Mauritius
Mauritius
An Indian Ocean island with a lagoon most of the way round it
Photo by Xavier Coiffic on Unsplash
Photos by Fabienne Sypowski-Meyer, Xavier Coiffic, Krish Chandran and Colours of Mauritius on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Mauritius
May to December (cooler and dry)
Climate month by month
The next sixteen days in Grand BaieOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 215mm in Jan
Where it is
20.35°S, 57.55°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Hike Le Morne for the view over the lagoon
- Walk in Black River Gorges among the endemic forest
- Snorkel or dive Blue Bay marine park
- Eat your way through Port Louis market at lunchtime
- Drive the south coast, which is wilder and far less developed
Mauritius travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Mauritius
Mid-rangeBank rates beat the hotel desks by a wide margin and there are branches in every town. Cards work almost everywhere. Keep some cash for markets, street food and the buses.
ATMs & cards
MCB, SBM and Absa machines are everywhere and reliable. Withdrawal fees are modest. Decline conversion as always.
Avoid these
- hotel exchange desks, which are well below the bank rate
Use these instead
- MCB
- SBM
- Absa
Machines are everywhere and reliable, fees are modest, and cards work almost everywhere. Keep some cash for markets and buses.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Mauritius
SafeOne of the safest countries in Africa and comfortable to move around independently. Petty theft from beaches and parked cars is the main issue. The sea inside the lagoon is calm, but the passes through the reef have strong currents, and cyclone season runs January to March.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (12 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Grand Baie — the busiest resort town, and comfortable to walk in the evening
- Flic en Flac — the west-coast resort strip
- Tamarin — quiet, surfy and residential
- Belle Mare — the east-coast hotel beaches
- Caudan Waterfront — the one part of the capital that is comfortable after dark, and it is guarded
- Curepipe — and the central plateau towns, by day
Worth more attention
- Port Louis — after dark, when the centre empties completely once the offices close
- Victoria Square Bus Station — and Immigration Square — busy, and the usual place for bag snatching
- Roche Bois — north of the capital, which locals will tell you to drive through rather than walk
- Royal Road, Grand Baie — late at night, for phone and bag snatching from scooters outside the bars
- Trou aux Biches — and any public beach — things left on the sand while you swim do not stay there
- Swimming outside the reef, or at Le Morne and Tamarin where the passes have real current
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Mauritius visa rules
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days per visit and a maximum of 180 days in a calendar year. Proof of accommodation, onward travel and funds is asked for on arrival.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 60 days
Visa required in advance
How to get it: Nothing in advance beyond the online arrival form, which also covers the health declaration.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Before you fly: the arrival card
Mauritius All-in-One Travel Digital FormRequiredFree
Before you fly — but the first and only time anyone asks for it is at the immigration desk at Plaisance. Nobody checks it at boarding and the crew do not mention it, which is exactly how people arrive without having done it.
Have these in front of you before you start:
- passport
- flight number
- the full address of your first night
- your departure date
Required under Mauritian law, and the page says so with the penalty attached — up to MUR 500,000 and five years for a false declaration. The government also states in as many words that it charges nothing for this form, which is the third time on this site a government has had to.
Use the official link above. Sites that charge a "service fee" to submit one of these for you are not the government, and they want the same passport details the real form does.
Health & emergencies all of Mauritius
Good and affordableRequired to enter
- Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid for longer stays
Getting treated
Good, and unusually so for the region. Public hospitals treat emergencies free of charge including for visitors, and the private clinics — Wellkin, Fortis Darné — are modern and reasonably priced. No malaria.
Tap water is treated and generally safe, though many visitors stick to bottled. Dengue and chikungunya occur in outbreaks. Stonefish are present on the reef — do not walk barefoot in shallow water.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
OutstandingThe food is the real surprise — Creole, Indian, Chinese and French all at once. Street dholl puri is the national snack and costs almost nothing. Rougaille and vindaye are the dishes to look for, and the rum is very good.
Nightlife
One town does almost all of it, and the rest of the island is a hotel bar and a séga band. That is not a complaint — it is why people come.
- Grand Baie — the only real strip: bars, clubs and a busy beach
- Royal Road, Grand Baie — Banana Beach Club and the bars either side
- Flic en Flac — the west-coast alternative, quieter and more local
- Caudan Waterfront — the capital's casino, cinema and waterfront bars
- Le Morne — the séga evenings the hotels along that coast put on
Closing: Grand Baie until 03:00 or 04:00 at the weekend; everywhere else by midnight.
A beer in a bar: Rs 100–250 for a Phoenix
Séga is the island's own music and the hotel versions are a show — the real thing happens on the beach at the weekend, and you will hear it before you see it.
Getting around
Workable- UberWorks here
- BoltNot here
Uber what arrives is a licensed taxi, ordered and paid in the app
- From the airport
- Plaisance airport to Grand Baie Rs 1,800–2,500, about 75 minutes
- Against a taxi
- A taxi flagged down or called by a hotel is negotiated and has no meter — agree the fare before the door closes. Uber removes that conversation and prices the same cars by distance.
The buses are very cheap and go almost everywhere slowly. Plenty of people still hire a car, or find a driver they like on the first day and use the same one all week.
Time zone and your working day
Indian/Mauritius — 8 hours ahead of you
0 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — — your time, — theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 01:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 01:00–09:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Mauritius
Ookla publishes no mobile median for Mauritius, so there is no figure here for what a phone gets.
What these numbers mean
Home broadband — Fair. Video calls and streaming for one or two people — fine for a holiday, thin for a household working. Broadband here runs at 48% of the global median of 130 Mbps.
These are medians for the whole of Mauritius — Ookla does not break it down any further. The capital and the resort strips will beat the number and the remoter corners will fall below it.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Mauritius, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Or buy a local SIM. About €23 for thirty days, unlimited. The counter in airport arrivals, or any petrol station — the forecourt kiosks sell them. It has to be registered online against your passport, and the cashier does that for you at the till. The same thirty days unlimited as an eSIM is around $99, so the local card is roughly a quarter of the price. Checked 2026-09-11.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Where to base yourself
A small island, but the coasts are genuinely different: the north is busy and sheltered, the west has the sunsets, the south-west has the wind, and the east is quiet. The drive across is under two hours, so this is about what you want outside the door.
Grand Baie
The busiest strip on the island, on the sheltered north coast.
Restaurants, boat trips and shops within walking distance, and the calmest swimming water on the island. The base for a first trip and for anyone who does not want to drive.
1h by road north from SSR airport (MRU).
Flic en Flac
A long west-coast beach with the island's best-known diving off it.
Sunsets over the water, a beach you can walk for an hour, and the dive sites of the west coast reachable in minutes. Quieter than Grand Baie without being remote.
50 minutes by road west from the airport.
Le Morne
The south-west peninsula under Le Morne Brabant, with a wide shallow lagoon.
One of the great kitesurfing and windsurfing spots, and the mountain behind it is a half-day climb with the whole lagoon underneath. The scenery is the best on the island.
45 minutes by road west from the airport.
The trade winds blow strongest June to September, which is also the coolest season.
Rodrigues
A separate volcanic island 560km east, part of Mauritius and nothing like it.
What Mauritius was fifty years ago — fishing, hiking, an enormous lagoon and almost no resorts. A trip in itself rather than an excursion.
1h30 by air from Mauritius; there is no other way.
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
French
- HelloBonjourbon-ZHOOR
- PleaseS'il vous plaîtseel voo PLEH
- Thank youMercimer-SEE
- Yes / NoOui / Nonwee / non
4 more phrases
- Excuse meExcusez-moiex-koo-zay MWA
- How much is it?C'est combien ?say com-BYEN
- The bill, pleaseL'addition, s'il vous plaîtla-dee-SYON
- Cheers!Santé !son-TAY
Open with bonjour before anything else. Launching straight into a question without it reads as rude, and explains a lot of reputed French coldness.
Religion
Hindu majority, with Christian and Muslim communities
Around 48% Hindu, 32% Christian and 17% Muslim, living together with unusual ease. Public holidays cover all three calendars, which is why there seem to be so many.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Greet with bonjour or a handshake; the island is formal in small ways
- Dress modestly when visiting temples and mosques, and remove shoes
- Try to speak a little French — it is understood everywhere even though Creole is the everyday language
- Ask before photographing people at markets or on the beach
Don't
- Do not sunbathe topless outside a resort beach — it is not the norm here
- Do not enter a Hindu temple during a ceremony without being invited
- Do not walk on or collect coral, and do not buy shells sold at the roadside
- Do not assume everything runs to the clock; the pace is deliberately unhurried
Where to stay in Mauritius
No Holistay rentals in Mauritius yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Mauritius on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam MRU
45 minfrom the airport· 17 km as the crow flies
45 min to the north-west beaches.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
