The island is small. The choice is not.
Which catamaran reaches Ile aux Cerfs before the sandbar fills. Where the dolphins are at six in the morning. What a driver costs for a day in the south. Every tour in Mauritius, reviewed.
Ile aux Cerfs: the boat decides the day.
All Ile aux Cerfs trips →
Everyone lands on the same sandbar off Trou d’Eau Douce. What changes is how you get there, how long you stay and whether lunch is grilled on board or eaten on the sand.
Catamaran out, barbecue on deck
Sails up at nine, anchored off the island by late morning, chicken and marlin on the grill while the boat swings on the mooring. The east coast at walking pace.
Speedboat, waterfall, then the island
Twenty minutes across, then up the Grand River South East to the waterfall, snorkelling on the way back and the island in the afternoon when the day boats have gone.
A private boat and your own timetable
Worth it in a group of four or more: your own departure time, your own stops, and no waiting on the pier while a second coach unloads.
The days a Mauritius trip gets planned around.
The lagoon crossings, the dolphin mornings, the coloured earth of Chamarel, a market in Port Louis and the ridge walks above the sugar cane. Six decisions that shape most itineraries, and the best way to book each.
Mauritius runs on boat days and long lunches.
A reef circles almost the whole island, so the sea inside it stays flat and warm. That is why the catamaran day is the national outing: five hours of turquoise, a grill going at the stern, and snorkelling stops nobody swims to from the beach.
The tours travellers in Mauritius book most.
Every review →The days out that fill up first on the island, and what makes each one worth its slot in the week.
1
Ile Aux Cerfs Catamaran Trip w/ Lunch & Transfer
Review of Mauritius’s Ile aux Cerfs catamaran trip with hotel transfer, snorkeling, waterfall visit, BBQ lunch, drinks, and beach time.
From · $110
Read our review →2
Full-Day Catamaran Cruise to the Northern Isles
from $82
3
Île aux Bénitiers: Snorkeling w/Dolphins Boat Tour & Lunch
from $115
4
Private Southwest Chamarel Highlights Tour
from $127
5
Private South-West Nature & Viewpoints with Lunch
from $115
6
5 Island Adventure with BBQ & Snorkeling
from $100
7
Private South Tour with Pickup
from $129
8
Catamaran Cruise to Ile Aux Cerfs with BBQ Lunch
from $64
What a day out in Mauritius actually costs.
The whole catalogue by price. Boat days sit in the middle of it; both ends are the surprise.
Market walks, garden entries, half-day snorkel runs and the shorter waterfall hikes.
The standard island day: catamaran with lunch, dolphin morning, a full loop of the south.
Private boats, a car and driver for the day, and charters priced per group rather than per seat.
Chamarel, the gorges and the coloured earth.
Inland from Black River the road climbs through cane into cloud forest. Seven bands of red and violet earth, a waterfall dropping into a green bowl, rum ageing in a distillery down the hill, and Black River Gorges going quiet the moment the coaches leave.
What Mauritius does that nowhere else can.
Beaches and boat trips exist everywhere. Spinner dolphins holding station off Tamarin at dawn, seven colours of volcanic earth in one dune, and a canyon of cascades an hour from the coast belong to this island.
The Tamarin Dolphins
A resident pod of spinner dolphins rests in the shallow water off Tamarin and Black River overnight, then heads out past the drop-off to hunt. Boats leave in the dark to reach the bay while the pod is still calm, and swimmers go in a few at a time. By nine the sea has emptied and the water has gone choppy.
- 1Whale Dream ltd – Whales watching and swim with dolphins★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 308 reviews
- 2Snorkel and Swim with Dolphins on Speedboat Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 147 reviews
- 3Speedboat to Ile aux Benitier: Dolphin Encounter & Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 · 144 reviews
The Seven Coloured Earth
On a hillside above Chamarel the soil separates into bands of red, ochre, brown and violet, the residue of basalt weathering at different rates. Rain never blends them back together. The same short road holds a hundred metre waterfall and the distilleries that turn the local cane into rum.
- 1Private Southwest Chamarel Highlights Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,427 reviews
- 2Chamarel 7 Colours & Waterfalls, South-West Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 287 reviews
- 3Riambel: South Tour w/ Crocodile Park & Seven Colored Earth★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 204 reviews
The Tamarind Falls Canyon
Sept Cascades drops through a gorge behind Henrietta, a chain of pools and falls invisible from the road. The full route is a guided scramble with swims between the tiers; the short version reaches the viewpoint above the third fall in a morning. Go in the dry months and the rock stays grippy.
- 1Tamarind Falls Highlights 3-Hour Hiking Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 588 reviews
- 2Hiking Sept Cascades (Tamarind Falls) – Half Day★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 455 reviews
- 3Exploring the Tamarind Falls with a Guide★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 155 reviews
Port Louis is a market with a harbour attached.
All Port Louis tours →Creole kitchens, Chinese groceries, a Tamil temple and a colonial waterfront inside eight walkable blocks. Go before eleven, when the produce halls are still loud.
Port Louis Market, Botanical Garden -Northern Mauritius Tour
Read our review →In Mauritius the calendar picks the day for you.
The island runs two seasons and the sea keeps both. Warm wet months from December to March, dry and breezy from June to September, with the wildlife and the trails moving between them. Book these around the right window.
- 01Dolphin Swim and Whale Watching by SpeedboatHumpbacks pass the west coast between July and October. Outside that window the same boats look for the resident dolphins instead.
- 02Tamarind Falls Highlights 3-Hour Hiking TripThe cascade routes involve river crossings and wet rock. They read very differently in February rain than in the dry months.
- 03Ile Aux Cerfs Catamaran Trip w/ Lunch & TransferJanuary to March is the cyclone-season window. A boat day booked then is the one most likely to move with the weather.
When the summer rain crosses the island, head inland.
Summer showers arrive fast and leave the same way, and they hit the coast harder than the plateau. The answers are inland and under cover: the market halls of Port Louis, a tea estate above Bois Cheri, a rum distillery at Chamarel, the botanical gardens at Pamplemousses where the rain barely reaches the ground.
- 1Street Food & City Tourfrom $58
- 2Street Food & City Tourfrom $42
- 3Mont Choisy, Botanical Garden, and Church Tourfrom $129
By coast — where you are staying
Port Louis38 tours
Grand Baie23 tours
Trou d’Eau Douce32 tours
Flic en Flac8 tours
Tamarin10 tours
Black River12 tours
Mahebourg & Blue Bay8 tours
Chamarel22 tours- Browse every tour →
By experience — what kind of day is it?
One road around Mauritius, coast by coast.
Latest Mauritius tour reviews.
All recent →
Unveiling the Ancient and Modern Port Louis – city tour
Read our review →
Wild South: Full-Day tour incl Rhumerie St Aubin, Bois cheri Tea factory & Lunch
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The Gorgeous East: Bois Cheri Tea factory, Rhumerie St-Aubin, Mahebourg & Lunch
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Southern Treasures: Bois Cherri Tea Factory & 23-Colored Earth
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Historical Private Guided Tour, City-SugarWorld-Botanical Garden – Min.2 persons
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The Gorgeous South of Mauritius: Full-day tour incl Tea Factory & Crocodile park
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Food Tasting & Market Shopping: Private Guided Tour in PORT LOUIS
Read our review →
South: Gorges, Waterfalls, Lakes, Trails, 23 Coloured Earth
Read our review →
Ile Aux Cerfs Catamaran Cruise & Waterfalls- Lunch & Drinks
Read our review →
Dolphins: Private, Snorkel, CrystalRock, ileoBenitiers,lunch
Read our review →Mauritius Catamaran Cruise to Ile Aux Cerfs with BBQ Lunch
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Whale and Dolphin Watching Private Boat Tour from Mauritius
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North of Mauritius: Sunset Catamaran Cruise, Drinks & Snacks
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