Welcome to North Island, a Luxury Collection Resort, Seychelles

Located amongst the inner granitic islands of Seychelles, North Island is a fertile paradise. The natural beauty of North Island will touch and inspire you at the deepest level. Islands have been referred to as the “laboratories of evolution” and North Island biodiversity is living proof of this. Spending time with our Environmental Team or simply exploring the island at your own pace will allow you to appreciate the results of the effort that has gone into rehabilitating this natural idyll. The setting and natural beauty of Seychelles has inspired our island conservation practices and philosophies, and has also influenced the design of our spaces. Learn more about Seychelles and North Island, the diverse ecosystem, as well as our media recognition and curated content.

North Island is a fertile paradise – the perfect setting for our Noah’s Ark conservation and island rehabilitation program. The natural beauty of North Island will touch and inspire you at the deepest level.

North Island is a conservation-oriented, ethically driven company inspired by specific philosophies.

For North Island - Always honor the environment in which we live and work above all else. Our unceasing endeavor shall be to turn back the ecological clock. For Our Guests - We will spoil you and make you feel special. We will respect your needs and your expectations. We will strive to provide you with a unique educational experience. We will invite you to participate in our conservation programs. For Our Staff - We recognize that you are one of our prime resources and a valued intermediary between the environment, our guests and our partners. We will share the experience of this journey with you. We will encourage and train you to acquire valuable life skills. For the Company - We will constantly endeavor to improve and innovate. We undertake to add value to the environment in which we live, for the benefit of North Island, Seychelles, our guests, our partners and those who work for us. In the management of our affairs, we shall always conduct ourselves with integrity. We shall not submit to any request that compromises our philosophies.

Ile du Nord was the first Seychelles island on which a recorded landing was made by seafarers. An expedition in 1609 by Captain Sharpeigh and the crew of the English East India Company vessel Ascension reported that the island had a large population of giant land tortoises. Along with all other Seychelles islands, North Island was still uninhabited at that time.

From 1826 until the 1970's, North Island was owned by the Beaufond family from Reunion. During this time the island was a plantation for growing fruit and spices, as well as producing guano, fish oil and copra. After the copra market collapsed, the plantation was sold in the 1970's, and North Island fell into disuse. Feral animals and alien plant species out-competed the indigenous fauna and flora with distressing consequences. A new chapter in the history of North Island began in 1997 when North Island was purchased with a view to creating not just the world’s leading private island hideaway, but also of turning back the clock: undoing the damage wrought by man, and creating a sanctuary for indigenous Seychellois wildlife. A unique opportunity existed to rehabilitate, preserve and study the island’s ecosystems.

In becoming a completely plastic-free island, North Island banned single-use plastic straws and only uses eco-friendly compostable food containers for activities around the island.

This is in addition to stringent waste management processes including extensive recycling, grey water systems, and our own sustainable water bottling plant. In keeping North Island’s private beaches perfectly pristine, our resident Environmentalists and eco-tourist volunteers set off on beach patrol each and every morning, collecting any debris carried by the trade winds while searching for nesting sea turtles. We are committed to removing these items and ensuring they enter the proper recycling routes, making sure they do not enter the oceans once more. North Island’s beach protection over the last two decades has safeguarded the nesting sites of critically-endangered Hawksbills and endangered Green Turtles which has seen a remarkable increase in the number of turtles utilizing the island.

North Island’s vision is a declared Ecological Marine Reserve, further protecting the area from fishing and potentially harmful marine activities. The island’s Marine Protected Area proposal is supported by data collection by means of biannual scientific marine surveys conducted by trained marine biologists since 2011.

The surveys quantify the diversity and abundance of the reef fish, hard and soft corals, marine invertebrates and predatory species. North Island has also recently purchased our own BRUVs (baited remote underwater videos) which help in closely monitoring predatory species – which come in all shapes and sizes, from sharks to groupers and octopus. A healthy and diverse predatory guild is an indication of a healthy reef ecosystem.

North Island has been alternatively neglected and exploited throughout its history. Many alien species of plants and animals remained behind after the copra plantation on North Island became uneconomical in the 1970s. These alien species thrived and greatly impacted the indigenous Seychellois flora and fauna.

In tandem with creating a world-class eco-tourism destination, we have been working hard to restore North Island to its former glory. Evidence of the success of this programme has been the fact that bird species such as Seychelles Blue Pigeons and breeding populations of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and White-tailed Tropicbirds have returned of their own accord. Hawksbill and Green Turtles nest on our beaches once more, in ever increasing numbers.

North Island is a critically important nesting site for two species of sea turtle, the Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas). Both species have been legally protected in Seychelles waters since 1994. Every morning, dedicated on-site conservationists together with eco-tourist volunteers patrol the four beaches for signs of turtles.

Turtle nests are marked out and labelled with bamboo sticks and a coconut, stating the date laid and the species. All the data recorded is captured in our turtle database. Turtles which already have identification tags are recorded and those without are given unique titanium tags.

While some bird species returned of their own accord once North Island again afforded them a suitable habitat, others needed a little more help. At the time one of the rarest birds in the world, a founder population of just 25 Seychelles White-Eyes was reintroduced to North Island in 2007, and their population on the island is now more than five times its original size.

These tiny, charismatic birds have set up territories across the island and the growth in their numbers shows that they are breeding successfully. Continuing efforts to rehabilitate the vegetation on North Island as well as the dramatic reduction in the Common Myna population are undoubtedly contributing to the continued increase in the Seychelles White-eye population. Thanks to this reintroduction programme, and similar efforts on other islands, the Seychelles White-Eye has been brought back from the brink of extinction. North Island is responsible for a significant proportion of the world population of the species: a responsibility we bear with genuine pride.

The Aldabra Giant Tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea), one of the largest tortoise species on Earth, is endemic to the Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles. Formerly giant tortoises were found on many Indian Ocean islands but became extinct historically due to exploitation by sailors from passing ships.

Live tortoises would be taken on board ships to supplement meager rations. In 1997, only a handful of Giant Aldabra Tortoises were left on the island, including the well-known big males Brutus and Patrick. Currently, between 80 and 100 tortoises roam North Island free from harm, most of which were donations from other islands, with some as old as 150 years of age. Baby tortoises under the age of two can also be seen in our baby-tortoise pen, where they are protected until big enough to be seen on the roads.