North of Mauritius

Grand-Bay

Grand Bay was the first area of the island to fully experience the tourist boom. A shopping and leisure paradise, Grand Bay also happens to be the area where Mauritians head for when they want a fun-filled night out (restaurants, bars and discos). Recently renovated, La Cuvette beach is well worth a visit.

Grand Baie lies to the northwest of Mauritius, next to the emerald waters of the northern coast. It was once an old fishing hamlet that found prosperity in the 1970s and the village became a modest sized town. It now has many bungalows, a helipad, deep sea fishing facilities and a busy nightlife, including discotheques and pubs. You can shop at the Floreal Square, visit the Black River Gorges national Park, enjoy a day at the beach, or go on a boating cruise to nearby islands like Serpent Island and Flat Island.

Adventure sports enthusiasts can go water-skiing, wind surfing, canoeing and indulge in all kinds of water sports at the Grand Baie beach.

Cap Malheureux

The Cap Malheureux, all in the North of the island, whose name appears for the first time on a map in 1750, evokes the dangers of navigation in these waters. Near the chapel of the Cap malheureux took place the unloading, November 6, 1810, of the English task force which, four months after the defeat of Grand Port, ensured England the conquest of the island. You can admire the famous Church with it's red roof.

Péreybère

Péreybère is a small resort with one of the best bathing place of the island.

Mont Choisy

Situated in the northwest the island the Mont Choisy beach is one of the longest in Mauritius. Its beautiful lagoon is shaded by casuarinas trees and unlike the other beaches it has no hotels or bungalows.

South of Mont Choisy you have Trou Aux Biches. It's a small fisherman village with a very long and beautiful beach. Most of it is bordered by the Trou Aux Biches Hotel. This 5 stars hotel has a golf course and a casino. The village also has many bungalows, some restaurants and a bank as well.

Rates :

Rs 1600: in car for 1 to 4 persons
Rs 2600: in mini bus for 5 to 10 persons

The entry fares (parks, garden, museum, etc) are not included in the prices indicated above

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The Coin de Mire island is located off the Cap Malheureux. Mauritius is a hot island, whose temperature is softened by the sea and the trade wind of south-east. It is also subjected to a microclimate, the East coast fresher and sprinkled, the West coast hotter and wet.

Port Louis lies at the base of the Moka Mountains in Mauritius. The Portuguese traders who colonized the island of Mauritius in the 16th century established this city as a trading port. It became the administrative center for the French colonial empire in 1735. The buildings, granaries, mills, aqueducts built in those times can still be seen in Port Louis. It has many places of interest apart from the beach- the main ones being the Chinatown, the Place d'Armes, the waterfronts and the museums.

The Place d'Armes is in the heart of Port Louis, and is home to the administrative blocks of the government and most of the major businesses and offices of the city. It still retains traces of the old French buildings, though most have either crumbled away through neglect or were torn down when the city was renovated after independence in 1965. The Rue du Vieux and Gilbert Street are still paved in the French style. You can also visit the old St. James and St. Louis Church. A visit to the Natural History Museum is also a must.

Your trip to Chinatown will take you back to old China, since the older inhabitants of this district still speak in Chinese, and dress and live like the Chinese of yore. At the cramped shops dotting Chinatown, sell everything from toys, paintings to clothes and books. A visit to the central Market is also a must in a visitor's itinerary, as it allows the visitor to pick up great duty free bargains.