Været i Beau Vallon (Mahé) i august

August is the roughest month of the Seychelles year and the cause is the south-east trades: July and August bring the strongest of them, with choppy water and the poorest snorkelling of the year, especially on a beach that faces into it. The same wind moves seaweed - on Praslin it piles up on Grand Anse and Anse Kerlan, and on Mahe along the south and south-west coasts. The forum's answer is a coast rather than a month: Cote d'Or on Praslin and Beau Vallon on Mahe stay clear and clear-watered, and carry the shops, restaurants and agencies as well. Our row has the wind at 30.6 kph. The record: 25.5C days that feel like 28C, 24.6C nights, 12.2 precipitation days carrying 61.8mm and a 26.6C sea.

Seychelles forum threads are consistent that January is the rainiest month of the year, and Beau Vallon specifically - on the northern side of Mahé - tends to see more rain and cloud than the island's southern coast, thanks to the northwest trade winds pushing cloud masses in this time of year. Despite that, posters were clear this isn't monsoon-style all-day rain: a typical day mixes real sunshine with rain showers, and most visitors get at least a few solid beach hours daily even in the wettest stretch. The general advice: expect a genuine mix of sun, cloud and rain rather than betting on either extreme.

Forum posters describe mid-March visits as mainly sunny and hot with the occasional full rain day mixed in - Seychelles weather is repeatedly called genuinely unpredictable, with posters noting the islands have real micro-climates that can make conditions differ from one side of Mahe to the other, so no forecast covers every variation. The specific seasonal issue for Beau Vallon in March is dead seaweed washing up on the beach, a recurring nuisance posters say clears up by late April into May, when the ocean also turns calmer with better visibility as temperatures and humidity start to ease. For travelers prioritizing clean sand and clear water over slightly warmer conditions, posters suggest that later window is the better trade-off.