christmas-day-with-team-wiseoceansHere at Four Seasons Resort Seychelles, the festive period is one of our busiest times of year. We welcome families from all over the world coming to celebrate Christmas and welcome in the new year here with us in our little piece of paradise in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

christmas-tree-with-hibiscus-decorationsDespite some less than perfect weather conditions (which meant snorkeling was put on hold for a couple of weeks) we have had a great time enthusing guests from all corners of the globe about life under the sea.

Budding marine biologists have kept us entertained at the picnic table with talk of giant crabs and stealthy deep sea octopuses.

We decorated our driftwood Christmas tree with pieces of sea glass found on the beach, tropical flowers and a sea star (replica of course!).

opening-the-advent-calendarOur advent calendar went down a storm and each morning we opened the doors to find out what creature was hidden behind and to learn something about it too.

As part of our extra seasonal activities, we searched for hidden treasure on the beach, following clues and learning all about marine life along the way. We also hunted for all kinds of marine creatures in the depths (shallow end…!) of the pool, using descriptions and characteristics of the different animals.

2017-01-01-09-50-27We’ve been joined for our daily turtle monitoring walks by some eager marine life enthusiasts, keen to spot a turtle nest hidden in the sand. As we welcomed in the new year, we also rescued our first turtle hatchling of the season. Often during rough conditions, we get recently hatched hawksbill turtle washing up on the shore; these are always exciting encounters and so we use the opportunity to educate guests about turtles and all the threats they are currently facing. We then quickly take them out beyond the breaking waves to release them in deeper waters, hopefully finding patches of floating seaweed on and around which they travel the ocean currents.

As another year of marine education draws to a close on the beach, we are all excited as to what 2017 has in store!