor in the shallows right beside the sandbanks, and roomy enough for six to stretch out on cushioned seats under the canopy. The whole boat is yours for the day.

Free Willy in crystal shallows beside a green island
Free Willy anchored off a white beach in the marine park
James and a guest on Free Willy in the shallows
Anchored off a quiet beach
Cushioned deck seating on Free Willy
The helm of Free Willy at Eden Island
Free Willy at Eden Island marina
Free Willy on a sandbank at low tide
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  • 20 ft catamaran

    Two hulls, steady on the water

  • Sun canopy

    Shade over the deck all day

  • Cushioned seats

    Room to stretch out, front and back

  • Your group only

    Up to 4 adults and 2 children

  • Crew of two

    A licensed skipper sails, James hosts

  • Eden Island

    Leaves the marina at 09:00
Island by island

Every island has its own job in the day.

St Anne Marine Park is six small islands and the reef between them, protected since 1973 and just a few minutes off Mahé. Big tour boats tend to visit one island and leave. On Free Willy you move between them at your own pace, and each one gives you something different.

Round Island with its white sandbar, Mahé's mountains behind
01

Round Island

For the reef

Round Island is barely larger than its own reef, a green dome of palms and granite ringed by coral. That ring of coral is the reason to stop. The water off its edges is some of the clearest in the park, and the reef sits close to the surface, so even nervous snorkellers see everything: parrotfish grazing the coral, butterflyfish in pairs, shoals of silver sergeant majors and, often, a hawksbill turtle drifting past.

The skipper anchors on the sheltered side and James hands out masks and fins. Stay in for twenty minutes or an hour.

  • Best for: snorkelling, turtles, photos of the island from the water
  • On: half day and full day
A woman lying on a wide white sandbank, a green island on the horizon
02

The Long Island sandbanks

For the moment everyone remembers

This is the stop that makes people go quiet. When the tide drops, a long tongue of pure white sand surfaces in the lagoon off Long Island. You step off the boat into water up to your ankles, and the sand is soft enough to lie down on.

It only appears near low tide and only for a while, which is why James times every trip around it. Bring a camera, a bottle of something cold and nothing else.

  • Best for: swimming, walking on the sea, sunset-coloured water, proposals
  • On: half day and full day
A giant Aldabra tortoise walking towards the camera on a shaded forest path on Moyenne
03

Moyenne Island

For the tortoises, and the story

Moyenne is often called the smallest national park in the world, and it's the island with the best story in the Seychelles. Brendon Grimshaw bought it in 1962 and spent half a century turning scrub into forest, with paths, a chapel and dozens of giant Aldabra tortoises that still roam free.

The walk is gentle and shaded, about 45 minutes, past huge tortoises, a nursery of young ones, the chapel and the old graves. Then lunch is on the same island.

  • Best for: families, wildlife, history, a long lunch
  • On: full day
St Anne Island and its neighbours from the air, reef and yachts in turquoise water off Mahé
04

St Anne Island

For the beaches

The largest island in the park and the place where Seychelles began: the first French settlers landed here in 1770. Its beaches face the calm inner lagoon, with soft sand and shallow water that warms up through the day.

On the way between stops, the boat can pause off its shore for a swim, or anchor for a quiet hour on the sand.

  • Best for: sunbathing, a lazy swim, history
  • On: when time and tide allow
Red soft corals and hard coral on a reef, with shoals of small orange fish
Under the surface

A reef you can almost touch.

St Anne Marine Park has been protected since 1973, and it shows. The reefs have had half a century without nets, and the water inside the islands is calm, shallow and warm, around 27 to 30 °C most of the year. You don't need to dive or be a strong swimmer. Float face-down a metre above the coral and the whole reef carries on around you as if you weren't there.

Free Willy stops at the best snorkelling spots for the day's light and tide, often on the sheltered side of Round Island, where the coral comes up close to the surface. Everything you need is on board: masks, snorkels and fins in adult and children's sizes, plus life jackets for anyone who wants to float without effort. James knows where the turtles feed and where the big shoals gather, and he'll show you.

  • Masks, snorkels and fins in adult and children's sizes
  • Life jackets and buoyancy aids
  • Calm, shallow, warm water, ideal for beginners
  • Ice, a cool box and drinking water on board
Striped sergeant major fish swimming over a coral head in clear blue water
Sergeant majors over the coral
A shoal of orange reef fish above a coral garden on white sand
A coral garden and its shoal
A snorkeller's field guide

Who you'll meet on the reef

All of these live in Seychelles waters and are regularly seen in the marine park. The sea decides who turns up on the day.

A chevron butterflyfish beside coral

Chevron butterflyfish

Chaetodon trifascialis

A small white fish drawn with fine chevrons, always close to the table coral it guards. Butterflyfish usually swim in pairs.

A bright yellow Zanzibar butterflyfish with a black spot

Zanzibar butterflyfish

Chaetodon zanzibarensis

Brilliant yellow with a single dark spot, an Indian Ocean native. You'll see it picking at the coral in the shallows.

A young Koran angelfish with blue and white curved stripes

Koran angelfish

Pomacanthus semicirculatus

Young ones are deep blue with white curved lines, and adults turn olive and gold. Shy but curious, it often circles back for a second look.

A humbug damselfish with black and white bands

Humbug damselfish

Dascyllus abudafur

A tiny black-and-white striped fish that darts into branching coral as you pass. Little groups hover over a single coral head.

A black-saddled pufferfish with dark bands and spots

Black-saddled puffer

Canthigaster valentini

A small, round, spotted pufferfish with dark saddles across its back. Slow, easy to follow, and a favourite with children.

A goldbar wrasse with blue and gold markings

Goldbar wrasse

Thalassoma hebraicum

Fast, blue-green and painted with a gold bar, it zips over the reef in busy groups. It lives only in the western Indian Ocean.

A scissortail sergeant with black stripes in open water

Sergeant majors

Abudefduf species

Striped like a uniform and fearless, they'll swim right up to your mask. Shoals over the coral can number in the hundreds.

A green turtle resting on a Seychelles beach at dusk

Turtles

Hawksbill and green

Hawksbill turtles feed on the park's reefs and green turtles graze the seagrass. Seeing one glide past is the moment people talk about all evening.

Also look for

Parrotfish crunching coral (much of the white sand is their work), Moorish idols trailing long fins, surgeonfish, trumpetfish hanging still, and starfish and sea cucumbers on the sand between the coral heads.

Look, but please don't touch. The coral is alive, and the park is protected by law. Reef-safe sunscreen helps keep it that way.

Your boat, your rules

Bring the champagne. Bring the cake. Bring whatever you like.

Because Free Willy is private, there's no bar menu and no corkage. Bring as much of your own drink as you like: a bottle of champagne for the sandbank, cold beers for the ride home, rosé for lunch. Bring your own picnic, snacks, fruit, a birthday cake. James has ice and a cool box ready on board.

Water and soft drinks are already included. Everything else is your call.

  • Champagne and winePop it on the sandbank
  • Beer and spiritsKept cold on ice
  • Your own foodPicnics, snacks, fruit, cake
  • MusicYour playlist, your volume
  • Speakers, cameras, dronesAll welcome on board
Who it's for

One boat, three kinds of perfect day.

A quiet palm-shaded beach looking across the lagoon to the mountains of Mahé

Couples

A honeymoon day with nobody else on board. Champagne on a sandbank, a reef to yourselves, lunch with your feet in the sand. Couples pay less: €350 half day, €550 full day.

Free Willy anchored off a palm-fringed beach in turquoise water

Friends

Four of you, a cool box of beers and a playlist. Swim off the back, snorkel the reef, lie out on the deck. €450 half day, €700 full day for all four.

A mother carrying her child across a clear, shallow sandbank

Families

A steady catamaran, knee-deep sandbanks and giant tortoises children can feed. Room for four adults and two children, who are €25 (half day) or €50 (full day) each.

A full day on Free Willy

How the day unfolds.

  1. Pick-up

    Optional, €40. Collection from your hotel anywhere on Mahé.

  2. Eden Island

    Step aboard. Ice in the cool box, your drinks in, canopy up.

  3. Round Island reef

    First snorkel of the day, in the morning light while the water is at its clearest.

  4. The sandbanks at low tide

    Walk, swim, lie on the sand, open the champagne.

  5. Moyenne tortoise walk

    Forest paths, giant tortoises, the chapel and Grimshaw's story.

  6. Creole lunch

    Buffet at the Jolly Roger, under the trees, facing the sea.

  7. Slow way home

    One last swim, then back to Eden Island. Drop-off at your hotel if you want it.

Times shift with the tide. The half day covers the reef and the sandbanks and is back by about midday.

Build your trip

Pick a day. See the price.

Prices are for the whole boat, not per person. Couples pay less. Send your trip straight to James on WhatsApp.

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Every trip includes

  • The whole boat, private, for your group
  • A licensed skipper, with James as your host
  • Fuel
  • Water, soft drinks, ice and a cool box
  • Masks, snorkels, fins and life jackets
  • St Anne Marine Park fee (adults)

The full day adds

  • Moyenne Island tortoise walk fee
  • Creole buffet lunch at the Jolly Roger
  • About 2 more hours on the water

Hotel transfers are optional at €40 each way.

Brendon Grimshaw, smiling, sitting in the shallow water off Moyenne with a friend
Brendon Grimshaw (right), who gave his life to Moyenne.
The small wooden chapel among the trees on Moyenne Island
The little chapel on Moyenne.
Full day · Moyenne Island

The island one man brought back to life.

In 1962 a Yorkshire newspaper editor called Brendon Grimshaw bought Moyenne, a small, overgrown island. He spent the next fifty years there, planting thousands of trees, cutting paths and bringing in giant Aldabra tortoises. He refused every offer to sell it.

Today Moyenne is a national park. On the full day you walk its forest trail, past the chapel and the graves, while tortoises the size of armchairs wander across the path and stretch their necks for a leaf.

Full day · The Creole table

Lunch the way Seychellois eat it.

Seychelles Creole food is island cooking with African, French, Indian and Chinese roots, built on what the sea and the garden give. Fish is the heart of it: red snapper, job fish and tuna, grilled whole over charcoal or simmered in coconut curry. Around it come the things every Creole kitchen keeps: lentils cooked soft with garlic and thyme, rice, sharp green papaya and mango satini (chutney), tomato rougay, breadfruit, and pineapple and banana so ripe they taste of honey.

On the full day you eat it at the Jolly Roger, the bar and restaurant on Moyenne, overlooking the park and Mahé. The buffet changes with the day's catch: grilled fish, marinated meats, curries, salads and local vegetables. Go back as often as you like. Lunch is included, and so is the view.

Grilled fishThe catch, charcoal-grilled with lime and chilli
Kari kokoFish or chicken in mild coconut curry
SatiniGrated green papaya or mango chutney
LantiySoft-cooked lentils, garlic and thyme

Vegetarian, or something you can't eat? Tell James when you book. And if you'd rather picnic on the sandbank with your own food, you're welcome to.

A plate of Creole buffet food: fish, curry, rice, noodles and salad The painted Jolly Roger Bar and Restaurant sign on Moyenne Shaded tables on the Jolly Roger terrace with the sea beyond
Private or shared

Why a private boat changes the day.

Shared catamaran tourFree Willy, private
Who's on boardUp to 30 or more strangersOnly your group
TimingFixed timetablePlanned around low tide
SandbanksOften missed or crowdedAt their best, often empty
Your own drinksUsually not allowedBring anything you like
PaceEveryone moves togetherStay longer where you love it
SkipperCrew shared by everyoneJames, just for you
Questions

Everything people ask James.

How much is a private boat tour in St Anne Marine Park?

On Free Willy a private half day (about 3 hours) costs €350 for a couple, €400 for 3 adults or €450 for 4 adults. A full day (about 5 hours) with the Moyenne tortoise walk and Creole lunch costs €550 for a couple, €650 for 3 adults or €700 for 4 adults. The price is for the whole boat, with a licensed skipper, James as host, fuel, drinks, snorkel gear and the marine park fee included.

Who sails the boat?

A fully licensed professional skipper, who also works as deckhand. James, the owner, comes on every trip as your host and guide.

Is snorkelling gear included?

Yes. Masks, snorkels, fins and life jackets are on board in adult and children's sizes. The water in the marine park is calm, shallow and warm, which makes it ideal for beginners.

What fish will we see snorkelling?

On the reefs of St Anne Marine Park you'll often see butterflyfish, angelfish, damselfish, wrasse, parrotfish, Moorish idols, pufferfish and big shoals of sergeant majors. Hawksbill and green turtles are often seen too.

What is included in the full day?

The boat, a licensed skipper and James as your host, snorkel gear, fuel, water and soft drinks, the St Anne Marine Park fee, the Moyenne Island tortoise walk fee and a Creole buffet lunch at the Jolly Roger on Moyenne.

How many people fit on Free Willy?

Up to 4 adults plus 2 children under 12. Children cost €25 each on the half day and €50 each on the full day.

Where does the boat leave from?

Eden Island, Mahé, at 09:00, timed for low tide. Hotel pick-up and drop-off anywhere on Mahé is €40 each way.

Why does the tour go at low tide?

At low tide the sandbanks between Round Island and Long Island rise out of the lagoon, so you can walk on white sand in the middle of the sea. James plans every trip around the tide table.

Do we pay the marine park fee separately?

No. The SCR 200 St Anne Marine Park fee for each adult is included. Children under 12 don't pay it.

Is it suitable for children and non-swimmers?

Yes. Free Willy is a catamaran, so it sits flat and steady, and the sandbanks are knee-deep. Ask James for life jackets in children's sizes when you book.

Is this good for a honeymoon or a proposal?

It's private, so nobody else is on board. Couples get their own price: €350 for the half day, €550 for the full day. Tell James what you have in mind and he'll pick the quietest sandbank.

Can we bring our own alcohol and food?

Yes, as much as you like. Free Willy is private, so there's no corkage and no bar. Bring champagne, wine, beer, a picnic, snacks or a cake. Ice and a cool box are on board, and water and soft drinks are included.

What should we bring?

Swimwear, a towel, reef-safe sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, a camera and anything you want to drink. Snorkel gear, ice and a cool box are on board. A light shirt helps on the ride home.

What happens if the weather is bad?

James and the skipper watch the forecast and the sea. If it's unsafe or the water won't be clear, he'll move your trip to another day.

Which is better, the half day or the full day?

The half day is the reef and the sandbanks, back by about midday. The full day adds the Moyenne tortoise walk and a Creole lunch, so it suits families and anyone who wants the whole experience. Couples often choose the full day for the long lunch.

How do I book?

Build your trip on this page and send it to James on WhatsApp at +248 253 8933, or email [email protected]. He confirms the day against the tide table.

St Anne Marine Park from the air: white sandbanks and reef in turquoise water off Mahé

The sandbank is waiting.

Pick your day. James will check the tide.

Build your trip
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