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Port Louis and North Mauritius holidays
If Mauritius were a cruise ship, it would surely capsize with all the visitors on the northern coast. A heady mix of never-ending palm beaches, warm, blue lagoons, and the island’s best nightlife — this is one ship we’d gladly go down with.
- Flight time
- 12h
- From London
- Currency
- MUR
- Mauritian Rupee
- Time zone
- GMT + 4h
Package holidays to Port Louis and North Mauritius
Getting to North Mauritius
Mauritius’ major international airport, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (MRU) sits on the opposite side of the island, but let’s put that into perspective. The airport's just 48km southeast of Port Louis and Port Louis 23km from Grand Baie. Hitched together by the island’s two major highways, even if you’re staying the furthest possible north, there should be sand between your toes in under an hour.
As buses from the airport require a change in Port Louis, a taxi is usually a simpler option. If you’re lucky, some resorts include shared or private airport transfers in their packages, the little extras that make the packages cost-effective.
Nonstop flights from the UK depart from London Gatwick and Heathrow and take between 11.5 and 12 hrs, so you can leave in the evening and arrive by the next day’s lunch.
To take in all north Mauritius has to offer, rental cars are a popular mode of transport and you’ll find most of the major international rental services in arrivals at the airport, plus in many of the resorts. Take note, however, that Mauritius’ roads aren’t for the faint-hearted. Winding through a challenging topography of mountains and congested towns, if you’ve just lost your L plates, perhaps think again. By law, renters must be over 23.
Average weather in Port Louis and North Mauritius
- Temperature (°C)*
- Rainfall (Inches)*
Holidays in North Mauritius
When your resort has six bars (the Ravenala), sunset champagne cruises (the Westin) or sega and seafood banquets on the beach (La Pirogue), there’s not much reason to leave after dark. Unless you’re looking to party like a local and throw serious shapes. Then the Grand Baie is the best place for you. Blossoming from a sleepy city of 1 to 2 clubs, today the Baie has over 10 bars jostling for position (most on the long Royal Road). Entrance is usually free (or almost free), meaning bar and club hopping is perfectly legitimate, even advised by some.
One of the oldest clubs in the Baie, the Banana Beach Club, is a good place to kick things off, a kitch local bar known for live music at weekends and an owner who doesn’t let small matters like grade 2 cyclones ruin a good time... A step up on the swish scale, Les Enfants Terribles (“the Lets” to locals) on the road to Point aux Cannoniers is the place to flock in your finest and groove to hip hop, R&B and the charts. Back down on the Royal Road, check out which of Insomnia, Buddah Bar and Kamikaze (or whatever these clubs have been renamed by this point) looks the liveliest, though take heed, festivities here rarely start before midnight.
There are more international influences on Mauritius’ dishes than there are meals in the week and the north has the widest range of restaurants. Choosing where to eat each night can be like choosing between limbs… Fresh fish binds it all together, from juicy mahi mahi to buttery tuna, served in curries (vindaye), as a daube (stewed with peas and potatoes), cooked with saffron (kalya) or fried up au naturale.
Fortunately, many of the resorts offer all-inclusive packages, including meals, to simplify matters. Making sure you don’t miss out on local flavours, these often hold Creole, Indian and other themed food nights to introduce you to all the local flavours. Some even offer dining experiences where you can dine at the table of a local family.
If your hotel leaves meals up to you, there are a number of places in northern Mauritius that can’t be missed. Sauterelle, on the sophisticated side, does fish with a twist, with a sesame tuna that has inspired poetry. For simple, Creole fare, head to La Rougaille, where dishes like the bouillabaisse fresh fish soup and the crab and aubergine curry will inspire return trips. If you’re willing to go the extra mile for the top eats and to get to know “real Mauritius”, make your way inland to Domaine, in the small village of The Vale, for home cooking locals and tourists go gaga for.
Perhaps the easiest, most readily available way to get a taste for Mauritius is to sample one of tonnes of local street foods. Don’t miss the Indian roti (paratha), dholl pouri, samoosas and gato piment. Join the queues around the vendors surrounded by locals and you can’t go wrong.
Between the shopping plazas of Grand Baie, waterfront boutiques in Port Louis and Goodlands’ bustling markets, there’s one thrill after another for shoppers in north Mauritius. For those with a serious shopping habit, look out for personalised shopping tours, which will ferry you direct to the best of the island’s jewelry workshops, glassware makers and other local handicrafts, or just to do the rounds of the island’s shopping centres.
Grand Baie has gained a reputation for branded shopping plazas, but there are plenty of curios and local trinkets to be discovered here. The Grand Bazaar, tucked off Royal Rd, is filled with Mauritian souvenirs (very affordable if you know how to barter). Meanwhile, the Sunset Boulevard is lined with thatched shopping huts where you can pick up dresses made of thai silks, locally produced jewellry and other treasures. Kiddos love the Del Sol products here which change colour in the sunlight.
For a more local experience, head over to Goodlands on a day the clothing and textiles market is on. Don’t miss this town’s traditional Indo-shops where you pick up kurta-pajamas, jewelry and Hindu statuettes beside the busy main road.
Best hotels in Port Louis and North Mauritius
Activities in North Mauritius
Sipping pinas beneath palms and splashing about in blue lagoons is half the charm of staying in the north, but this coast also has some spectacular sites to tempt you off the sun lounger.
Watersports
Diving in North Mauritius
Soaring underwater rock formations, diveable wrecks and a colourful cast of aquatic creatures come as standard in Mauritian waters, an island almost completely surrounded by coral reef. But the best dives are, hands down, found in the north and west.
Popular spots include Whale Rock (26-38 m deep from Trou aux Biches or Merville), where chances of glimpsing hammerhead sharks (the friendly kind) are high. Holt's Rock (16-25m) is another favourite feature, an underwater jungle gym of tunnels, crevices and caves hewn into the rock. For family fun, check out the shallower dive spots at Trou aux Biches or Pointe aux Piments, where you can often swim with turtles.
Though the thrilling exploration of sunken ships usually requires specialist training and super deep dives, in Mauritius wrecks like Emily and Water Lily or the Stella Maru lie at approachable depths (14-25m), meaning everyone can snap snazzy underwater photos.
Taking care of equipment, guiding and instruction, dive shops are dotted along the north coast to make the most of this coast’s underwater wonders. Prodive Limited is a particularly popular outfit, offering both PADI and Naui instruction from three locations, the Casuarina Hotel, Trou aux Biches and Grand Baie.
Yet, if you only have one underwater experience, for most it has to be the Underwater Sea Walk and Underwater Scooter experiences from Grand Baie. Don an astronaut-style helmet and walk (or ride) the seabed while confident clownfish and rays frolic around you.
Surfing in North Mauritius
Tamarin Bay used to have some of the best surfing on the planet, but fickle climates and changing wind patterns may have resulted in expert surfers changing course for nearby Reunion. Never fear, there are still thrills to be had in the major surf spots on Mauritius’ south and west sides.
Ask a local where the best surf’s at today, and they’ll invariably point you towards Le Morne, 30 minutes or so south of Tamarin. The strong westerly Roaring Forties winds work their magic on this sheltered bay, driving regular huge swells of up to 10ft. This area has fewer rocks and less prominent reefs, plus waves break nicely into the lagoon on the reef about 600m out, meaning beginners can get acquainted with boards with ease. The St Regis watersports centre here comes highly recommended, last time we checked offering private lessons, as well as packages like 2-hr “Discovery Lessons” and a 10-hr “Full-on” package.
Closer to Grand Baie, Surfers with reef experience will appreciate the bay at Le Goulet, an excellent left hander which gets going on really large west swells accompanied by light SE trades. There is also a respectable right hand reef break at Peribere, just north of the Baie, and boards to enjoy these on are not hard to come by.
Windsurfing & kitesurfing in North Mauritius
The sheltered lagoon at Anse la Raie is considered one of the best spots on the island for first-time kiters and tends to see more rideable days than southwestern Le Morne, where the pros head. 7 to 10 hours of lessons with the Ion Club here and you’ll have mastered jumps, body drags, water starts and all the techniques to free-ride with style. Instructors use radio headsets to feed you instructions.
For those with sufficient skills, Cap Malheureux is another popular spot, though slightly boat-congested, where you can launch from beneath the island’s famous red-roofed church. Pick up tricks here and head back in July, when the Kiteival sees hundreds of kiters join in a friendly two-day race around the island from Le Morne to Anse la Raie and skills competitions.
Sailing in North Mauritius
Between Grand Baie’s luscious lagoon and the many mysterious islets, the north offers some of the very best of Mauritian sailing. No wonder there are so many boats to choose from. Luxury yachts, catamarans, glass-bottomed tour boats and private speed boats are just a few of the ways to get out and explore the deep.
The islets may not all have historic graveyards (Ile Plat) or buried treasure (get your metal detector to Ile Hermitage) but between them we're talking hundreds of private beaches and snorkeling opportunities, where you feel like you’re a million miles away from the daily grind. Companies offering day trips are a dime a dozen in the Grand Baie area, a great way to see the best bits with tasty lunches, the day’s drinks and musical accompaniment often included.
Seasoned sailors will find themselves right at home at the Grand Baie Yacht Club, which organises races and a rip-roaring social calendar. Sailing instruction, however, is harder to come by in these parts. The week-long beginners course led by Royal Yacht Association instructors from Mont Choisy is by far the best of the bunch.
Fishing in North Mauritius
There must be something in the water around Mauritius, where the fish emerge in mutant proportions (the record is currently held by a 505 kg mako shark). Thanks to all the porky poissons, big game fishing has developed into a national sport. Fishing companies offer half and full day trips (deep sea, small game, big game), where you can hunt vibrant yellow tuna, scissor-toothed wahoos and the “king of all game fish” the blue marlin, for glory (and dinner). Club 1034 is a top charter in the north, which offers thrilling night fishing excursions to up your chances of bagging the elusive blue marlin (and having your name go down in fishtory…). Improve the probability still by heading over in December, January, February or March, the blue marlin months.
Canoeing & kayaking in North Mauritius
The north’s brilliant open waters couldn’t be better for kayaking and in many of the hotels and resorts, the kayaks are complimentary. Choose from single, double and triple seaters (or try out all three), put in the hours and your chances of dolphin or turtle or dolphin sighting are high on this coast. It’s a well-known secret that the Pointe aux Piments is the place to head for turtles (you didn’t hear it from us!). If that fails, the Turtle Bay Marine park further west won’t disappoint.
For first-time kayakers, Péreybère is the place to learn in a sheltered cove with plenty of onlookers (read: potential life guards!), while paddling downwind from Calodyne offers a challenge for those with previous experience.
For a kayaking trip to tell your friends back home about, check out Yemaya Adventures’ excursions to the haunting Ile d’Ambre, where you’ll paddle through mangroves tranquil as church aisles before indulging in a private lunch on the deserted islet of Bernache. Guides ask you to switch off mobiles so the day can really work its magic erasing frown lines.
Land activities
Golf in North Mauritius
Being the third country on the planet where golf was played, like sun and sand, caddies and putting greens are now woven into the Mauritian fabric. This accounts for the fact there are 11 courses on an island you could cross in a golf cart. Many were designed by golfers whose names’ll send a seasoned putter into a tizzy.
In the north, the options are thinner on the ground than the south and east, but the Maritim has a respectable 9-hole course, spread over 25 luscious hectares with sweeping sea views. Any golfer worth their 0 handicap though should make the trip to Bernard Langer’s Championship course on the Ile aux Cerfs, accessed by water taxi and considered by many to be heaven, with 4 irons.
Cycling & mountain biking in North Mauritius
Sugar fields, tropical forests and breezy coastal roads, Mauritius is the kind of place you want to see all at once and a bike’s a great way to get the miles in. Almost every hotel has a rental service (for hourly, half-day or full-day sessions), and booking a local biking tour makes sure not a minute’s wasted getting to the highlights. Our favourite northern tour group, My Moris in Port Louis, receives rave reviews for its cultural bike tours of former sugar estates and fishing villages, some of which let you meet and learn the stories of locals.
If you’re riding solo, you can’t go wrong on the route from Cap Malheureux towards Calodyne and Saint Antoine. This takes you through little villages, on dirt paths past sugar fields into pine forests and along soaring coastal roads, like a photo reel of the island’s greatest hits.
Walking & hiking in North Mauritius
Being a volcanic island certainly has its perks. Breathtaking summits and valleys? No problem. Rich natural flora and fauna? Double tick. Exploring the island on foot’s a great way to earn all the curries and cocktails and the north has more than its fair share of scenic spots.
Immediately south of Port Louis, the island’s third highest mountain, Le Pouce (“the thumb”) looks like a perilous peak from afar but is in fact an easy-to-moderate climb. Brave the short final scramble and you’re rewarded with 360 views across the capital and the dazzling northwest coastline. For the bold of foot, the island’s second highest summit, Pieter Both, sits slightly to the east, topped by a precarious-looking (though perfectly sturdy) boulder. You’ll need a guide and climbing gear to conquer this one - but the views will knock your blister-proof socks off.
On a tropical island, strolls through even the gentlest of inclines make for a thrilling day out, but the Yemen Natural Reserve Park on the west coast is taking no chances. Here, 4500 hectares of luscious, canopy trees are scattered with ziplines, rope bridges, Mauritius’ longest rivers and the Casela Safari and Bird park, where it’s possible to stroke lions and get to know the giant turtles who once roamed free in Mauritius. Book a quad bike tour and guides will cook up you lunch in the treetops afterwards.
