Tours
Tailor-made Indian Ocean tours
From the atolls of the Maldives to the highlands of Madagascar. A trip through the Indian Ocean goes from island to island, and the boat and the small plane set the pace.
Combining
How to combine islands
In the Seychelles, Mahé, Praslin and La Digue form the granite heart, close enough together for one trip, with the ferry or a short flight in between. In the Maldives you combine islands and atolls: a resort island with a few nights on an inhabited island, or Baa in the manta season with South Ari, where whale sharks are present all year.
Mauritius is small, but the roads are slow, and two bases work better than driving around every day. Rodrigues lies six hundred kilometres further east and deserves at least a few nights. Madagascar is a different story: a large island with slow roads, where you choose two or three regions and a domestic flight often saves a whole day on the road.
The Maldives are also often the extension of a trip through Sri Lanka or of a few days in Dubai. Then five to seven nights are enough.
The islands
The Indian Ocean, island by island
Each country has its own page, with the islands or regions, when to go and what to know before you leave.
Indian Ocean
Maldives
Rings of coral in the Indian Ocean, with islands to go quiet on and islands where people live.
Discover Maldives
Indian Ocean, granite islands
Seychelles
An archipelago where granite, primeval forest and sea sit so close together it almost feels unreal.
Discover Seychelles
Mascarene Islands, Indian Ocean
Mauritius
An island where Indian, African, Chinese and French influences live side by side, far beyond the image of a villa on the beach.
Discover Mauritius
Indian Ocean
Madagascar
An island that has gone its own way for millions of years, and it shows in almost everything.
Discover MadagascarQuestions about a trip through the Indian Ocean
How many days do you need for a trip through the Indian Ocean?
For the three main islands of the Seychelles, allow ten days to two weeks, with a few nights per island. For the Maldives as a whole trip, allow ten to fourteen days, with two or at most three islands. Mauritius also takes ten days to two weeks, possibly with a few nights on Rodrigues. Madagascar needs two to three weeks for two or three regions.
Why not an island a day?
Because every move goes by ferry or small plane, and a day on which you leave and arrive is not a day on the island. A few nights per island gives you more than a long list. On Madagascar the same applies on the road: a stretch of three hundred kilometres can take a full day there.
What is the travel advice for the islands of the Indian Ocean?
Travel advice applies per country, so each island or group of islands has its own. You will find it with the Belgian Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, at diplomatie.belgium.be. We follow it for every country on your route, before you leave and during your trip, and discuss with you what it means for your journey.
Your trip
Tell us which islands you want to see.
With us, a trip starts with a conversation. We think along about the islands, the crossings and the pace, and work out the trip with a local partner who knows the islands.
Updated in October 2026