North Island, Seychelles: The Private Island Built Around a Conservation Project

North Island lies in the Seychelles' Inner Islands, a granite outcrop a short boat or helicopter transfer from Mahé and just across the water from Silhouette. What sets it apart from the wider run of Indian Ocean private-island resorts is less the eleven villas scattered along its beaches than what happened to the island before any of them were built: a long-running restoration project that has spent more than two decades undoing a century of plantation farming.

A coconut plantation, rewound

Like much of the Seychelles' Inner Islands, North Island was cleared in the 19th and 20th centuries for coconut and cinnamon plantations, a history that left its native vegetation and wildlife badly depleted. When the resort was developed in the late 1990s, the same project brought in a resident island ecologist and committed to restoring the island's original habitat alongside the villas, rather than after them.

The Noah's Ark project

Branded internally as Noah's Ark, the restoration has involved removing invasive plants and rats, replanting native flora, and reintroducing species that had all but vanished from the island, including the Seychelles magpie-robin, once reduced to a global population of barely two dozen birds confined to a single islet, and Aldabra giant tortoises. The work continues today and is presented to guests as part of the island's identity rather than a side attraction.

Eleven villas, no room numbers

Accommodation is limited to eleven villas built from local stone, glass and thatch, each set on its own stretch of beach with a private plunge pool, and each named rather than numbered. There is no vehicle traffic beyond staff buggies; guests get around on foot or by bicycle along the single sand track that loops the island.

The honeymoon that put it on wider radar

North Island's profile rose sharply in 2011, when Prince William and Catherine, then newly married as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, spent part of their honeymoon there, a stay widely reported at the time and one the resort has never needed to advertise since.

Traveller tips

• North Island is reached by helicopter or light aircraft transfer from Mahé International Airport, arranged as part of a stay.
• The island's restoration work means certain paths and nesting areas are seasonally off-limits to protect breeding birds and turtles; staff can advise on current access.
• The Seychelles' hot, humid climate stays fairly consistent year-round, though April-May and October-November mark the calmer shoulder periods between the two monsoon-influenced wind patterns.
• Villas are limited and demand is high around the Christmas and New Year period; this is a trip that rewards booking well ahead.