Lagoon days and mountain mornings.
Catamarans out to Île aux Cerfs, the sunrise climb up Le Morne, the seven-coloured earth at Chamarel and the long road round the south. How each day runs, what it costs, and which one suits the trip you are on.
Seven days out that fill a Mauritius week.
A catamaran into the east lagoon, the climb up Le Morne before the rock gets hot, the coloured earth and a rum tasting on the way back down. Book these and the rest of the week arranges itself around them.
Full-Day Catamaran Cruise to the Northern Isles
Full-day catamaran to Mauritius Northern Isles, with BBQ lunch and snorkeling at Flat, Gabriel, and Coin de Mire.
From $82 per person
Read the review →
★ 4.8Fills the boat fastPrivate South-West Nature & Viewpoints with LunchFrom $1151,129 reviews
★ 4.7Easy openerTrou d’Eau Douce: 5 Island Adventure with BBQ & SnorkelingFrom $1001,052 reviews
★ 4.9Fair for the pricePrivate South Tour with PickupFrom $129940 reviews
★ 4.3A Mauritius classicCatamaran Cruise to Ile Aux Cerfs with BBQ LunchFrom $64925 reviews
★ 4.2Fine with childrenGrand Baie: Catamaran 3 Islands Cruise & Lunch on the IslandFrom $70918 reviews
★ 5.0Flat-water dayHiking Le Morne BrabantFrom $61661 reviews
One day belongs to the water.
Catamarans leave Trou d’Eau Douce and Grand Baie by nine, anchor off a sandbank for a barbecue, and are back before the light goes. Île aux Cerfs takes the crowds; the five-island run and the Bénitiers boats are quieter and exactly as blue.
Lagoon day, gorge day, or the coloured earth?
Most people get one clear day between beach mornings, and the three ways to spend it are genuinely different islands. Pick the one that sounds like your trip, then start from the boats, drivers and guides underneath it.
On the water
The lagoon day
7 hours · from $110 · 1,922 reviews
A catamaran out of Trou d’Eau Douce, a snorkel stop over the reef, barbecue on the sand and the Grande Rivière Sud Est waterfall on the way back. Very little walking, the best photographs of the trip, and a swell that moves the anchorage rather than the day.
See the catamaran trips →
By road
The south-west run
7h 30m · from $127 · 1,427 reviews
The coloured earth at Chamarel and the waterfall beside it, a rum distillery, the Le Morne viewpoint, then a long lunch with the lagoon in front of it. A driver covers the lot in a day from any coast, and the road itself is half the reason to go.
See the south-west tours →
On foot
The walking day
4 hours · from $75 · 839 reviews
Black River Gorges from the ridge, the seven cascades above Henrietta, or Le Morne at first light with a guide who knows which line is allowed. Boots, water, an early start. The interior is far greener and far steeper than the brochures suggest.
Find a guided hike →
The island does its best work early.
Le Morne is climbed at dawn because the basalt bakes by ten. The dolphin boats leave Tamarin before the wind gets up. Walkers are on the Black River ridge while the coast is still asleep. Set one alarm and the whole trip changes shape.
Dholl puri first, rum at the end.
Street food off the Port Louis pavements, a Creole kitchen on a sugar estate, tastings at the Chamarel distillery. Indian, Chinese, African and French cooking on one small island, and the best of it costs almost nothing.
The interior is the part people miss.
Most visitors never leave the coast road. Behind it sit gorges of endemic forest, waterfalls you swim under, a crater lake the whole island walks to in February, and viewpoints that put the reef back in proportion.
Cane built this place.
Nearly every green field between the coasts is sugar, and the road through them runs past the tea estate at Bois Chéri, the distillery at Chamarel, and the Aapravasi Ghat steps in Port Louis where half a million indentured workers first came ashore. A slower day, and the one that explains the rest.
Four coasts, four different holidays.
North for the Grand Baie boats and the red-roofed church at Cap Malheureux. East for the flat lagoon and the sandbanks. South-west for Le Morne, Chamarel and the cliffs. Port Louis for the market and the ghat.
Pick the sort of day you want.
Twelve ways to spend one. Boats, boots, bikes and tanks, each with the operators worth booking sitting behind it.
The best bits are offshore.
Boats leave from every coast. Sandbanks in the east, Crystal Rock in the west, Coin de Mire off the north tip and the reef at Blue Bay, all of it inside a morning.
Three days that cover the island.
You will not see Mauritius from one hotel gate. Three days, three directions, and the rest of the week can stay on the sand with a clear conscience.
Day 1
Out on the lagoon
Catamaran from Trou d’Eau Douce, a snorkel stop over the reef, barbecue on the sand and the waterfall at Grande Rivière Sud Est on the way home.
Plan the lagoon day →
Day 2
The south-west run
Chamarel for the coloured earth and the waterfall, the rum distillery after it, Le Morne from the viewpoint, then the coast road home through Rivière Noire.
Plan the south-west day →
Day 3
The capital, then north
Central Market and the Aapravasi Ghat before the heat, lunch in Chinatown, then up to Pamplemousses and the church at Cap Malheureux.
Plan the Port Louis day →
Latest Mauritius tour reviews.
★ 5.0Mauritius Guided Sunrise Kayak Tour on the Tamarin RiverFrom $4210 reviews
★ 5.0Hiking La Tourelle Mountain in MauritiusFrom $6910 reviews
★ 5.0Full-Day North Tour of Mauritius, ALL INCLUSIVE Day Trip, Private SUV Car, GuideFrom $26210 reviews
★ 4.5Historical Private Guided Tour, City-SugarWorld-Botanical Garden – Min.2 personsFrom $17910 reviews
★ 4.0The Gorgeous South of Mauritius: Full-day tour incl Tea Factory & Crocodile parkFrom $14610 reviews
★ 5.0Sunrise Mountain Hike with Southwest Road-tripFrom $17910 reviews
★ 4.7Port Louis / China Town Food & Culture TourFrom $9510 reviews
★ 3.8Full-day Catamaran Cruise to Ile aux Cerfs with LunchFrom $6510 reviews