Jane Archer takes a look at cruising in the Indian Ocean
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Sun, sea and sand are synonymous with the Caribbean, but what if your client has been to the West Indies and wants something different? Consider the Indian Ocean, an area that offers everything from the ‘three Ss’ to cultural excursions and big-game safaris.
However, the presence of Somali pirates in certain areas had stopped the region becoming a firm fixture on the cruise map.
There is one exception. Costa Cruises has operated a winter programme in the region since launching round-trip voyages from Port Louis in Mauritius in 2007, with a break between 2012 and 2014.
Now, however, as Nato patrols appear to have got the piracy under control, other companies are starting to dip their toe in the Indian Ocean’s waters.
Voyages to Antiquity has introduced Indian Ocean cruises for next winter, while Holland America Line and Fred Olsen will be passing through the region in 2015 and 2016.
Greek-owned small-ship line Variety Cruises, meanwhile, has been offering island-hopping tours in the Seychelles for the past 18 months (see tried & tested).
The Indian Ocean is the world’s third-largest sea, stretching from South Africa in the west to Australia in the east.
However, cruise lines’ Indian Ocean sailings generally focus on an area that takes in the eastern side of the Cape and the island nations of Mauritius, Seychelles, the Maldives, Madagascar and the Comores, as well as India itself.
The area still includes a hugely diverse collection of attractions. In South Africa, clients can take a big-game safari – Addo Elephant Park and Hluhluwe Game Reserve are accessible on day trips from Port Elizabeth and Richards Bay respectively – while those cruising around India can enjoy the cultural explosion that is Mumbai or visit the Kerala backwaters from Cochin.
In Sri Lanka, there are tours of the temple at Kandy and to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, while Mauritius has beaches and the bustling capital of Port Louis. Madagascar is famous for beaches and biodiversity, with its wildlife highlights including lemurs, chameleons and sea turtles, as well as giant baobab trees, orchids and pristine rainforest.
Costa has introduced ‘slow’ cruises from Port Louis for this winter on board neoClassica, the former Costa Classica, which is the latest vessel to join its neo ship collection. These pack in fewer ports, so passengers have more time to see the sights at the top destinations, as well as offering small-group excursions and onboard cuisine that reflects the places the ships are visiting.
Costa neoClassica is operating 14-night itineraries from Port Louis this month and next, and then again from December to February 2016. The cruises will spend two nights in Mahé in the Seychelles, and also visit Nosy Be, Diego Suarez and Tamatave in Madagascar, and St Denis in Réunion.
Voyages to Antiquity is making its South Africa and Indian Ocean debut in November 2015 with a 31-day voyage from Malaga to Cape Town. This will be followed by two South Africa cruises that include excursions to game parks, and a 26-day sailing from Cape Town to Colombo in Sri Lanka, departing on January 16 2016, featuring three days in the Seychelles and one in the Maldives. Prices start at £3,450 a person, including flights and transfers.
Despite the Indian Ocean’s varied attractions, most cruise lines sail through the region while relocating between the east and west or cruising around Africa.
Swan Hellenic is visiting the west coast of India on a 15-day cruise from Colombo to Muscat, Oman, in March. Holland America Line visits the Seychelles, Madagascar, Mozambique and Durban in South Africa on an 85-night voyage around Africa round-trip from Southampton that departs on September 27. Cruise-only prices start at £7,899.
Fred Olsen’s Boudicca will also sail the Indian Ocean on a cruise around Africa departing Southampton on January 5, 2016, with calls in the Seychelles, Zanzibar, Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion, Mozambique, Richards Bay and Durban.
Silversea expedition ship Silver Discoverer operates a 17-day voyage from Malé in the Maldives to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania that spends three days each in the Maldives and Seychelles, and visits Aldabra, a coral atoll that is part of the Seychelles Outer Islands, the French island of Mayotte and Mozambique. Cruise-only prices start at £9,050.
Tried & Tested: Island-hopping in the Seychelles
Jane Archer island-hops around the Seychelles with Variety Cruises, sold through Saga Holidays
There are three things to remember when going ashore on Cousin Island. Wear a hat, take plenty of tissues and avoid looking up.The island, one of nine I visited during a one-week cruise around the Seychelles sold by Saga Holidays, is teeming with exotic birds that are not too fussy where they leave their calling cards. If you escape without one – and no, I didn’t – you are very lucky.
I call the trip a ‘cruise’ because it does bear all the hallmarks of a holiday at sea – a week on a ship being looked after by a friendly crew – but it is actually something of an overstatement.
On the first day, we cruised from Victoria, the capital of the Seychelles, to St Anne Island – a journey that took about 20 minutes. The next morning, there was a three-hour cruise from St Anne to Curieuse. After that, there was the occasional hour of sailing between the other islands, before a final three-hour cruise back to Victoria. If you added the nautical miles together, you would maybe get from Southampton to Guernsey.
It makes for a wonderfully relaxed holiday, with gentle trips ashore and plenty of time for swimming, snorkelling and snoozing. When they had time off from looking after the passengers, the crew also stripped off and jumped in the water. Even the captain joined us for a swim one day.
As embarkation doesn’t start until 2pm, you can fly overnight from the UK to Mahé (the best flights are via Dubai or Abu Dhabi and most arrive early morning). But I travelled the Saga way, flying out early and spending a night at the Crown Beach Hotel, a lovely boutique property the company is packaging with the cruise, so I could recover from the jet lag and see Victoria before joining the cruise.
Although the trip is sold in the UK by Saga, the cruise is operated by Variety Cruises, a Greek company that specialises in small ships. The 44-passenger Pegasus, built in 1992, is the old lady of its fleet, and was showing her age, but what she lacked in style was more than made up for by the whole holiday experience.On Curieuse, we went ashore at Baie Laraie to see the island’s giant tortoises, then walked through the mangroves to Anse St José for a swim and barbecue lunch.
On Cousin, I went on a birdwatching walk with one of the park rangers, while on Aride I hiked to a lookout point and, on the way back to the beach, came across a turtle burying her eggs in the sand.
These tours were included, but excursions to Vallée de Mai in search of the Seychelles’ elusive black parrot on Praslin and a trip to L’Union Estate on La Digue cost an extra €75 and €70 respectively.
Book it: Prices start at £2,999 for a nine-night holiday with Saga Holidays, departing March 25. The price includes flights, transfers, two nights at the Crown Beach Hotel and seven-night cruise.
