Mauritius - any experiences or tips?

[chickenqueen]

Thinking of going with my BF in October, usually like holidays with a bit of beach but also trekking and sight-seeing ect, is there enough to keep us occupied for two weeks? And is it as beautiful as it looks!?

We went there for our honeymoon and were rather underwhelmed by the place. Lovely hotel, beautiful beach not so wowed by the island which isn't so great when you don't like just lying on the beach and want to do some exploring.

My partner's family is from Mauritius and they go every few years for a fortnight at a time - yes it is as beautiful as it looks and yes you will have plenty to do. Tonnes of adventure sports, water sports, hiking etc if that's your cup of tea. Rum tours and amazing animal wildlife parks too. Food is from another world and beaches are like something from a dream.

Thanks! @dkb15164 where would you recommend us basing ourselves?

Hi, we've been to Mauritius twice now - stayed at the Sands Resort on Flic en Flak beach - we hired a driver for one day and drove around seeing the sights. We found the island to be rather sad - a lot of unfinished building work, and obvious poverty. 'Wildlife' centres with sedated cheetahs etc - some parts are beautiful for hiking - but not for 2 weeks! We were there in August last year and stayed at The Oberoi - stunning hotel with incredible service - but we didn't really leave the resort this time. Have a great time whatever you do.

We went in December, boked a guide for a day and it was lively, saw the sights, lovely village restaurant lunch, swam with do
Phones on another trip. Plenty to do put and about if your u want to leave the hotel.

It is fine. But we went in October and it wasn’t that warm. The sea in particular was cool.

Beautiful, went on honeymoon, stay to the south, we stayed at the Heritage Awali, fantastic hotel. The lion walk at the wildlife park is amazing, walking in the black river gorges.

Avoid the east coast as it's really windy over there. The west, north or south are good but the south is the most beautiful in our opinions. Pretty much everywhere you want to go is 2 hours and under giving the size of the island. Could give a hotel recommendation if you gave us an idea of your budget.

I wasn't that impressed with Mauritius either - preferred the Maldives
(amazing) and Barbados

I wasn’t that impressed either. If you have a dog, or are a fan of dogs, do not go there, it’ll just break your heart. There’s so many poor homeless starving and mistreated dogs, that we bought a bunch of dog food and fed them whenever we went out. The way they handle the problem is pretty horrific too, there’s a petition going around to try to stop this. The snorkelling is pretty shite, there’s a lot of poverty, and if I had my time over again I’d have gone somewhere else. The beaches do look gorgeous, but we don’t go for sunbathing, we like to snorkel, and if you want to drive out there they drive on the same side of the road as us so it’s nice and easy to get around, and car hire is pretty cheap.

Thanks for all the replies, we have heard a few negative things from some other people as well and have decided against Mauritius for now as we wouldn't be able to afford a nice all inclusive hotel - going to go to Nepal instead!

Chicken if it helps, we were on Mauritius in 2015 and although I wasn’t “Blown away” by the island, (lots of shanty towns/poverty outside of the resort areas), we did have a lovely holiday.

We avoided the big beachfront all inclusive hotels and stayed in a fully serviced aparthotel instead plus we hired a car for the duration. (Driving really easy as they drive on the left as we do in the U.K.)

We stayed here in Trou aux Biches www.beapart.com/english/
Which was lovely. Lots of local restaurants close by and the beach was just across the road. Eating out is VERY cheap on Mauritius. Struggle to understand why the all inclusives are so expensive. Lots of lovely villas available to rent too as we spoke to many people in the local bars and restaurants who were doing villa holidays.

Don’t let the lack of reasonably priced all inclusives put you off. An excellent meal for 2 - starters plus mains and a couple of local beers/ soft drinks each plus tip was averaging £25 - £30 in TOTAL.

We would certainly return.

Ah this is worrying we’ve just booked 3 nights at the lakaz chameral and 4 nights at zilwa attitude! We like to sunbathe but also see the sights, hope we won’t be disappointed

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that I really enjoyed Mauritius.

I hired a car with my children and drove around. There are a lot of temples there of different faiths, some very colourful or on a lake, one with monkeys - we made it a bit of a project to drive around and photograph them which was interesting.

There are some lovely walks, some decent tourist attractions, we took a boat out one day, plenty to do I thought.

We made a point of not just staying in the hotel but spending our money in the local shops (gorgeous piles of rambutan by the side of the road), excellent fresh bread and decent food shops.

I agree it is a poor country when you get away from the coastal strip, but what struck me was how lovely the people were. Everyone was incredibly polite and helpful and happy to talk to us. My DD got an ear infection so I went to queue in the local pharmacy and somewhat to my horror was waved through to the front to see the (excellent) pharmacist. Whilst I was a bit embarrassed by this and apologised profusely, everyone in the queue was smiling and asking me about her ear. Whilst that is obviously a give priority to tourists thing, it was all done very pleasantly.

I would happily go back.

Thank you for the reassurance. We’ve travelled various places in Africa, Asia, Indonesia and the Caribbean before so I’m not worried about poverty or culture shock, we just need plenty to do! Hiring a car sounds perfect especially with us moving Hotel, can you recommend a company by any chance?

We spent 2 weeks at Zilwa on the East coast . I can honestly say it was one of the best holiday we have had as a family . The weather (end Nov) was amazing . We hired a car for a week and made full use of driving around every nook & cranny of the island . Zilwa is a owned by a Mauritian company( i prefer to keep local business going rather than the big american hotels) and was 4* . It is such a beautiful hotel . Yes the town's where a bit ramshackle , but the people are incredibly friendly . I love it and can't wait to go back

Minko we used Maki car rental who were brilliant and VERY reasonably priced. www.maki-car-rental.com/rent-a-car/mauritius.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_rGeseiE2QIVqLvtCh2ZNA68EAAYAiAAEgKdJvD_BwE

I went on honeymoon in September and thought it was expensive for what it was. In hindsight we should have gone to Thailand or the Maldives. Weather was quite mixed

We just came back from 2 weeks in Mauritius yesterday.

I know OP has made her decision not to go, but for anyone else still deciding, I would say 'go for it'!

It is a beautiful country and we found plenty to do , but then we like a mix of sightseeing and relaxing - we tend to alternate days 'out' and 'in'.

We spent a week on the East side (and no, it wasn't windy) and a week on the West. We travelled north to St Louis, Pamplemouse etc, South to the Grand Basin, Black River National Park etc plus La Morne, tea plantation. We did a day's boat trip, seeing dolphins (a bonus as they aren't so common on the east coast), snorkelling, beach BBQ etc.

The nature is fascinating - I particularly loved the trees and birds which are so different from back home. Plus the incredible Fruit Bats - they are massive and fly during day time , so easily spotted.

Hiking is quite possible, but try and time a visit so it's not too humid which it has been these last two weeks.

The people were all friendly and the food was amazing.

I do think if you wanted to go out and see things every day you might run out of ideas (and money - it's not that cheap) before two weeks are up, but there is plenty for those who like the mix.