Africa & Middle East · Mauritius
Mauritius
A lagoon around the whole island, a botanical garden of giants and a one year visa for remote workers.
Mauritius sits in the Indian Ocean 2,000 kilometres off Africa, ringed by a coral reef that makes its coast one long lagoon. Inside it are the beaches: Trou aux Biches, Belle Mare, Le Morne with its mountain. Behind them are sugar cane, temples, Creole villages and a mixed population that speaks three languages at once. It is the best honeymoon island for people who also want to do things.
The palm: Bottle palm
Mauritius has its own palms: the bottle palm with its swollen trunk, the hurricane palm and the latans, all endemic to the Mascarene islands. The Pamplemousses garden grows the talipot palm, which flowers once after sixty years and dies, next to giant water lilies the size of tables.
When to go
Sights
Le Morne Brabant
The mountain at the south-west tip, a UNESCO memorial to escaped slaves, with a climb and a beach.
Pamplemousses botanical garden
Palms, giant lilies and spice trees planted in the 18th century.
Chamarel
Seven-coloured earth, a waterfall and a rum distillery in the hills.
Port Louis
The central market, Chinatown, the Champ de Mars racecourse and the harbour waterfront.
Beaches
Trou aux Biches
The classic north-west beach, calm, shaded and with a sunset every evening.
Belle Mare
A long white beach on the east coast, breezier and with the big resorts.
Le Morne
Kitesurfing on the lagoon and the mountain as a backdrop.
Events
- Feb
Cavadee
Tamil devotees carry decorated arches to the temples in January or February.
- Nov
Holi and Divali
The Indian festivals of colour and light are national celebrations here.
- Sep
Père Laval pilgrimage
Thousands walk to the shrine in Sainte-Croix on the night of 8 September.
For remote workers
A comfortable month: about €1,900
The Premium Visa lets remote workers stay a year while working for employers abroad. Fibre reaches most of the island, Flic-en-Flac and Tamarin on the west coast have coworkings and a surf and kite crowd, and Port Louis is a real capital with a market and a racecourse. English and French both work.
Compare as a baseFor families
The reef turns the whole coast into a lagoon: warm, flat, waist deep and full of fish. Casuarina trees shade most beaches, resorts run kids clubs as standard, and the sea turtle nursery at Île aux Aigrettes and the Casela park fill rainy afternoons.
Rank for your familyThree things to know
- The west coast is drier and has the sunsets; the east is windier and cooler in winter.
- May to June and September to November avoid both the cyclone season and the coolest weeks.
- Rent a car for a few days: the island is small and the interior is where the food and the temples are.
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