Port Launay Marine National Park is found on the northwest coast of Mahe Island, along with neighboring Baie Ternay Marine National Park. Both of these marine reserves are in turn surrounded by the Morne Seychellois National Park, which has the

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Port Launay Marine National Park is found on the northwest coast of Mahe Island, along with neighboring Baie Ternay Marine National Park. Both of these marine reserves are in turn surrounded by the Morne Seychellois National Park, which has the highest peak in the Seychelles at nearly 3,000 feet. Dedicated as a marine park in 1979, it's small at just one square mile, but it packs a wallop, with eight perfect beaches, accessible by land as well as by sea. Here, under the shade of the takamaka trees and among bizarre rock formations, you can get away from most crowds (it's a popular stopover for visiting yacht charters) and snorkel the reefs on both sides of the bay, keeping an eye out for the harmless plankton-eating whale shark.

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