Visiting Mauritius quickly? Right here’s what you might want to know earlier than you go.
If you happen to dig a gap straight by way of the earth’s middle from the west coast, you find yourself within the ocean simply south of Mauritius Island. Mauritius hadn’t been on our radar till just lately, and after reserving our journey, we realized there was a lot to be taught concerning the island on the opposite aspect of the world. If you happen to’re planning a visit to Mauritius Island, right here is all the pieces we discovered throughout our time right here that will help you benefit from your go to.
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Final Up to date: February 23, 2023
The place is Mauritius?
Mauritius is off of the southeastern African coast within the Indian Ocean. Sixteen islands and islets comprise the Republic of Mauritius, together with Mauritius Island, together with Rodrigues, Agalega, St Brandon, and lots of others.
Time Distinction: It’s +4 hours Greenwich Imply Time (12-hour distinction from PST)
See Extra: 15 Finest Issues to Do in Mauritus + Easy methods to Plan the Good Trip
Issues You Should Know Earlier than Visiting Mauritius
1. English is the Official Language
The three principal languages are English, French, and Creole. English is the official language, however the majority language used is French-Mauritius Creole, which was correct on our journey. Many resort staff additionally converse German, Italian, and Spanish. If you happen to plan on venturing exterior the resorts and common vacationer points of interest, studying some primary French will enable you to.
Most Mauritians are bilingual, and lots of are expert in three or 4 languages, making them common cruise ship recruits. In addition they converse Mandarin, Bhojpouri, Tamil, Hindi, and Urdu.
2. It’s Far! (From the US)
If you happen to’re visiting Mauritius from the US, be ready for 2 twelve-hour flights, particularly from the west coast. Give your self an prolonged layover (at the least 6 hours) to clear customs and stretch your legs. You can also make it even longer if you need a relaxation day or to go to a layover metropolis. We deliberate to stroll round Paris on our layover, however our flights obtained delayed.
3. Who’s Visiting Mauritius
Due to Mauritius’ location, we seen most vacationers had been Europeans. France, the UK, Germany, and Spain convey probably the most vacationers, adopted by China.
Once we visited, we obtained a number of feedback asking if we had been from China. The borders have been closed due to the pandemic, so the Mauritians had been excited that we is perhaps among the many Chinese language vacationers beginning to go to once more.
4. Convey your Benjamins
Mauritius isn’t thought of a finances vacation spot. Most individuals go to Mauritius for luxurious, they usually pay for it. Though you possibly can journey right here on a finances, there are higher locations when you’re searching for an inexpensive seashore trip.
5. Their Foreign money is the Mauritian Rupee
They use the Mauritian Rupee, and roughly USD 1 = MUR 43.95.
We solely wanted money for suggestions and avenue distributors. Different spots took bank cards. You’ll be able to alternate currencies on the airport and most lodges or withdraw from an ATM. If you happen to withdraw from an ATM, we heard it’s best to restrict every transaction to MUR15,000. In any other case, the machines may get jammed.
6. Tipping Is Not Necessary however APPRECIATED
Tipping shouldn’t be necessary in Mauritius. Here’s a fast guideline in case you are seeking to tip for distinctive service: Spas (5-10%), Tour guides (10%), Taxis (100-200 Rps), Inns (100 MUR), and Eating places (10-15%).
7. Visiting Mauritius throughout Excessive and Low Seasons
Temperatures are heat all 12 months, making it a year-round vacation spot. The water temps keep between 71-80°F (22-27°C).
The excessive season is throughout their summers (October-April) and winters (Could-September). Throughout peak season, it’s best to guide lodges three months upfront and actions/eating places round one week earlier than. Shoulder season runs March-April and September-October.
- Summers (Oct-Apr) – The imply temperature in the summertime is 76°F (24.7°C). Dec to Mar are the wettest months. Thunderstorms are widespread however cross. Throughout our December go to, the waterfalls had been dry (normally late winter/early Summer season) however had been dryer than common. As soon as the rain begins in Dec/Jan, the rivers and falls fill again up.
- Winters (Could-Sep) – The imply temperature within the winter is 70°F (21°C). Winter is windier and the perfect time to go to when you like gentle temperatures and sports activities that require wind, like kitesurfing.
Native Tip: They normally get a cyclone every season, and each ten or so years, it’s going to hit the island instantly. The final large one was in 1992, so locals have been anticipating one any time now.
8. Locations Shut Early
Many locations closed sooner than anticipated, and lots of companies closed for holidays and Sundays. Additionally, sure eating places have random days they aren’t open.
9. Renting a Automobile vs. Getting a Taxi
Renting an (computerized) automobile is an choice on the island, and also you don’t want a global driver’s license. Simply keep in mind they drive on the left aspect of the highway, which might be disorienting.
Roads exterior town are simple to navigate and never too crowded, however driving in a metropolis might be tense. Navigating through google maps labored effectively going to common points of interest, and the roads had been in good situation in comparison with different nations we’ve explored. Velocity limits are normally round 40 kph (25 mph) in cities, 60 kph (40 mph) exterior of them, and 110 kph (68 mph) on the freeway.
Taxi prices differ and are not regulated. For instance, from Port Louis to Flic n Flac, it will possibly price between MUR 800 and MUR 1,000. Be cautious of taxi drivers, since some are affiliated with retailers they’ll attempt to take you to for “a great deal” to obtain a reduce of income. However now that I give it some thought, it’s much like some bloggers and influencers too.
10. Site visitors can get loopy
It might probably take 1-2 hrs to get from one aspect of the island to the opposite. Maintain that in thoughts while you plan actions or the place you’re visiting. We had a number of early days since we had so as to add within the journey time.
Site visitors on the island begins round 8 am and 4 pm. Though we didn’t see visitors, they stored telling us how unhealthy visitors was, so we at all times left earlier or method later to keep away from it.
Native Tip: If you happen to booked a resort with breakfast however have an early exercise, you’ll most probably miss breakfast. Ask for a to-go bag.
11. Faucet Water is Technically Protected
Locals drink faucet water, nevertheless it isn’t really helpful for guests. No matter protected ingesting water, we pack this self-cleaning water bottle on all our journeys to replenish on the resort or airport.
12. Mauritius has a number of historical past, and Sugar is a Huge a part of it
Many of the fields in Mauritius are sugarcane fields, and sugarcane farms nonetheless dominate 70% of the land. Probably the greatest locations to be taught extra concerning the historical past of sugarcane in Mauritius is Sugar World (L’Aventure de Sucre). Right here, it’s also possible to do a sugar tasting and a rum tasting.
As a result of sugar business, after slavery was abolished, the British examined out indentured labor and unfold it to the remainder of the world because of their success. You’ll be able to be taught extra about that at Aapravasi Ghat World Heritage Website, the stays of an Immigration Depot inbuilt 1849.
Do you know the now-extinct Dodo chicken can be from Mauritius? You’ll discover them on souvenirs and branding everywhere in the island.
13. Souvenirs
- Sugar from L’Aventure du Sucre – we purchased a number of for mates again residence that love baking or ingesting espresso.
- Phoenix is the island’s hottest native beer. We by no means examine our luggage, however you possibly can convey again some native beer or liquor when you do.
- Native Rum or Fruit Wines – Most cocktails are made with rum since they supply from native rhumeries. There aren’t native grape wines, however yow will discover native fruit wines.
14. Fearful of Bats?
The fruit bats, aka Mauritian flying fox, are among the many largest bats and might attain a wingspan of 31 in (80 cm). We noticed them usually, flying round or on palm timber. If you happen to’re terrified of bats, chances are you’ll need to look away. We’re not usually afraid of bats, however they had been the largest we’ve seen within the wild, so I can see them being intimidating.
15. World Class Diving Over Snorkeling
We weren’t impressed with the snorkeling on the reefs, however Mauritius has world-class diving. There are round 50 dive websites throughout the island. If we may have a do-over, we’d have taken a PADI refresher course and booked some diving excursions as a substitute.
Native Tip: Don’t neglect coral-safe sunscreen. We had been dissatisfied by all of the bleached coral we noticed.
16. The underwater Waterfall can solely be Seen from a Helicopter
The underwater waterfall, an optical phantasm, is a well-known landmark you could see whereas visiting Mauritius. It might probably solely be seen through helicopter, which is at all times climate dependent. Plan your experience early in your go to in order that if it will get canceled, you’ll have loads of time to reschedule.
The place to Keep in Mauritius
We cut up our keep between two totally different areas on the island to maximise our keep. Usually,
- The northern shore is extra touristy,
- the south aspect is wilder,
- the west aspect is nearer to common points of interest,
- and the east aspect is quieter, with extra luxurious resorts.
Native Tip: There are over 100 seashores alongside the coast. Most pristine ones in photographs are non-public seashores for resorts and lodges.
Are you planning on visiting Mauritius within the close to future? Have you ever been already? Are there any suggestions that we have to add?
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“Discovery consists not of looking for new lands however in seeing with new eyes” – M. Proust
Esther + Jacob
Esther and Jacob are the founders of Native Adventurer, one of many prime 5 journey blogs within the US. They consider that journey might be discovered close to and much and hope to encourage others to discover domestically. They discover a brand new metropolis in depth yearly and at the moment base themselves in Las Vegas.
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