The first written account was in 1787 by Jean-Baptiste Malavois, French commandant of Seychelles, who described it as being “…no more than a pile of rocks covered with a few bushes.” Between 1817 and 1829 Aride was possibly an unofficial leper colony.

The wooden plantation house on Aride, overlooking the small settlement, is one of the last buildings of its type to survive in Seychelles.

Not surprisingly the number of nesting seabirds declined and all endemic land birds were wiped out.

[2] The only human inhabitants are the reserve's staff; currently four Seychellois rangers, two expatriate Conservation Officers and two volunteers.

It is known for huge seabird colonies, with more breeding species than any other single Seychelles island plus large numbers of non-breeding frigatebirds.

There is only one beach, which faces south, making access difficult when the southeast trade winds are at their height (June to September) [4] There is no overnight accommodation other than for the resident staff of the island but one can visit for the day by boat trip from neighbouring Praslin, 8 kilometres to the south.

Aride is the only place in the world where the flowering shrub Wright's gardenia Rothmannia annae is endemic.