Wednesday – April 15, 2026 – Port Victoria
The excursion we booked for Port Victoria is the same as we took last year. The excursion includes some time on a beach. Last year the beach had rocks and was uncomfortable to access from the Zodiac that brought us to it. After last year’s cruise we shopped for water shoes when we were in Navarre Beach, Florida. The featured photo shows the beach to which we were taken this year. This beach was nice and sandy – no need for the water shoes. But because we wore them, we needed to wash them, let them dry above our bathtub and get all the sand out (over our balcony) once they were dry. It was amazing how much sand was in those dried shoes – our butler brought his vacuum and cleaned up the mess I made when I emptied Jan and my shoes.
The gallery begins with a time-lapse of our sail into the Port Victoria dock. You’ll notice that clouds form then dissipate in the video. That is what happened all day long – no rain and nice sunshine while in port.
Our excursion was like but not exactly the same as last year due to some new environmental requirements. We boarded our catamaran and went to a location near a reef so people could snorkel and be taken by boat to a beach. The first activity after anchoring was a submersible where you could sit in rows of 3 seats and look left and right out glass to see the fish. There were many types of fish, and I tried to label those I could identify. Last year there was also a fish feeding while on the catamaran but this year that was forbidden due to those new environmental rules.
After the submersible we boarded a zodiac-like boat and were taken to a nearby beach, but not the same as last year – a beach that did not have rocks to navigate. We walked along the beach to find a place where we could both be in shade and access the water easily. The water was warm, there was a nice breeze and the time there was very relaxing. After an hour or so we were boated back to the catamaran for the return to the dock. I was the last one off the zodiac and had to wait for the water to calm from waves made by boats passing the zodiac (because it rocks very easily).
Once back on the dock we went to our cabins and changed clothes so we could go to the city for lunch. We hired a taxi to take us in and asked for a place to eat. He suggested a small café named Lansiv near the center of the city. Sitting next to us was a girl from the photo department. She was eating her lunch and said it tasted good. We ordered – Jan had mac and cheese, Kelsey a chicken quesadilla and fish and chips for me (with a mango/mint smoothie). Didn’t take long for the food to be delivered. It tasted great! During our meal the girl from the ship came and asked if we could help her – neither of her credit cards would work and she wondered if we would pay for her lunch (and she would pay us when we returned to the ship). I used my iPhone wallet with no problem (I’m liking this feature and using it as often as I can).
After lunch we went walking looking for a shop to buy souvenirs from Port Victoria (we didn’t find any last year). Along the way we passed a Buddhist temple – there are photos in the gallery. Found lots of shops with shirts for sale but none had Seychelles written on them. We were on the way back to the taxi area when we stumbled onto a shop the DID have shirts with Seychelles written on them. Jan and I each bought one – Kelsey didn’t find one she liked. As we exited the shop and began to walk away I noticed another shop with shirts. This shop also had shirts with Seychelles identified – and it had a design that Kelsey liked. Jan and I also found shirts we liked so this trip the two of us picked up 2 shirts from Seychelles. All the shirts at the second shop are printed on the Seychelles by the owners so they are not mass-produced.
Back at the ship we looked at the area around the dock and saw a large pile of black and yellow “stuff”. There is a photo in the gallery of this “stuff”. We think it is fishing net because we saw smaller piles of it on several of the boats near us. Never asked locals about the importance of fishing in that area but based on the amount of netting, it must be a good source of income.
Final photo in today’s gallery is of the passengers who performed for the rest of us.
P.S. As you know, today is the day Federal income tax returns are due. We haven’t filed ours yet and will need to do that once we return. That is one of the tasks I’m not looking forward to upon our return in May. It is not a difficult chore – just one that is like an ache you wish you could get rid of.
Photos from the Seychelles can be viewed here.