• This topic has 23 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 15 years ago by hora.
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  • Mauritius – things to do, things to see, stay?
  • pk-ripper
    Free Member

    Quick one – I’m off there for a couple of weeks (one with work) so it would be rude not to holiday off the back of that.

    Anyone been and can recommend things to do, see, or places to stay?

    Cheers,
    PK

    senorj
    Full Member

    Hello.
    I went last year.Wonderful place.Amazing food.
    GrandBay area on the northwest and Roche Noir on the northeast of the island have great beaches. – Grandbay has more facilities .
    You must try the food market in Central Port Louis – try everything.
    Especially the pineapple with chilli powder.
    The southeast of the island is where all the Boat trips advertising the dolphin spotting trips depart from.
    Curepipe has an excellent inavtice volcano crater.geat view.
    Take the boat from Trou d’eau Douce (on the east)to the small islands closer to the reef.
    The street vendors’ food (rotis mainly)is amazing.
    When i was there I saw quite a few roadies-local clubs and pro teams having lovely weather training.If i went back i would take bike.
    It is worth hiring a car and driving round the island – can be done easily
    over three or four days.
    Have fun.
    J.

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    PK, it’s a truly lovely little island! Where are you staying?

    My top tips for Mauritius;
    Beach, ice cold Pheonix beer, rum, wakeboarding, dive/snorkel over a reef (if your hotel has one), the botanic gardens at Pamplemousses, Balaclava, the “coloured earths” at Chamarel, Tamarin Falls, Fishing, more beer, more rum, more beach.

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    pk-ripper
    Free Member

    Am in port louis for the first week as thats where the office is, but other than that have no idea. Have looked at flic en flac which looks ok, but if you’d recommend somewhere different I’d be all ears. Hopefully going to try and do villa rather than hotel and hire a motorbike or something. It all looks pretty accessible from most places, but want a bit of life as will be there on my own.

    stuckinarut
    Free Member

    Mmmm Phoenix Beer!

    I’ve been to Mauritius a couple of times. We stayed in Flic-en-Flac on the SW coast. I think it’s a bit less-developed in the South, and plus the hotel we stayed in (Sofitel Imperial) was primarily populated by French tourists and the odd South African – no other Brits (until the last visit, when the hotel apparently made it onto lastminute, and there were chavs! ee-gad!)

    Snr J and CFH have about got it covered, but a couple of additions from my experience…

    Flic-en-Flac has an awesome little blues/jazz bar, which I unfortunately can’t remember the name of, owned by quite possibly the coolest Belgian in the world.

    Parc Aventure (near Chamarel IIRC) is good fun for a bit of Go Ape style rope swinging through the trees.

    Have a great time. It is a beautiful island. Must go back one day.

    Incidentally, there is a Mauritius Bar in Croydon where a lot of Mauritians from the hotel came over to work. Phoenix Beer and traditional Mauritian food and live Mauritian music. It’s a nice little place to reminisce. 🙂

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    You can get Phoenix in Croydon? I’m there!

    fauxbyfour
    Free Member

    Spent 3 months there a bit back. North of the island is nicer than the south. Great Chinese restaurants. Some things to see on the tourist circuit but not much. The real beauty of the place is watersports. Catamaran racing was my game. Fantastic!

    stuckinarut
    Free Member

    CFH get your Phoenix here!

    The Elvis night apparently is not to be missed. I am not so sure on that one. 8)

    pk-ripper
    Free Member

    So, do you reckon I should stay in grand bay (north) or flic en flac (south-east)? Will want to be doing a bit of snorkelling, drinking, eating well, meeting people who might also be travelling alone and generally relaxing, as well as seeing most of the island. Am planning to hire a car when I get there.

    jet26
    Free Member

    Would second renting a car – cheap and easy to get around the island.

    The races in Grand Baie is worth an afternoon out – usually on a sat afternoon if it’s on. The botanical gardens (really) are worth a look (in Pamplemousse) for an hour or two and seem to remember there are frequent guided tours that are cheap as chips. (there’s also a fantastic austrian cafe around the corner – or there was)

    Can highly recommend yemaya adventures – run by a guy called patrick. He’s an mtber and will happily take you out for half/full day guided rides and also does kayak day trips and guided hikes We went kayaking for a day which was excellent and also walked up ‘Le Pouce’ which is one of the mountains that form the bowl around Port Louis – fantastic views and well worth the walk. The walk is described in the lonely planet guid i think but it is a far from obvious route initially!!

    jet26
    Free Member

    Oh Black river gorge and blue bay (snorkelling) worth a look too.

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    PK, my preference would be to go further north than Grand Baie, but still on the west coast. Turtle Bay is rather lovely.

    Otherwise, if you want a bit of surf/windsurf/kite action, the south of the island rocks!

    senorj
    Full Member

    grand bay is the best base.
    far more amazing restaurants.they even have a decent japanese!

    go to flic’en flac for the day.
    I can’t remember the names off the top of me head , but there are boat trips to the “round” island of the north coast.
    plus a great little church/village where the redcoats launched an invasion
    many years ago. they are very easy to get to from Grand bay.
    J.

    carlos
    Free Member

    Had an awesome day out here http://www.caselayemen.mu/index-gb.htm

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    grand bay is the best base.
    far more amazing restaurants.they even have a decent japanese!

    Sorry, but why on earth would you go to one of the most lovely places on earth and then eat food from somewhere else?

    There’s bound to be an Irish pub in Tokyo. I imagine there may even be a McDonalds somewhere in Fiji. Would they be your recommendation?

    nick1c
    Free Member

    It has great kitesurfing/ windsurfing/ surfing. Not sure what time of year is best.

    hitman
    Free Member

    If you surf, then you know that it has one of the best breaks in the world, so make sure you take your board just in case

    tegski
    Free Member

    Was there quite a few years ago (10?!) but would agree with all of the usual tourist sights esp. the markets and the food vendors. We picked the bicycle food vendors with the biggest crowd of locals. They cook it fresh for the rush at lunch and then pedal to the market with the food in an esky on the front of their bike – fantastic.
    We were also told to ask the taxi driver how much it would be for the whole day to hire him and the car for all of the main tourist sights – was about $100 – not bad for all of the entry fees and a private car with tour guide! Driver was great and very knowledgeable – chilled out that he had made his money for the day too!
    We hired bikes and pedaled around the local villages – was funny and sad to see the locals sizing us up to see how much they could charge and get away with for a couple of bread rolls, water and other fresh stuff for lunch. We usually ended up paying equivalent of a dollar and leaving the change – bonus for them. Marlin beer (strong) gets my vote!

    fauxbyfour
    Free Member

    Is that Japanese still there in Grand Baie. I remember some great tempanyaki. And sorry Captain Flashfart, there are many cultural influences in many parts of the world and food can be the expresion of this. Grow up!

    tyke
    Free Member

    I am married to a Mauritian and go back every couple of years. If you are on your own I would recommend staying in or near Grand Baie. It has a bit more going on for the single person and also some great restaurants. There is a lot of rental property available in and around the town. If you are going to work with Mauritians they are likely to know somebody with a cottage or bungalow you can rent. Prices for hotel and rental properties are quite expensive but food and beer is cheap!

    Hire a car or motorbike whilst you are tehre to get around – be aware that in the villages pedestrians believe that they have right of way!

    Visit all the spots that everyone has mentioned (if you get time) plus try and visit one of the sugar cane factories. If you are into fishing then you can go deep sea fishing for marlin, tuna and shark. Normally half day trips – a lot of them are based in Grand Baie.

    If you are going before end of March be aware that there may be a chance of cylones; not really dangerous but can disrupt travel, power and water supplies for a couple of days.

    I am sure you’ll have a really great time – you lucky sod.

    Sponging-Machine
    Free Member

    I can tell you that the surf is not shit. The locals area also not shit at dropping in on you and then punching you in the face.

    senorj
    Full Member

    “Sorry, but why on earth would you go to one of the most lovely places on earth and then eat food from somewhere else? “
    “There’s bound to be an Irish pub in Tokyo. I imagine there may even be a McDonalds somewhere in Fiji. Would they be your recommendation? “

    The japanese restaurant i mentioned was so memorable because of the amazing fresh fish they were able to serve.i had eaten in all of grand bay’s restaurants . I wouldn’t recommend mc d’s anywhere.

    Are all the users of this website trolls?

    what an ass.

    crispybacon
    Free Member

    I can also recommend Grand Baie as an area in which to stay with great hotels, beaches & restaurants. I came back with a load of designer shirts which worked out at about £5 each from the local menswear shop & Mrs cb bought a load of pashminas again at rock bottom prices. Fantastic place, fantastic weather & fantastic people we can’t wait to go back again.

    I’m sure you will have a great time as it’s a top island, you jammy blighter 8)

    hora
    Free Member

    Just be careful, The Mauritian Red Army Faction are currently blowing up office waste paper bins on the island.

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