Not bigger than 62 acres, Cousine Island is a small granite island in the Seychelles archipelago. It is both a luxury resort and a nature reserve, a place that thrives on eco-tourism and is a magnificent destination for anyone looking for an eco-friendly beach holiday.
Cousine Island offers visitors a sense of seclusion that is hard to come by essentially anywhere else in the world. It consists of no more than four luxury villas and one presidential villa, which are all located a stone’s throw from the pristine white sand beach. A pavilion in a French Colonial design serves as a communal building, an area where guests can enjoy delicious meals, kick back with a drink, read a book in the private library, cool off in the pool or simply relax at one of the open-air lounge areas. Cousine Island’s combination of delightful luxury, incredible privacy and breathtaking surroundings makes it a world-class eco-resort—truly one of the most exclusive private islands anywhere on earth.
This unique island is managed as a nature reserve with a dedicated long-term focus on conservation. No less than 95% of the island’s vegetation is endemic; the other 5% is made up by fruit trees and vegetables that are grown and used to feed the residents of and visitors to the island. Cousine Island is an important breeding ground for many land- as well as seabirds, including the Seychelles warbler, magpie-robin, lesser noddies, white terns and fody. Other notable animals that live on and around Cousine Island are hawksbill and green turtles, and a (transplanted) population of Aldabra giant tortoises.
Revenue generated from eco-tourism flows directly toward the management, protection and conservation of the biodiversity and ecosystems of this jewel of an island.
Conservation is one of the core characteristics of Cousine Island—its policies are focused on keeping human impact as low as possible, on promoting nature conservation, on involving guests in active conservation activities, and on re-establishing a closer connection to nature.
All activities on offer are low-impact and sustainable. On land, guests can go on nature walks, participate in conservation work by planting a tree from the resort’s own nursery, and learn about Creole cuisine during a cooking lesson. Water-based activities are even more varied and range from wake boarding, kite surfing and sea kayaking to cruising with the resort’s solar-powered catamaran, deep sea fishing, and scuba diving and snorkeling.
