Alphonse Atoll lies 87 kilometres (54 miles) south of the main Amirantes bank, from which it is separated by deep water.

Alphonse lies just two kilometres (1.2 miles) north of St. François Atoll, separated from it by a deep channel.

Chevalier Alphonse de Pontevez[1] commanding the French frigate Le Lys visited on 27 June 1730 and gave the islands his own name.

in 2007 it was bought 50% by LUX hotels branch of Desroches and then sold to Great Plains Group due to financial difficulties.

After a failed attempt to build an extreme luxury villa development it was sold in 2013 to Alphonse Island Lodge LTD founded by Murray Collins and Keith Rose-Innes.