Seychelles Packing List

The principle

Almost every Seychelles packing list is a beach packing list. The beach part is easy and you already know it. The two things that get missed are that the interior is forest, cooler, wetter and steeper than the coast, and that the ground here is granite, which is slippery when wet and abrasive when dry.

Documents, in one place

• Passport, valid for the duration of your stay.
• Your travel authorisation confirmation, printed. It is obtained before you fly and it is not something the airport can issue. See Seychelles Visa and Entry Requirements.
• Your travel insurance certificate, printed. You may be asked for it on arrival, and as a tourist you pay for medical treatment here.
• A yellow fever certificate if you are arriving from a country listed as a transmission risk.

Feet

This is the part worth thinking about.

• Shoes with grip for the forest paths. Wet granite and smooth tree roots are the two surfaces people fall on, and both are on the short, easy walks as well as the long ones.
• Something you can get wet for boat landings, rock pools and beach walking. Beaches here are granite as often as they are sand.
• Sandals for everything else.

Sun, which is equatorial

You are close to the equator and the sun is overhead rather than slanted. A hat with a brim, high factor sunscreen, sunglasses, and a long-sleeved rash top for time in the water are worth more than they are anywhere further from it. Reef-safe sunscreen is the right default in a country whose economy rests on its reefs.

Rain and forest

• A light waterproof shell. Rain arrives hard and briefly rather than all day.
• A dry bag, for boat transfers and for the downpours.
• Insect repellent. Mosquito-borne illness is the health risk to plan around rather than anything exotic, and the forest and the dusk are where it matters.
• A light layer for the uplands, which are genuinely cooler than the coast.

In the water

Bring your own mask and snorkel if you have them; fit matters more than quality. Before you swim anywhere, note that the safe coast changes with the season: the west is the exposed side during the northwest monsoon and the east during the southeast wind season, and the southern tip is not suitable at any time of year. See Seychelles Travel Safety Guide.

What to leave behind

• Anything you would be upset to have taken from a beach or a parked car. Crime here is opportunistic rather than violent, and that is exactly the kind it is.
• Formal clothes. There is almost no occasion for them.
• Drone, unless you have checked the current rules with the authority. Assume restrictions near airports, ports and protected areas.
• Any medication you have not checked. The legal status of some prescriptions differs here, so carry them in labeled original packaging with a copy of the prescription.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Seychelles safety and security: opportunistic crime, the drug law and its penalties, the coast-by-season swimming rules, rip currents at Beau Vallon and the shortage of lifeguards. Accessed 14 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Seychelles health advice: the emergency number, the requirement that tourists pay for medical treatment, the main hospital at Mont Fleuri in Victoria, and the rules on bringing medication. Accessed 14 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Seychelles entry requirements: the travel authorisation obtained before travel, the three-month visitor's permit issued on arrival, passport validity for the duration of stay, proof of travel insurance and the yellow fever certificate rule. Accessed 14 September 2026.