North Island

A helicopter lifts off from Mahé, crosses twenty minutes of open Indian Ocean and sets down on a lawn between granite boulders. That is the arrival at North Island, Seychelles, a private island of just over 200 hectares with eleven villas and a rule that no more than 22 guests sleep on it at once.

History

The island was farmed for most of the twentieth century, planted with coconut palms and worked by a small settlement until the plantation was abandoned in the 1970s. Rats, cats and feral plants took over. In 1997 Wilderness Safaris, the Botswana-based safari company, bought the island with the idea of a resort that would pay for its own ecological repair. The project was named Noah's Ark. Rats were eradicated, the coconut monoculture was cut back and native trees were replanted. Aldabra giant tortoises were brought in, and the Seychelles white-eye, a small bird then close to extinction, was reintroduced. Hawksbill and green turtles returned to nest on the beaches.

The lodge opened to guests in 2003. In May 2011 Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, spent their honeymoon on the island, which brought it a level of attention it had never sought. In 2019 the resort joined Marriott's Luxury Collection as an affiliate while keeping its own management and its conservation programme.

Architecture and design

The villas were designed by the South African architects Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens, whose earlier work includes safari lodges in Botswana and Tanzania. Each is built of local timber, thatch, glass and stone, with carved wooden doors and furniture made on the island. The villas are large, around 450 square metres, with a bedroom pavilion, a separate lounge, an open-air bathroom, a private pool and a thatched sala on the sand. Villa North Island, the largest, has a second bedroom and sits apart on its own stretch of beach. Guests move about by electric buggy or bicycle on sand tracks.

The island's four beaches have different characters. East Beach is the long one in front of the villas. West Beach catches the sunset and is the swimming beach. Honeymoon Beach and Petit Anse are small coves that can be reserved for a single couple for a day.

Rooms and suites

There are no room categories to choose between: ten villas of the same design and the larger Villa North Island. Every villa fronts the beach, and every one has a pool. Two villas can be combined for families or groups who want to be together.

Dining

There is no printed menu. The chefs meet each guest on arrival, ask what they like, and cook from that, using fish landed on the island, vegetables from the garden and produce flown in from Mahé. Meals can be served in the villa, on the beach, in the Piazza (the central pavilion with the library and bar) or at the sunset bar on West Beach. Creole dishes sit alongside whatever the kitchen has been asked for.

Wellness

The spa is a set of open-sided treatment rooms in the granite above the beach. There is a gym, a dive centre and a resident marine team that takes guests snorkelling and diving on the reef. Guided walks explain the Noah's Ark work, and guests can join turtle patrols in nesting season.

Weddings and events

North Island hosts weddings, usually for the couple alone or with a small party, on the beach or at the villa. Whole-island buyouts, with all eleven villas and up to 22 guests, are the format for larger celebrations. There are no meeting rooms, and the resort does not take conferences.

Location

North Island lies about 30 kilometres north of Mahé, close to Silhouette Island. Guests fly into Seychelles International Airport on Mahé and continue by helicopter, around twenty minutes, or by boat on calm days. For a luxury resort on a private island this is as close to the main airport as the Seychelles gets.