Visiting the Seychelles:
Questions and Answers

1. Travel documents:

a passport valid until the end of the trip;

return tickets;

hotel booking confirmation or voucher;

completed immigration card

2. Negative PCR test result OR vaccination certificate
3. Insurance Covering COVID-19
4. Approved Health Travel Authorization (HTA)

How do I get a medical entry permit from the Seychelles Department of Health (Health Travel Authorization (HTA))? To do this, fill in the information for each tourist at the link: www.seychelles.govtas.com - an application can be submitted from 72 to 1 hour before departure. All travelers are permitted to enter, regardless of vaccination status.

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When applying for a permit, the following information must be provided:

1. Scan / photo of the passport;
2. Traveler's contact details;
3. Travel details (flight details, travel dates, address and name of hotel(s));
For permission, you need a hotel (guest) from the list of accredited ones (the list is in the chat files). To confirm, a booking from Booking (or another site) is enough.
4. Photo / scan of a negative PCR test (if available, a certificate of vaccination);
5. Credit or debit card for payment. You can pay on the site with a UnionPay card.

This service is paid (including children).

Service cost:
Standard handling €10 adult / €6 child. The term of consideration is not more than 9 hours.
Expedited processing €70 adult / €15 child. The term of consideration is no more than 1 hour.

Attention! Only for citizens of the Russian Federation due to problems with paying online for an entry permit on the Travel Authorization website, there is the possibility of paying for a permit in the Seychelles upon arrival at the airport.

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You must fill out an online form.
Get a confirmation number, no payment stage.
Upon arrival to passport control - pay in cash 20 euros per person (without change).
Get a QR code with your confirmation number.

Once the trip is approved, the traveler receives an electronic Health Travel Authorization (HTA) document.
It must be printed or saved on a mobile device. The document must be presented before check-in for the flight and kept until the end of the trip.

Chat for questions and for obtaining an entry permit with payment at the airport - in the same place on the site (circle in the lower right corner).

For those vaccinated with Sputnik (and revaccinated with a booster dose) - PCR test is not needed. The main thing is that vaccination or booster be done 14 days before entry.

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For those who are not vaccinated: 72 hours before departure to the Seychelles, it is necessary to pass a PCR test, the result of which must be negative or a negative rapid antigen test for COVID-19 within 24 hours before departure.

Depending on which currency is worth more. If the dollar and the euro cost the same, then they will be exchanged for rupees in the same way. Exchange rate at the airport on September 7: dollar 14.30 (CB 60.79), euro 14.05 (CB 60.41).

Better at the airport. Regarding the arrivals area, the farthest two windows are the most profitable exchanger (blue windows). In Victoria, the exchange rate is worse.

Book a ticket on the official website, write a request to ethiopianairlines_ru(dog)aviareps(dot)com and they will send you a link to pay with a Russian card. Commission for issuing one ticket 1500₽

The aggregators have an error in the amount of baggage. In fact, you can 23x2kg and 7kg hand luggage. Yes, already asked. Yes exactly.

No

UnionPay. Or cards of foreign banks issued outside of Russia.

Most often opened through:

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«MTS-Bank»:

Account currency: rubles.

Card category: Classic.

The commission for issuing a card when applying on the site is 5000 rubles.

Commission for issuing a card when applying at the office of MTS Bank - 10,000 rubles.

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Service:

The first 2 months - free of charge, then - 99 rubles or if one of the conditions is met:

- Turnover on the card 10000r per month.

- The minimum balance on the card is from 30,000 rubles per month.

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Daily cash withdrawal limit - 50 thousand rubles. (equivalent in USD/EUR at the exchange rate of the bank).

Commission for currency withdrawal through ATMs of foreign banks: 1.9% (min 99₽).

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JSC CB «Solidarity»:

Account currency: rubles, euro.

Card category: Gold, Diamond, Cobadge.

Annual card maintenance:

Nominal - 3000 rub. - 10 days issuance period.

Nameless - 2500 rub. - Immediate release date.

Commission for currency withdrawal through ATMs of foreign banks: 1.7% (min 250₽).

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Bank GPB JSC:

Account currency: rubles.

Card category: Classic, Gold, Platinum.

Commission for issuing a card - 5000 rubles.

The service is free forever.

Free cash withdrawal at GPB ATMs and up to 100,000 rubles per month - at any other ATMs in the world.

When buying abroad with a ruble card, the conversion depends on the currency of the transaction. If the purchase is in US dollars, then the conversion is direct from the purchase currency to the card currency (US dollar - Russian ruble).

It's best with a card. The conversion will be higher than on the exchange, but less than in conventional exchangers.

At the time of writing this FAQ, yes.

September 9 2022)

Officially, these modes of transport are prohibited in the Seychelles. However, some hosts rent out theirs to tourists. However, it is better not to take risks and rent a car with insurance.

Yes, you can. But best of all on La Digue. The rental price is 100-150 rupees per day.

We do not recommend cycling on Mahe. There is a lot of crazy traffic on the island. Roads without shoulders, sometimes with deep ditches or even cliffs. It will be very dangerous to ride a bike. There are bike rentals on Praslin, but the road situation is about the same as on Mahe.

Several different places were advised in the chat, you can use the chat search, for example, by the name of Mathias, and there was also a contact of a car without a deposit (search for the word "collateral"). They also mentioned Okap or Ocean Wave Cars.

Yes. Public buses are blue. The schedule and routes of these buses can also be found in the chat files. One minus - you can’t take suitcases on these buses, only with hand luggage (backpack), so you can only get from the airport to the hotel and back by a rented car or taxi. The cost of the bus is 12 rupees.

10-15 minutes costs 2.5-3 thousand rubles, and taxi drivers practically do not bargain.

Cost: from Anse Royale to Beau Vallon - 55-60 euros, from the airport to Beau Vallon - 600 at the exit from the airport they ask, a little further (to the right) from the main exit from the airport you can agree on 500, someone paid $ 50. There are many examples of the cost in the chat, one thing is for sure - not cheap.

Eat in fast food from 1000 rubles. for 2 (burgers, or chicken and fries, or rice with curry, or pizza), eat in a cafe - from 3-4 thousand for 2 at least (one dish and soft drink) and ad infinitum, depending on what take. The cafe menu was posted in the photos, you can look through it or find it by the word "Bravo". Multiply the menu price by 5 to get the price in rubles. When paying by card, it is charged at the rate of 4.6-4.7 rubles per rupee.

In the chat on the search "Fish market" - there are geolocations of the corresponding markets. For the rest, prices vary and it is better to clarify in the chat.

Drinking coconut in tents (not on the beach) costs 25 rupees (125 rubles).

For meat, they advised a very good cold storage store in Victoria. Everything is frozen, but the choice is good.

According to the weather on the island and the choice of the season when it is better to go (from a conversation with the owners of the guesthouse):

From the end of March to the beginning of June - the best season without waves, on the whole island and nearby islands.

From June to October - southeast monsoons blow - it is better to choose the western part of the island for living, large waves are less possible.

From the end of October to the end of February, the northwest monsoons come all over the island with big waves, Beau Vallon "whistles" strong currents and whirlpools.

But in general, the weather is unpredictable, so somewhere it can rain for 20 minutes, and somewhere all day.

Depending on the season, the islands are subject to low tides. You can install the ebb and flow app on your phone and choose a hotel where there will be no low tides on your trip (or they will be less strong). There are more than 100 beaches on Mahe, it is difficult to choose the best ones, so it is better to ask separately.

There are 2 booths at the airport at the exit, the prices are the same, take any. The prices for sim cards are 700 rupees for 8 GB (and someone wrote that 4 GB is 750 rupees), the Internet is not bad, although many say that it barely loads. Someone bought a local SIM card for 14GB for 4000 rupees. Through Beeline - 1GB for 450 rubles per day.