The best way to travel to the islands of Sainte Anne Marine Park is by glass-bottom boat or a semi-submersible. These vessels allow visitors a look into a colorful underwater world rich with fish and coral (snorkeling is available for those who want to explore further). For landlubbers, Cerf Island beaches are popular picnic grounds, Round Island's restaurant is famed for its tuna steaks, and Brendan Grimshaw, owner of Moyenne, spins wonderful tales of the island's pirate graves, ghosts, and buried treasure.

Under a perfectly blue, cloudless sky, we took off by small boat to the Ste Anne Marine National Park about 4 kilometres from the Seychelles' capital, Victoria. We switched to a semi-submersible for a view of the reef through its glass hull, and then waded ashore on a picture-book spit of sand on the southwest corner of Moyenne, one of six small islands in the park. An eccentric 75-year old Englishman, Brendon Grimshaw, who lives on the island with his "Man Friday", bought Moyenne in 1962 for £10,000. He clearly intends to die there too, since he told us how he dug his own grave last year (which we later saw). We strolled around the very pretty island where giant Aldabran tortoises have the right of way, and where Brendon has labeled many of the trees and plants over the years.After chilling out for a while in the shade of the casuarinas, we took the boat out to the reef edge and snorkeled. The reef was badly damaged by weather changes four years ago, but the variety and quantity of fish was astonishing, and it was a wonderful swim. It is said that the Seychelles has 930 species of fish and it is not hard to believe.

On nearby Round Island, we had a great Creole lunch at Chez Gaby, and sat over a beer or two enjoying this paradisiacal spot. After lunch, we walked around the tiny island and then sat and chatted with its owner, Peter Horner, before swimming and lazing amongst the rocks on the small, shady beaches.