Best Beaches in Port Louis and North Mauritius

Holidaymakers love Péreybère for its proximity to the Grand Baie’s bars and restaurants, without the Baie’s boisterousness. This little cove between Grand Baie and Cap Malheureux is now better known than it is secluded, but everyone loves it all the same. And we mean everyone: tourists, locals, fish, birds... A little longer than 150m, this teeny cove can get pretty cosy at peak times. Yet somehow it manages not to feel overcrowded. Maybe because everyone seems to have something to do? Clear, protected waters for the swimmers, street food and coconuts for the hungry, magnificent sunsets for the sentimental... A well-stocked supermarket? Check. Souvenir shops? Affirmative. With all the local delicacies and drinks in Péreybère, it's not hard to stay until the sun goes down.

The gorgeous stretches of coconut palm and casuarina-lined sand at Trou aux Biches have often been hailed the most beautiful on the island, continuing 3km almost unbroken all the way to sleepy Mont Choisy, fringed by ice cream parlours and restaurants. It can sure get hot in summer on northern beaches like this one, but there’s plenty to offer shelter from the sun. When you’re not snorkelling or scuba diving in the colourful reef, potter about in the village or strike out ten minutes inland to the huge Hindu Temple at Triolets. Just be sure to make it back in time for the sunset.

Mont Choisy’s beach stretches from Trou aux Biches to the Club Med in Pointe aux Canonniers, a couple of scenic kilometres. Unlike more developed beaches in this northern region, this one could still be called “sleepy” – good for a getaway from the Grand Baie with a book. Be sure to pack the camera too. Super pretty for pictures, the beach gently arches, showing the waters curving as they meet the shore.

Excursions to the unmissable northern islands leave from La Cuvette, but there’s plenty to make you want to stick around here instead. This small, clear-watered cove is a fine place for a swim and draws kitesurfers and windsurfers in droves. There’s plenty going on below the surface too. A top-notch diving school on this beach offers day and night excursions to check out the underwater activity.

Anse shares the same stunning views of the Indian Ocean as Péreybère, La Cuvette and other northern beaches, but is a world apart in every other respect. Strewn with rocks and hemmed by a beachy wood, this shore has the untamed, rugged feel of the southern beaches. Sunseekers tend to stick to the more pristine beaches, so you’ll have this coast to explore to yourself.

The “Cape of Misfortune” was so named for the many ships that hit the rocks just to the north of it. Today, collisions of a different kind are a danger – those between the wind and kite surfers who like to launch here and the many fishing boats. In fact, this is probably less a beach hangout than a launch pad. Sand to lay your beach towel on is in short supply but the gorgeous red-roofed church and vistas out to the Coin de Mire are worth seeing.