Everyone forgot to mention…
#1 Visa for travelling to the Seychelles
Oh boy did I google about this. No visa needed was my gathering. BUT you HAD TO book all your lodging before entering the country. The lodging thing was mentioned again and again, even though there was also contradicting info regarding this.
This rule about pre booking all the lodging before travelling isn’t at all my thing. But hey, you take the customs for what they are if you go. Or pick another destination. I actually spent 7 1/2 hours on reading about and interpret reviews (yes, you need to interpret reviews) on booking and airbnb, and finally decided to use booking since they happen to have a few more budget friendly alternatives. Well… nothing is budget friendly in the Seychelles, but that’s also the name of the game. Take it or leave it.
#2 Travel Authorisation and Disembarkment Information Form -A Visitors Permit to enter the Seychelles
To say you don’t need a visa to enter the country may be a true fact. However, saying having an EU-passport and having all your lodging booked being enough, is NOT TRUE. You have to not only have applied for a Travel Authorisation and Disembarkment Information Form, you also have to have it approved before entering through the immigration authorities after landing.
In 2022, absolutely nowhere where bloggers, travel journalists, travel agencies, or seychellian travel agencies marketing or promoting the Seychelles as a destination mention this little… useful piece of info.
I’m not the kind of person that feeds into conspiracy theories, but… If you do this online before departure, its 5 euros. If you don’t…. cause you had NO clue about it, regardless of how many hours you’ve put down in reading about the destination the months before travelling. In my case I started reading in the spring. And booked my flight in August, and was travelling in October, you’ll not only ending up paying 70 euro.
You also get stressed by their internet being unstable, so they have a hard time getting you through the process. You’ll be stressed out by the inefficacy of the staff, in my case three people were involved. Mind you, I was the last person being let into the country of a full plane from Addis Ababa. This being I was one of the 10 first in line as we started lining up to enter into the country.
Why I anded up from being in the front, to be the last one let in, was due to one of my guest houses booked through booking (we all know booking being a fairly well established booking site) didn’t have their health certificate from the Seychellian authorities. Oh boy do the Sechellians have a particular love for liscenses. And that was especially difficult to get confirmed due to… poor internet.
You can also get stressed out by aggressive russians behind you when they start to (YES, not a joke) wake their US dollars demanding to go ahead of you. I know… I’m the super naive Swede groing up in cotton with tax payed health care and educational system. But this wawing around with money as a means of hetting ahead of others is both embarrassing and hard to relate to. Still real and working in the Seychelles.
I actually got one thing out of this. I got to practice my… challenged patience. And…
I couldn’t help myself, in a most friendly manner (I’m not ironic) I asked one of the three ladies involved in my… application, how many of these applications had been handeled by the immigration desks today? Her reply, ca 50 applications.
50 x 70 euro = 3 500 euros / ca 35 000 swedish crowns. Even though MY PROCESS had taken 1 hour & 45 minutes, it was still only 14.20 in the afternoon, which means it’s at least one more flight coming in before the day has come to an end.
Just say’n… why is it SO very difficult to inform potential travellers about no visa being needed, BUT… you have to have to have an approved Visitors Permit to enter the Seychelles?
#3 Covid bevis / EU Digital COVID Certificate & Vaccinations to enter the Seychelles
I had of course prepared by plenty reading about what vaccines was required to enter the Seychelles.
Seychellian promotion
UK government
Passport health (US)
Swedish travel insurance company
Swedish Embassy of Travels
None needed if one hadn’t visited a country with an outbreak of polio or yellow fewer. And NOWHERE was any covid related info noted. At the time, I had all three shot recommended, and just out of routine I printed out my proof of vaccination, and put it with my regular vaccination card. I thought, niether of them would hurt to carry.
Seriously… not only do the Seychellian immigration need three people doing the job of one person when they let people (visitors that is) in. I don’t know what they learn in school. Mind you, I’m NOT from the country with the most impressive academic standards, including my own…
All of a sudden, it mas a major issue, that my printout claimed I had taken the 3:rd out of the 3 vaccinations at the time, being offered and available. As well as I was vaccinated in one of the countries with amongst the highest level of vaccinated population. Where were the two prints proving shot#1 and shot#2 ?!! Well, I was kindly trying to explain that 3:rd out of 3 means that the document shows have had shot#1, and then shot#2, as well as… shot#3
I’d say, loosing your patience at any countrys immigration desk is propably amongst the worst places, if not THE worst place. But I’d aslo say that understanding 3 of 3 ought to be a minimum requirement to work in any authority of any country.
#3 Are your booked lodging approved by the Seychellian Health Department?
Of course I think this is far above my responsability to know if I book through such a major and established booking site as… booking.com. I’d say if I book through them, I feel I’m paying for the service of lodging approved to the extent that is required by the laws of the destination I’m visiting.
But the staff not understanding 3 of 3 is now continuing with her next task. Finding out if my booking is useable (and also my warrant to enter the country, with the addition to the… 70 euros entry authorisation). Internet being on and off… you can imagine checking all my EIGHT bookings manually. I’m eternally grateful for managing my patience SO well.
But yes, I’m never going to either visit, or recommend visting the Seychelles to anyone. I’d say visiting the Seychelles is one out of two of my most dissapointing travels I’ve done in my entire life. The first one was the Carary Islands 1986. Not going back there either.
#4 Seychellerna & Stasi
Dessvärre är det så att du känner dig övervakad, och återigen, som Svensk är man ju rätt van vid den tanken iom att vi har så stor tillit till våra myndigheter.
Å det är här registreringen tar ytterligare turer. Tre olika immigrationskvinnor börjar nu fota mina utskrifter av mina boendebokningar. Sen när jag kommer till mitt första boende så fotar värdinnan av mitt nästa boende. När jag går in på ett galleri så måste jag fylla i vad jag heter och var jag bor. Och samma dag som jag äntligen skall åka hem så får jag reda på att jag ovetande har tillämpat lite “living on the edge” genom att inte ha registrerat min cykel hos SLA och därför inte har en sticker klistrad på cykelramen. Det hade jag kunnat få böter för.
#5 Kommunistiska kvarlevor på Seychellerna
Ja, tyvärr är det en av känslorna som infinner sig för mig som turist på Seychellerna. Frågade min sista värd som var kompensatoriskt lagd -mishap då jag anlände- och skjutsade mig till flygplatsen, om allt det här registerandet av en som besökare. Han var själv av kinesiskt ursprung och sa att i den nya demokratin på Seychellerna som tillät flera partier först 1993, så spelade det egentligen ingen roll om det var höger eller vänster som styrde. Det var lika korrupt ändå. Han gav bifall till min tanke om kommunistiska registreringskvarlevor.
En annan värdinna var dock mycket nöjd med det nya högervridna styret, och såg med glädje fram emot de två kommande rättegångarna mot den numer bortröstade vänsterpresidenten. Det finns väl i princip lika många verkligheter som det finns människor. Och det kanske är tur ändå när jag tänker efter.