Mauritius, one lagoon at a time.
Which catamaran reaches Ile aux Cerfs before the sandbank fills. Where the dolphins surface at seven. What a driver costs for a day in the south. Every tour on the island, reviewed.
Ile aux Cerfs: the boat leaves from the jetty.
All Ile aux Cerfs tours →
The island sits off the east coast and nobody drives there. Boats go from Trou d’Eau Douce and from Grand River South East, twenty minutes over the lagoon. What changes is the vessel, the lunch, and how much of the day belongs to the sandbank.
Catamaran over the lagoon, lunch on board
Anchors off the sandbank, grills lunch while you swim, and gives you the island in the middle of the day. This is what most people mean when they say Ile aux Cerfs.
Speedboat across, then the GRSE waterfall
Twenty minutes over, then up the river at Grand River South East to the waterfall and back to the island before the catamarans drop anchor.
Reef stops first, sandbank second
The reef on the way across holds sergeant-majors in shoals thick enough to swim through. The island is the second half of this day, not the whole of it.
Six places that decide a Mauritius itinerary.
The lagoon crossing, the catamaran day, the dolphin dawn, the coloured earth, the mountain above the reef, the waterfall valley. Almost every trip is built around some of these, and each one books differently.
What fills the boats in Mauritius.
The full Mauritius list →These are the days the island runs on. What each costs, how long it takes, and what you actually get for the money.
1
Ile Aux Cerfs Catamaran Trip w/ Lunch & Transfer
Review of Mauritius’s Ile aux Cerfs catamaran trip, with hotel transfers, waterfall visit, snorkeling, island time, lunch, and drinks.
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
from $127
5
Private South-West Nature & Viewpoints with Lunch
from $115
6
5 Island Adventure with BBQ & Snorkeling
from $100
7
Private South Tour with Pickup
from $129
8
Catamaran Cruise to Ile Aux Cerfs with BBQ Lunch
from $64
One road runs around Mauritius. This is the order to drive it.
Port Louis is a market town wearing a capital’s clothes.
The Central Market smells of curry leaf and pineapple before nine. The waterfront turns colonial and glassy by lunch. The best hours here are spent eating standing up, with someone who knows which stall is which.
Chamarel: coloured earth, a waterfall, rum at the end.
The dunes turn seven colours because the basalt underneath weathered at different speeds. The falls drop a hundred metres off the same plateau. Most days out here pair the two with the distillery and a viewpoint down over Le Morne.
What a day out in Mauritius costs.
Every tour on the site, arranged by price. The lagoon is free. The boat that takes you across it is not.
Waterfall hikes, market mornings, entry tickets and the short boat hops along the coast.
The standard island day: a crossing with lunch aboard, a dolphin morning, a south-coast circuit with a driver.
Private drivers with the whole day yours, chartered boats, and the flights that show you the reef from above.
The dolphins are off Tamarin before breakfast.
All dolphin trips →
Dolphin Snorkel, CrystalRock, ile o Benitiers Lunch
Read our review →Three places Mauritius keeps to itself.
Lagoons and beach clubs run the length of the Indian Ocean. The sandbank island, the seven-coloured dunes and the mountain at the south-west tip belong to this one.
The Island You Cross For
Ile aux Cerfs is a sandbank with a golf course on it, half a kilometre off the east coast, and the whole point is the water in between. There is no bridge and no road: the jetties at Trou d’Eau Douce and Grand River South East are where every version of this day starts. Go early. By noon the catamarans are rafted three deep off the sandbar.
- 1Ile Aux Cerfs Catamaran Trip w/ Lunch & Transfer★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 1,922 reviews
- 25 Island Adventure with BBQ & Snorkeling★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 1,052 reviews
- 3Catamaran Cruise to Ile Aux Cerfs with BBQ Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 925 reviews
The Coloured Earth
On the plateau above Chamarel the ground is striped red, brown, violet and blue-green. Volcanic basalt broke down into clays that refuse to mix, so the dunes keep their bands through every rainy season. It is a ten-minute look, which is why the tickets bundle it with the waterfall next door and the rum distillery below.
- 1Private Southwest Chamarel Highlights Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,427 reviews
- 2Private South Tour with Pickup★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 940 reviews
- 3Full-Day Catamaran Cruise to Île aux Cerfs with BBQ Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 455 reviews
Le Morne Brabant
The basalt monolith at the south-west tip is a UNESCO World Heritage site. People who escaped slavery sheltered on its summit and in its caves, and the mountain is a memorial as much as a climb. Guided ascents leave in the dark to reach the shoulder at sunrise; the upper section needs a licensed guide and a head for rock.
- 1Le Morne Mountain Guided Sunrise Hike and Climb★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 839 reviews
- 2Hiking Le Morne Brabant★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 661 reviews
- 3Le Morne Brabant: UNESCO Mountain Hike & Local Guides★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 259 reviews
Grand Baie sails early and eats late.
Boats leave the bay for the northern islets by nine: Coin de Mire on the horizon, a sandbar off Gabriel for lunch, home before the afternoon wind gets up. Cap Malheureux and its red roof are ten minutes further up the coast.
- 1Full-Day Catamaran Cruise to the Northern Islesfrom $82
- 2Catamaran 3 Islands Cruise & Lunch on the Islandfrom $70
- 3Full Day Tour of the North with Hotel Transferfrom $109
Mauritius has a wet season, and the south east has wind.
January to March brings heavy afternoons, and the south-east trades blow most of the year and can cancel a boat at short notice. The answers are inland and uphill: the coloured earth under cloud, the market in Port Louis, a gorge walk that is better wet, a distillery with a roof.
Book these before you land in Mauritius.
Most of the island can be arranged from your hotel the evening before. These cannot. They run on single dawn departures, boats that seat eight, and a very small number of aircraft.
- 01Scenic Helicopter Flight with Hotel TransfersA handful of aircraft cover the whole island and each one carries a few passengers at a time.
- 02Snorkeling w/Dolphins Boat Tour & LunchOne departure, at first light, and the boats are back in the bay by mid-morning. There is no second run.
- 03Le Morne Mountain Guided Sunrise Hike and ClimbSunrise climbs start in the dark with a licensed guide, and guides take small groups up the rock.
- 04Private Southwest Chamarel Highlights TourA private car for the day is one vehicle and one driver. In high season the good ones are spoken for weeks out.
By coast — where on Mauritius you are staying
Ile aux Cerfs & the east142 tours
Grand Baie & the north46 tours
Port Louis88 tours
Chamarel & the south west48 tours
Le Morne39 tours
Tamarin22 tours
Flic en Flac10 tours
Mahébourg & Blue Bay12 tours- Every corner of the island →
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Undersea Walk & Beaches in The North With Transportation
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Wild South: Full-Day tour incl Rhumerie St Aubin, Bois cheri Tea factory & Lunch
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