3 days in Mauritius

Dear Lilioftheworld.com reader, here is Dimo, your co-editor. We haven’t seen each other for some time, because our traveling family went through a terrible tragedy. In October 2022, Lili, my better half, lost the uneven fight against cancer.. I have had a hard time to find a meaning and motivation to write again. But life goes on and right now writing and traveling is a way for me to keep my connection with Lili. So this trip of 3 days in Mauritius and the next lines are a dedication to you, my love!

Why just 3 days?

You won’t hear about many people who went on a long haul trip to Mauritius for just a long weekend. In normal circumstances I will also find the idea crazy. However, circumstances in the last 12 months have been anything but normal.
Life was hard while fighting alongside Lili against cancer, but became even harder when she passed away. So I needed a getaway. I wanted to go to a beautiful place despite having very limited time while my daughter was with her grand parents.
I was looking up flight tickets to destinations that we haven’t visited and found a budget last minute option for Mauritius. My flight was arriving early in the morning on 31.12.2022 and I was flying back late in the evening on 02.01.2023. This made three almost full-exploration-days. I booked the tickets and next thing I remember was boarding on a Condor flight in Frankfurt.

Is 3 days in Mauritius enough?

I wouldn’t recommend it if this is one of your first travels to such destination. However, if you are experienced traveler (say you have already visited 4-5 similar islands), you could definitely make a good use of 3-day stay. Short time, but with the right planning you could see everything that you would like to.

And yet, you are here to learn how and what to see for 3 days in Mauritius, so thanks for baring with me and let’s go to the good part of the trip. As on any paradise island significant part of its beauty comes from its beaches. Hence, the present article is focused mainly on them.

Short info on Mauritius

Mauritius is a relatively small island and you could go between northern-most and southern-most points for about 2 hours driving. Population is about 1.2 mln people with about half of them belonging to Hindu religion, while the rest is mix. Main language is French, but everyone speaks English as well. As many other places around, the island has belonged to various colonies. The climate is tropical with a dry season between March and November. While cyclones are likely to occur between December and March, it is still a good period to visit.

Planning the trip

To start, every travel requires good planning, but this is especially valid for short trips, as you need to make the best use of a limited time. So, before we jump on the sand, I would like to share with you the planning steps, that I took:

1. Flight tickets

A major cost and first necessary condition for such trip. While looking up the tickets I was using kayak.com and google’s ticket engine. A tip from me: always check airports that are nearby your place. This increases the chances of finding a good offer.

2. Deciding what to see

I had only three days, so I had to prioritize various spots. What I usually do is reading several what-to-see articles and select places that I like. Then I save each place on the Google maps app.

3. Sightseeing plan

You would like to allocate the places to visit to each day that you have. Once saved on google maps, it is easy to cluster places that could be covered together in a day.

4. Transportation

How would you move on the island? For a three-day period on Mauritius, I wouldn’t consider public transport. The choice was between a rent-a-car and taxi. I picked the rent-a-car due to higher extent of freedom, but taxi costs are similar for full-day rents. Did I mention that the driving is on the left side? Yes, it could be a bit of a challenge, especially for first-timers. What I usually do is always remind myself that “left is right” 🙂 You could use that or apply any other approach that you find suitable for yourself.
I have to say that roads are wide and in excellent condition, so left driving is the only thing you should focus on.

5. Accommodation

Once you know the places of interest, you need to select a place to sleep. Location is important as it has to fit the plan drafted in point 3 above. In my case the choice was limited due to the high season, so even though I wanted to stay closer to the most beautiful beaches, I had to settle with a hotel in Port Louis.

6. Going through all the details:

• Visum requirements – depends on your passport. For EU member states there isn’t such requirement.

• Vaccinations needed – no obligatory ones. Still, always good to check with your local health authorities in advance.

• Safety level – Mauritius is pretty safe place, but of course one should still exercise common sense and look out for suspicious behavior, as you would anywhere in the world.

• Currency – Local currency is Mauritian Rupee. I didn’t bring any cash with me and card payments were widely accepted. However, some places, such as food kiosks next to the beach, only cash is accepted. So prepare accordingly.

• AC outlet – see here. The website gives you the chance to check if you need an adapter.

• Local SIM card – I choose to stay connected, so I always check the availability and costs for local SIM cards. I didn’t have time for extensive research and price comparison, so I jumped on one of the local operators page, where you could order a prepaid SIM card with sufficient amount of data included. You can find the tourist pack here.

• Tropical country visit essentials such as sun protection, mosquito repellent, comfortable shoes, appropriate clothing, etc.

Once you checked the list, you are good to go!
So I was!

Day 1 (south-west coast)

I took my Sixt rent-a-car relatively easy and I was on my way to Le Morne beach.

I passed by some huge hindu statues that reminded me to what I have seen in South East Asia:

Chamarel

First official stop was the Chamarel park. Normally the place offers entertainment for at least a day: trekking, waterfalls, park, etc.
I picked only the most famous of all: 7 Coloured Earth Geopark.
Still on my way I saw the 100m high waterfall:

In its essence 7 Coloured Earth represents a small area where the soil shines in different colors. The photos are without filters, so you can see for yourself:

Just next to the 7 Coloured Earth you can see some local turtles.

Next stop on my way to the beach was a gorgeous view point.

Le Morne Beach

Le Morne beach is probably the best beach on the island (competing with Flic en Flac). I was amazed by its beauty and therefore took lots of photos 🙂

My recommendation would be that you take time to walk the whole beach stretch: as you see above you won’t be disappointed.

Flic en Flac

After half an hour drive I found myself on another magnificent beach – Flic en Flac. It is another long sandy stretch with mostly calm water.

 

Here, at the end of day 1, I would like to give you some information on getting foods and beverages next to the beach areas. While there are some restaurants that are available to everyone, most of the bars and restaurants that are part of resort are usually only accessible for resort guests.
However, at the main entrance/parking lot of almost every beach, you will see some food kiosk/trucks like these ones:

They present a good alternative to have some refreshment on the beach.

After Flic en Flac, I was very tired and ended the day checking-in in my hotel just next to the waterfront.

Day 2 (north-west coast)

Day 2 was actually 1st of January 2023. I started the day with a workout 🙂

The gym view was just great!

Pereybare Beach

I was well rested and full of energy looking ahead to spending a great day on the seaside. My exploration started with the Pereybare Beach.

It is a great beach, but far smaller than the ones that I visited the previous day.

It is worth going to the north-most part and even jumping on the next beach to see some good views of the Gunner’s Quoin island.

La Cuvette

From Pereybare, I moved south to La Cuvette. This is a small beach on the north side of Grand Baie, which is used mainly by two resorts that are located on it.

Grand Baie

Grand Baie fully corresponds to its literal English translation – Grand Bay. It is a huge bay that is a parking place for many boats. It isn’t the best place for having beach time in comparison with other beaches around, but it offers some very nice views, like those ones:

Mont Choisy

My next stop was the Mont Choisy beach. Actually there are two parts of this beach. On the northern part there is a small part of it, which is used by a couple of nice resorts. I was still able to walk there and make some good photos:

The bigger beach stretch is rather public and very populated in high season:

Trou-aux-biches

Going further south, I got to the Trou-aux-biches, my last stop for the day. It is another excellent sand stretch, but one thing to keep in mind, which is valid for most of the beaches that are in front of a resort, is that they rarely allow you to have drinks/food, so you need to plan accordingly. Or at least this was the situation in the high season around New Eve.

Day 3 (Port Louis and south-east coast)

Port Louis

Port Louis is the main city of the island.

The Caudan waterfront is one of the must-see places of the city. Still, I would have probably skipped it, if my hotel wasn’t in a close proximity. Now that I’ve seen it, I can only recommend that you visit it. It has a specific spirit and is a nice place to just chill out.

I left the south-east part coast for the last day, as the airport is just nearby.

One thing to keep in mind is that during this time of the year short, but heavy rains are very likely, especially if you pass by the central part of the island. So if you happen to be on the highway, please adjust your speed accordingly or alternatively, you could even stop as the visibility becomes quite low and water skiing can happen unexpectedly.

I used every opportunity to stop somewhere on the road and enjoy all that was surrounding me.

Blue Bay

Blue Bay is another nice beach on Maruitius, which offers a great relaxation with with white sand and turquoise blue waters.

As on many other of the main beaches on the island it is worth going a bit on the side, where no crowds are present and you can enjoy the beach only for yourself 🙂

Mahebourg visit

A vibrant city on the east coast, Mahebourg, is a great place to feel the spirit of the locals.

I took a good walk around the waterfront and it was amazing. The city market was closed, but seems like a good spot to check out.

Plane spotting

My day finished at the airport, which offers a good view and landscape for plane spotters.

Thank you for baring with me until the end of my 3 days in Mauritius! I hope you enjoyed the read and I hope to see you again soon!

For other long distance trips, visit our Long haul trip section. If you want to read more about shorter getaways, please visit the Weekend Escapes section.

 

To Lili