Which one should you choose: Maldives or Seychelles?
This is not an easy one to answer. Yet, having been tens of times to both these incredible destinations, we will be able to guide you through and hopefully, help you decide which one fits you best.
It is very important to understand that, even though both these luxury destinations seem, at first glance, very similar, they actually have huge differences.
So, without wasting any more time, let's jump in to find out which destination is better between the Maldives or the Seychelles.
The natural beauty
Let's start this battle between the Maldives and the Seychelles with the natural beauty of both places. Well, the short answer is: both are absolutely stunning.
The long answer is that they are beautiful in different ways.
The Maldives is the flattest country in the world with no relief at all. In the most luxurious resorts in the Maldives, like Four Seasons Landaa Giraavary (that we reviewed here), the beauty will be about the beautiful shades of blue next to long stretches of white sandy beaches.
On the other hand, the Seychelles do not have the same blues (the water looks less stunning than in the Maldives) but the beaches are maybe more esthetically beautiful with the huge rocks, symbols of the Seychelles. The relief make it maybe more interesting than the Maldives, so, if you are a huge fan of photography, this might give you more creativity options.
Overall, it is almost impossible to take a winner out between the Maldives or the Seychelles in this section. But don't worry, there are other sections where it will be much easier to differentiate them and to find a clear winner.
Underwater world
Both the Maldives and the Seychelles are tropical destinations that attract many tourists for their underwater activities, i.e diving and snorkeling.
In this section, there is a VERY clear winner, and it is the Maldives. If the Maldives is a 9/10 for diving and snorkeling, the Seychelles would only be a 5 or a 6, at maximum. Visibility, fish life, coral life, everything is clearly better in the Maldives.
Therefore, if you care a lot about all these water activities, the choice is simple: choose the Maldives over the Seychelles.
The resorts quality
As top recommended traval agents for the Maldives, we of course know a lot about luxury resorts in both places.
If the Maldives has around 40+ ultra luxury resorts, the selection is way more limited in the Seychelles. There are approximately 8 resorts that we would recommend. What does that mean? The competition is way more intense in the Maldives than in the Seychelles.
And so what? The bigger the competition, the more intense the fight, the better each resort has to be. This results in having some of the most amazing resorts in the world in the Maldives, while the Seychelles has great resorts, but nothing as extraordinary that in the Maldives.
If you are looking for the best resorts, you should choose the Maldives over the Seychelles.
Food & Beverage and service
When talking about luxury resorts, the level of service and the quality of F&B are always important criteria to analyse. So, when it comes to that, which country is better between the Maldives or the Seychelles? Or, more exactly, in which country the resorts deliver better?
For this, we'll get to the same answer than just above. Not only the resorts are generally better but this is very true as well for the service as well as food & beverage. Generally in the Seychelles, the food is quite expensive given the quality you receive.
In the Maldives, of course, it is not cheap either, but you get much better quality. Also, it is very common to have a private buttler with your villa, which is very rare in the Seychelles (only a few top luxury resorts have private buttlers).
The accommodation
We are still around the resort in this section. Yet, it seems pretty obvious what is better between the Maldives or the Seychelles when it comes to accommodation.
While the Seychelles' best accommodations would be a luxury beach villa, the best in the Maldives would be overwater. For a long time, this was very unique to the Maldives and French Polynesia, but now, a few other countries like Qatar, the UAE or Saudi Arabia (cf our review of Shebara, an incredible resort with overwater villas) also offer this type of accommodations.
Obviously, our preference goes to the Maldives with their overwater villas which are better than any beach villa that you could get in the Seychelles. If you are looking for something super unique, this is the way to go.
The diversity of activities
If you are still wondering where to go between the Maldives or the Seychelles, here's an other point that may influence your decision.
If the Maldives are mostly about water activities or chilling on the beach, the Seychelles offers way more options. You can move around different islands like Praslin, La Digue, Mahe,...and do tons of amazing hikes and cultural tours.
Therefore, if you are not a big fan of being stuck on an island for a week with mostly water activities as your options (note that most of the best resorts have gyms, tennis courts, volleyball,...), you should choose the Seychelles over the Maldives.
Pricing
In order to conclude this duel between the Maldives and the Seychelles, let's talk about pricing.
Obviously, this is a very important point for many people and, on this, it is not an easy one to answer.
Indeed, the Maldives offer some excellent options between $1000 to $4000+ a night. In the Seychelles, you would have some very good luxury resorts that we often recommend to our clients between $600 to $4000 a night.
Therefore, if most resorts would be more expensive in the Maldives, the Seychelles also has some very high end options that would cost around the same as the very high end of the Maldives.
We would only be able to advise on this point if you have a clear idea of your budget, and, based on that, we can tell you if you would get better options in the Maldives or in the Seychelles.
Conclusion: yes...we do prefer the Maldives, but...
To conclude and answer the question "which destination is better between the Maldives and the Seychelles?" we would say that, overall, the Maldives is a better option.
It wins in so many ways (service, food, underwater activities, resorts quality) and, unless you don't like being stuck on an island for 1 week (or more) and love hiking, there is little chance that you would prefer the Seychelles over the Maldives.
If you have any question or need help booking your luxury resort in any of these 2 destinations, feel free to contact us and we'll be very happy to assist you and get you the most competitive rates.
