Doing Seychelles (15-24 Feb 2004) - Suggestions?

[JApplegate]

To All,

My wife, son (9 years old) and I will be doing Seychelles this winter via Moorings 4700 Cat. I am looking for any suggestions, helpful hints, and/or general discussion about what to expect.

In order to establish any comparisons we have done the Whitsunday’s, Phuket (land based), Canaries, Greece, and the BVI's over the last few years. How would the Seychelles compare to these places? Out most recent trip was 15 days in the BVIs about a Moorings 4700 Cat. My wife really enjoyed the AC that comes with the 4700 so I decided to stick with the same boat for the Seychelles just in case.

I noticed that the distance between the main groups of islands is not as close as the BVI's, how are the seas during the crossing especially around late February?

Are there any moorings around or is just anchoring? Are there many places to eat ashore or should I plan to eat most of the meals aboard the boat? Are there and "boat boys" like in the SVG area of the Caribbean? Any recommendations on itineraries or must see places?

We mainly like to find a nice beach and build sandcastles, chase small crabs, look at the birds and other nature things, hike, snorkel, and stuff like that. We hate Jellyfish and other scary sea things. How is the jellyfish population during late February? The BVI's population in late July was awful, you could not go anywhere without having a Jellyfish watch.

Sorry for the long list of questions, I am just thinking out loud....

Any help would be appreciated.

-John