Mauritius is a lagoon with a mountain in it. Book the water first.
Which catamaran to Ile aux Cerfs actually feeds you. What the speedboat costs once the trade wind gets up. Whether the Le Morne sunrise climb is worth a five o’clock start. Reviews of every tour you can book on the island.
The four bookings a first week in Mauritius is built around.
The lagoon crossing, the dolphins at dawn, the sunrise climb and the south west circuit. What each one costs, and what the people who took it say.
- 01The lagoon dayIle Aux Cerfs Catamaran Trip w/ Lunch & TransferCatamaran out of Trou d’Eau Douce to Ile aux Cerfs, lunch grilled on the back deck. The day everybody else photographs.
02Before the windSnorkeling w/Dolphins Boat Tour & LunchOut past Ile aux Benitiers at first light for spinner dolphins, then snorkelling in the shallows off Crystal Rock.
03The five o’clock climbLe Morne Mountain Guided Sunrise Hike and ClimbUp the back of Le Morne Brabant with a guide while the basalt is still cool. You are down again before the heat.
04The south westPrivate Southwest Chamarel Highlights TourChamarel, the coloured earths and the waterfall in one private run. The best drive on the island.
In Mauritius the day is decided at the jetty, not the hotel.
The east coast crossing to Ile aux Cerfs, the northern isles out of Grand Baie, the dolphins off Tamarin at first light. Three ways onto the same lagoon, and what boarding each one costs.
Where you sleep in Mauritius decides which boat you take.
The east coast jetty for the islet, the north for the catamarans, Chamarel for the interior, Black River for the dolphins, Port Louis for the market halls and the south west for the mountain.
What Mauritius books before anything else.
Every Mauritian tour we have reviewed →The tours more travellers take than anything else on the island, and what earns each of them the slot.
1
Ile Aux Cerfs Catamaran Trip w/ Lunch & Transfer
Join Freshverde Holidays for a seven-hour catamaran trip from Trou d’Eau Douce to Ile aux Cerfs. Expect hotel pickup, Grand River South East waterfalls by speedboat, a snorkeling stop, three-course barbecue lunch, drinks, and free time on the island. Guides speak English, French, and Hindi.
From · $110
Read our review →
2
Full-Day Catamaran Cruise to the Northern Isles
from $82
3
Snorkeling w/Dolphins Boat Tour & Lunch
from $115
4
Private Southwest Chamarel Highlights Tour
5
Private South-West Nature & Viewpoints with Lunch
6
5 Island Adventure with BBQ & Snorkeling
from $100
7
Private South Tour with Pickup
8
Catamaran Cruise to Ile Aux Cerfs with BBQ Lunch
from $64
Behind the beach, Mauritius is all gorge and waterfall.
The island climbs fast. Sept Cascades stacked under Tamarind Falls, the gorges above Black River where the last native forest hangs on, the coloured dunes at Chamarel and a crater lake the whole island walks to in February.
What a day out in Mauritius actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by what it costs. A fair number of the island’s best days come in under the price of dinner at the hotel.
Street food walks, garden entries, the glass-bottom boats at Blue Bay and the short waterfall hikes.
The standards: the catamaran to Ile aux Cerfs, the dolphin morning, the south west circuit with lunch.
A driver for a whole day, chartered boats, and the flight over the sand channels off Le Morne.
Three things that only happen in Mauritius.
Every volcanic island has a beach and a lookout. Sand that sorts itself into seven colours, a basalt head with an illusion under it, and spinner dolphins that turn up in the same bay every morning do not.
The Seven Coloured Earths
Volcanic ash weathered into clay bands that refuse to mix: rust, violet, ochre and brown separate out again on their own days after anyone stirs them together. The dunes sit in a private park with the Chamarel waterfall a few minutes up the road, and the colour reads strongest in the first hour after the gate opens, before the sun flattens it.
- 1Riambel: South Tour w/ Crocodile Park & Seven Colored Earth★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 204 reviews
- 2Southern Tales: Full-day incl Crocodile Park & 23 Colored Earth★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 74 reviews
- 3Picturesque South Tour Of Mauritius, Incl Lunch,7-Coloured Earth★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 66 reviews
The Mountain and the Illusion
The basalt head at the south west corner is a UNESCO site because runaway slaves held out on top of it. Guides start the back route in the dark so the climb finishes at sunrise, and from a plane the sand channels off its point line up into what looks like a waterfall pouring off the edge of the island.
- 1Hiking Le Morne Brabant★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 661 reviews
- 2Le Morne Brabant: UNESCO Mountain Hike & Local Guides★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 259 reviews
- 3Hiking and Climbing UNESCO Le Morne Brabant★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 111 reviews
Dolphins Before Seven
Spinner dolphins rest through the night in the calm water off Tamarin and Black River, then move out past the reef to feed once the trade wind picks up. That is why every boat leaves in the dark. Getting in with them is regulated now: small groups, no chasing, and the good skippers cut the engine and wait.
- 1Snorkel and Swim with Dolphins on Speedboat Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 147 reviews
- 2Speedboat to Ile aux Benitier: Dolphin Encounter & Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 · 144 reviews
- 3Ocean Swim with Dolphins★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 125 reviews
Four Mauritian bookings that will not wait.
Most of this island can be arranged the night before over a rum. These four run on sunrise, a tide, a permit list and a boat that leaves whether you are on it or not.
- 01Le Morne Mountain Guided Sunrise Hike and ClimbThe guided climb starts in the dark to finish at sunrise, and the guides cap the group. It goes early or it does not go.
- 02Snorkeling w/Dolphins Boat Tour & LunchThe dolphins rest inshore overnight and move off once the wind gets up, so every boat sails before seven.
- 03Ile aux Aigrettes Nature Reserve with Boat RideIle aux Aigrettes is a nature reserve. You go on a booked guided walk, on the reserve’s boat, in a group they keep small.
- 04Half-Day Snorkeling Trip with Creole Picnic LunchBlue Bay is a marine park and the coral is shallow. The water reads clear in the morning and goes to chop after lunch.
When the cyclone season parks over Mauritius, go inland.
Summer here means warm rain, a swell that cancels boats at short notice and the odd cyclone warning on the radio. The answer is the same every time: get off the water. Rum distilleries, a tea estate on the plateau, the covered market halls in Port Louis and a botanical garden that reads better wet.
- 1Street Food & City Tourfrom $58
- 2Street Food & City Tourfrom $42
- 3Port-Louis Street Food Tourfrom $57
Port Louis is a working capital, walked before the market shuts.
Everything in Port Louis →The Central Market opens early and the good fried stalls sell out by mid afternoon. Around it sit the Caudan waterfront, Chinatown and the citadel on the hill, all inside a twenty minute walk of each other.
Dholl puri, gateaux piments, alouda
Through the market halls and the Chinatown lanes with somebody who knows which stall is frying fresh. Dholl puri costs small change and you will eat four of them.
Pamplemousses and the giant water lilies
Talipot palms that flower once and then die, ponds carpeted with Victoria amazonica, and the old sugar estate museum next door to fill the afternoon.
Caudan, the citadel and the harbour
The old harbour front is cafes and a market of its own now, with Fort Adelaide up the slope behind it for the view over the roofs to the mountains.
By place, coast by coast
By kind of day, boat, hike, market or road
Port Louis, the north, the east coast jetty, then the south west: the loop most first trips drive.
The newest Mauritius tour reviews.
The rest of the new ones →
Whale & Dolphins Swimming – Private Speedboat Exclusive Tour
Read our review →
Walking under the sea in Mauritius with transfer
Read our review →
Tea Route: Lake, Forest, Tea Plantation & 3 Course Lunch
Read our review →
Unveiling the Ancient and Modern Port Louis – city tour
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The Wild East of Mauritius: Full-day tour including 2-hour Quad-Biking & Lunch
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The beautiful East of Mauritius:incl Blue-Bay Marine Park, Crocodile park &Lunch
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The Hidden Treasures of Mauritius, ALL INCLUSIVE Day Trip, Private SUV Car
Read our review →
The Gorgeous East: Bois Cheri Tea factory, Rhumerie St-Aubin, Mahebourg & Lunch
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The East Discovery Tour: Bois-Cheri Tea Factory, Blue-Bay Marine Park & Lunch
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