Seychelles
Lost a ring in the Seychelles?
One day here can take in the capital's market, the ferry quay and an island reached by small aircraft.
A bracelet lost that way can still be searched for, if the day can be put back in order: the market, the walk to the quay, the wait in the terminal. What decides it is which stop you can tie the last sighting to, and whether it stayed on land or went into the harbour water.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that works with experienced local metal detectorists to search for a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone lost in the Seychelles. Tell us what happened and where. We choose an experienced detectorist who knows the place, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
For a beach on Mahé, Praslin or La Digue, scroll down to the link for that island's own page.
Granite islands and coral islands
Mahé has most of the shops and holiday facilities, many of them towards the north of the island, while the villages of the south keep a quieter pace. On Praslin, a ridge of hills divides the island from east to west.
Much farther out lie coral islands. Alphonse, south-west of Mahé, is a triangular coral atoll around a turquoise lagoon, and Platte Island, well to the south, is flat and sits on top of a coral reef.
Ours to arrange, yours to decide
One contact, however many islands
Your questions, the brief to the detectorist and the news after the search all come to you on WhatsApp from one person, whichever islands the day took in.
Your stops, in the brief
Your map pin, your photos of the place and the item, and the order of your stops that day all go into the brief the detectorist works from.
The plain version
A phone dropped into the harbour water at the Inter-Island Quay is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first.
Figures up front
We explain the costs before any search is booked. You decide with the figures in front of you.
Victoria and the islands off the ferry routes
Mahé, Praslin and La Digue each have a page of their own, and a short card for each sends you there. The rest of this section is the capital, its ferry quay and the islands beyond the ferry routes.
Pick the island first
Mahé
Mahé is the main island, home to the capital and the international airport, and forest comes down its mountainsides to the beaches. Look your beach up on the Mahé page, where Beau Vallon and Anse Royale have cards of their own, along with boat trips to Baie Ternay and the Ste Anne Marine National Park.
Praslin
Praslin is a ferry crossing or a domestic flight from Mahé. If the day was spent at Anse Lazio, at Côte d'Or, in the Vallée de Mai or around the ferry terminal at Baie Ste Anne, open the Praslin page.
La Digue
Holidaymakers go to La Digue for a taste of the traditional. For Anse Source d'Argent, Grand Anse, one of the other bays or a snorkelling trip out to Ile Cocos, the La Digue page has the detail.
The market and the quay, Victoria
For a loss while shopping at the market in Victoria, name the seller, what you bought and roughly what time it was. At the Inter-Island Quay, passengers bound for Praslin and La Digue wait in a terminal that also has a souvenir shop, a money changer, car hire and left luggage. Put those stops in order, the last one first.
Thérèse Island
Thérèse Island lies off the western coast of Mahé, in the Port Glaud district. Coconut palms line its white sand beaches, two rocky peaks rise behind them, and a reef protects the south shore. Say which beach you were on and where you sat in relation to the peaks.
Silhouette
Silhouette lies north-west of Mahé, a forested island with hiking trails through its interior and along the coast, best walked with a local guide. Anse La Passe, the beach nearest its places to stay, is a long stretch of fine sand with hollows of water left by the tide, used for swimming, snorkelling and sailing, though often too shallow to swim at low tide. Say whether it went on a trail or on the sand.
North Island, Denis and Frégate
On North Island, West Beach is where people walk the sand, snorkel and play beach volleyball or football. Honeymoon Beach is a small bay reached by an easy walk along a rocky path, often after a hike over Bernica Hill. Denis Island, north of Mahé, has beaches for the sun and sea and is a base for deep sea fishing. Frégate is the most easterly of the granite islands, so tell us which of its beaches you used.
Desroches, Alphonse and Platte
Desroches lies in the shade of a plantation of coconut palms, with beach all the way round it. Alphonse lies south-west of Mahé, and a loss there splits first into land or water; boats also take people across to the lagoon and flats of St François, famous for fly-fishing. Platte Island is forested, with sandy beaches, and is reached from Mahé by small aircraft.
Places we cover in the Seychelles
- Victoria, Mahé
- Beau Vallon, Mahé
- Anse Royale, Mahé
- Anse Lazio, Praslin
- Côte d'Or, Praslin
- Baie Ste Anne, Praslin
- Grand Anse, Praslin
- La Passe, La Digue
- Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke Market, Victoria
- Inter-Island Quay, Victoria
- Thérèse Island
- Silhouette Island
- Anse La Passe, Silhouette
- West Beach, North Island
- Honeymoon Beach, North Island
- Denis Island
- Frégate Island
- Desroches Island
- Alphonse Island
- St François Island
- Platte Island
What people lose here, and where
Rings and finer pieces
- Wedding and eternity rings
- Engagement rings with a tall claw setting
- Gold bangles
- Charm bracelets
- Stud earrings
- Pendants on fine chains
Metal you wear or carry
- Oura rings
- Dive watches and smartwatches
- Phones
- A hire car key collected at the quay
- Metal-framed glasses
Island moments when things slip
- Shopping at the Victoria market
- Waiting in the terminal at the Inter-Island Quay
- Under the coconut palms on Thérèse Island
- The rocky path to Honeymoon Beach on North Island
- Volleyball on West Beach, North Island
- A walk round the beaches of Desroches
How a search comes together across the islands
It works the same way for a street in Victoria as for an atoll a flight away.
Your message, in the order of the day
On WhatsApp, name the item and every place you went that day, town, quay, boat or beach, in order.
Your best guess, pinned
Put a map pin on the stop you think most likely and a second one on your next guess. Photos of both spots help, and so does a picture of the item, even one taken for insurance.
A detectorist for the island
Mahé is one thing, an island a flight away is another. We look for a metal detectorist able to travel to the island in question, then pass on your pins, your photos and your account of the day.
A search only on your word
Once you say yes, a day is set for the search. When it is over, you are told in full how the day went, whether or not the item came up.
Questions about the Seychelles
Could my bracelet be at the Victoria market or at the Inter-Island Quay, and how do we tell which?
Work back to the last time you are sure it was on your wrist. At the market, name each seller and what you bought, in the order you bought it. At the quay, say whether you waited inside the passenger terminal, used the left luggage or went straight to the boat, and add a pin for each.
After snorkelling and then volleyball on West Beach, North Island, the smartwatch was not on my wrist.
Split the afternoon in two. West Beach is used for snorkelling and diving as well as volleyball and football on the sand, so the question is whether the watch was still on when you came out of the water. Pin where you went in and where the game was set up, and say which came first.
An earring came out on Thérèse Island, and we swam from more than one beach that day.
Then list the beaches in the order you used them. A reef protects the island's south shore, so say whether you swam there or somewhere else, and whether you also walked up towards the two rocky peaks. A photo of the palms above where you sat gives a mark on the sand.
I checked my watch at the top of Bernica Hill, but when we sat down to the picnic at Honeymoon Beach it had gone.
That leaves the hill, the rocky path and the small bay itself. Honeymoon Beach is reached by an easy walk along that path, so tell us whether you stopped or scrambled anywhere on it, and pin where the picnic was laid out.
How do you narrow it down when an Oura ring goes missing on Desroches, with beach all the way round?
By the side of the island and the time. Desroches is surrounded by 14 kilometres of beaches, so a pin, even a rough one, and the hour you last had the ring turn that coastline into one stretch. Say whether you were walking or swimming when it went.
Our room key went missing on Alphonse, which is a long way from Mahé. Can a search be arranged that far out?
Distance alone does not rule it out. Alphonse lies south-west of Mahé, so the first job is finding a detectorist who can get there, and we tell you plainly what that involves. Say whether the key went on the beach, on a path or in the water off the island, and what the key ring looks like.
I lost my engagement ring on Platte, and we flew there from Mahé.
Tell us where on the island. Platte is flat and forested, with sandy beaches, and it sits on top of a coral reef, so say whether the ring went on the sand or in the water over the reef, and pin the spot.
Our day took in Mahé in the morning and Praslin after lunch. How do you choose where the search goes?
By the last moment you are certain about. Write each stop down with a time, the crossing included, and look through your photos for the ring on your hand; the latest picture that shows it narrows the choice to one island. The Mahé and Praslin pages then go through those islands beach by beach.
Seychelles
Which island, and where on it
Your first WhatsApp message only needs the item and a map pin on the island where you last had it. If the day took in two islands, pin both.