Mauritius
Mauritius
Before moving to Abu Dhabi, I had never even heard of Mauritius. Located in the Indian Ocean, just east of Madagascar, this little island is still one of our favorites. You can drive across almost the entire island in a little over an hour. Despite its small size, Mauritius still had so much for us to do and some of the most beautiful beaches and clearest waters we have ever seen. We spent 6 days here and even though we were able to explore a lot of the island, we still wanted more time. I would recommend renting a car so that you can see more of the island, but if you don’t feel comfortable driving on the left side of the road, you can always book tours that will take you to the highlights. My husband did all the driving because I felt like the driving was way too confusing! The currency is the Mauritian Rupee and there were plenty of ATMs around. Some places took credit card, but cash was definitely easier here! Everyone pretty much spoke English.
Where to Stay
Which part of the island you stay really depends on what is important to you. Mauritius is so small that nothing is too far, but hiring a taxi or driver to go places everyday could get pricey if you want to see all the sights on the island. We stayed half of our time in the north in Trou aux Biches and the rest of the time in Le Morne and while both areas had beautiful beaches, the atmosphere was very different. Most people we had talked to stayed near Port Louis, which we didn’t even visit since we heard it was super crowded.
*Trou Aux Biches, which is the northwest part of the island, had a lot of families and friends, but also many couples too. Grand Baie is just a short drive away and offers lots of shopping and restaurants. Our hotel had a free shuttle that went back and forth a few times a day. There are boat tours that will take you to the other islands north of Mauritius. The botanical gardens are also nearby.
*Le Morne, in the southwest, was much quieter. We saw a lot of honeymooners and there were only a handful of restaurants outside of the hotel to choose from. Chamarel and Black River Gorges National Park are just a short drive away, and there were still boat tours and water sports. The airport is also pretty close.
Things to do
Get out on the water
One of the beaches the catamaran brought us to
Obviously surrounded by water, Mauritius has tons of water activities. We heard it was great for diving but we hadn’t been certified yet and our friends weren’t very interested. Instead, we went on a catamaran snorkeling cruise. I was not very excited about it at first since I feel like you can go on a catamaran and snorkel anywhere, but we had a beautiful day, unlimited rum punch, and we even saw some whales breaching far in the distance! The boat brought us out snorkeling to some islands that were beautiful and had hardly any people. It was totally worth it.
On our last morning when the water was calm, we tried stand up paddle boarding. I’m not the most coordinated person, so it was quite amusing to watch me try to stand up, but the water was so clear and I still had fun!
Snorkeling
Trying to paddleboard
Grand Baei
This little town had everything you could want to spend the day relaxing on vacation. During the day we enjoyed sunbathing on the white sand beaches and shopping in the many shops. There are multiple food options and most places had happy hour specials in the evening. You could easily spend your entire trip in this area. Many excursions left from Grand Baei and some of them will bring you to the other islands to the north of Mauritius. The botanical gardens and Mautirius aquarium are also nearby. Our hotel in Trou Aux Biches was only a quick 10 minute drive away.
Shopping
Grand Baei
Casela World of Adventures
This is seriously the coolest animal park I have ever been to. Usually, we do not go to amusement parks on our vacations, but Casela caught my eye when I saw they had a rhino encounter. Yes, they let you feed and touch real life rhinoceroses! We were a bit skeptical since I couldn’t find any reviews on the experience ahead of time, but boy were we glad we decided to go through with it. It was just my husband and I with our own guide and 2 rhinos, and they let us have as much time as we wanted. This is the only place I have ever been where they let you get so close. You can book the Rhino Encounter here. The park also has other encounters with lions and tigers, safaris, and tons of other animal interactions. After we saw the rhinos and lions, we did walk around the park and see the other animals as well. We got there when it opened and felt like we were the only people there for the first hour or so, which was so worth it considering the amount of people pouring in when we were on our way out.
Feeding the Rhinos
Lion Encounter
Rhumerie de Chamarel
Entrance to the Rhumerie
This was my first time taking a rum tour, and even though rum is not my drink of choice, I still found it pretty interesting and fun. The tour was guided and lasted only about a half hour. Our guide gave us a tour of the grounds and explained the process of producing the rum from sugar cane. We got to sample all the different flavors of rum that they make and also some jams. They serve food here if you need something to soak up the rum afterwards, and even though we didn’t eat here, it did smell pretty good. The Rhumerie is closed on Sundays, so make sure you plan your trip for another day! It was a really close drive to Seven Colored Earths and Chamarel Waterfall, so I would recommend doing them the same day.
Rhumerie de Chamarel
All the Rum
Seven Colored Earths
The rolling dunes in Chamarel known as the seven colored earths were unlike anything we had ever seen before. It is actually one of the attractions that Mauritius is most famous for, caused by volcanic elements combining together to make different colors. There are 7 different colors that can be seen layered on the ground. It was cloudy when we were there so we couldn’t see all the colors as clearly as we would have liked, but it was still pretty cool. The section of earth is surrounded by a fence to keep visitors off and there is a path you can follow around it. There are also some small shops and giant tortoises at the site.
Seven Colored Earths
Chamarel waterfall
The highest waterfall in Mauritius, Chamarel waterfall was very beautiful. Being in such close proximity to the rhumerie and seven colored earth, it is worth the few extra minutes it takes to stop and visit. In order to get a good view, you have to climb up some stairs to get to the viewing platform, but it is not very challenging and we saw people of all ages easily making their way up. Parking was also pretty easy just at the bottom of the stairs. People didn’t seem to stay very long here since you can just look at it form the platform, take a few pictures, and move on your way, so parking and getting pictures without tons of people in them was not an issue.
Chamarel Waterfall
Hike Le Morne Brabant
View from the hike
By far the best views we got of Mauritius, hiking Le Morne Brabant was a nice way to get moving in the morning. We only went up halfway since I was worried about steep climbing, but the first half was pretty easy. There are signs that warn inexperienced climbers to not go any farther once you get about halfway, which is where we turned around. Apparently the second half is much steeper with ladders and things. We went in the morning before it got too hot and didn’t see too many other people. The entire hike took us around 2 hours total. It was a little difficult to find the trail, you have to follow the orange signs that say mountain access, and take a narrow dirt road. You can always hire a guide to bring you if you are concerned about finding it or staying on the trail.
Up the mountain
View from the hike
What to Eat
Seafood! All we basically ate our entire trip was seafood and couldn’t have been happier with our choice. Everything was freshly caught and cooked up just for you. Try eating at some of the local restaurants instead of eating every meal in the hotel- they are much cheaper. We especially liked the shrimp and local fish!
Fresh Fish
Seafood Mix
Grilled Fish
Itinerary
If we had more time in Mauritius, we would have liked to explore Black River Gorges Park and do some hiking or rent ATVs. Taking some excursions to visit the islands north of Mauritius would have been fun also. Grand Bassin, an area with a lake that is known for being the most sacred Hindu place in Mauritius, seems like it would have been a nice stop to add. We drove through both of these places on our way to the airport, but only stopped at a few viewpoints and to see the Shiva Statue.
View from the drive to the airport
Shiva Statue
This was the itinerary that we followed for our trip!
Day 1- Our flight arrived late morning. We picked up our rental car and headed to Blue Bay to get near the water and have some lunch. It was a cloudy, rainy day, so we didn’t spend much time here, and drove up north to our hotel in Trou Aux Biches.
Day 2- After having breakfast at our hotel, we met our friends for a catamaran snorkeling tour. The boat docked in Grand Baei, so we had a seafood dinner there and many drinks to finish the night.
Day 3- We spent the morning relaxing at the beaches and pool at the hotel. Afterwards, we decided to head back to Grand Baei to do some shopping and catch the happy hours. Our dinner the night before was so good that couldn’t wait to have more seafood.
Day 4- Waking up bright and early so we could get there when it opened, we drove to Casala Wildlife park. We did our rhino encounter, lion encounter, and then walked around the park to see the other animals. Afterwards, we drove to the nearby town of Flic en Flac where we had lunch. As we kept driving south towards our hotel in Le Morne, we stopped at Rhumerie de Chamarel, Chamarel waterfall, and 7 colored earth. It may sound like a busy afternoon, but everything in Chamarel was close together and didn’t take much time.
Day 5- In the morning, we hiked up Le Morne before it got too hot outside. We had lunch at a restaurant near the hotel and spent the day on the beach and stand up paddle boarding.
Day 6- We spent our last day in Mauritius relaxing on the beaches near our hotel and getting massages before our flight.
