"Pros: The villa itself is very big, clean, comfortable and very spacious - ideal for a large family or group. We were three families - a total of 6 adults and 4 kids and the 5 bedroom villa with its large living area and kitchen was perfect! Located on Cerf Island, just 20 minutes from Mahe by boat, the villa offers calm and peaceful seclusion with access to the beach right in front of the property. The island itself has plenty of activities and things to do from Kayaking to trekking across the island, snorkelling, etc. We did all of it as a group as it was all very kid friendly stuff as well.
Staying on an island only meant that we had to plan in advance things like groceries, etc as the island has no shops. There's no regular ferry service and must be booked 24 hours in advance. However, the villa is serviced by L'Habitation - a resort that's about 150mts from the property, which has its own bar and restaurant. So, if you're not in the mood to cook, you could just as well grab a meal at the resort's restaurant.
For activities, we had Dominic, a very helpful and knowledgeable islander, who took care of all our water activities like snorkelling, island-hopping, etc. Dominic takes you out in his own boat which can accommodate 10 people for short trips around the island.
Cons: The service was very slow. For instance, if we ran out of water, we'd have to wait almost an entire day for our drinking water to be replenished leading us to boil tap water in the meantime, which we found ourselves doing almost every day.
As a guest, you pay for everything including all meals and water. So, it was a bit frustrating to have to keep following up with the Resort for our water to be replenished.
There's cleaning staff that came in every morning at 8:30am to wash up, make the beds, clean the bathrooms and even do the laundry. On the first day, they mentioned they are on the property and accessible for any work until 3:00pm. However, when asked if we could put our clothes in the machine post 12 after our beach swim, they said it was not possible.
We noticed they were washing either their own clothes or somebody else'
When asked if they'd clear up after we cooked lunch, they said they only clean up once in the morning, which was fine by us, except we were informed differently on the first day.
Fishing Excursion: This was quite frankly a nightmarish experience. We weren't given any warning or heads-up on what to expect from and how to prepare for the trip. 30 minutes into the boat ride and we were all extremely sick. The sea was pretty rough and the boat tossed and slammed into waves every few seconds. The kids threw up and then the adults followed soon after. Within 30 minutes, we found ourselves lying flat out on the boat deck with absolutely no strength and terribly dehydrated. When we started to feel sick, they mentioned tablets and medication that one could have taken. This wasn't told to us before the trip. It took us the entire day to re-hydrate and recover from it. We expressed our thoughts and concerns with Dominic who organised the expedition and received no response. Dominic did a fine job with the snorkelling and Moyen Island trip, so we had great confidence in his recommendations." ~Warren