Visiting Mauritius quickly? Right here’s what you’ll want to know earlier than you go.
When you dig a gap straight by 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 study in regards to the island on the opposite aspect of the world. When you’re planning a visit to Mauritius Island, right here is every part we realized throughout our time right here that can assist 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 plenty of others.
Time Distinction: It’s +4 hours Greenwich Imply Time (12-hour distinction from PST)
See Extra: 15 Greatest Issues to Do in Mauritus + The way to Plan the Excellent Trip
Issues You Should Know Earlier than Visiting Mauritius
1. English is the Official Language
The three predominant 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. When you plan on venturing exterior the resorts and common vacationer sights, studying some fundamental French will provide help to.
Most Mauritians are bilingual, and plenty of are expert in three or 4 languages, making them common cruise ship recruits. Additionally they converse Mandarin, Bhojpouri, Tamil, Hindi, and Urdu.
2. It’s Far! (From the US)
When you’re visiting Mauritius from the US, be ready for 2 twelve-hour flights, particularly from the west coast. Give your self an prolonged layover (not less than 6 hours) to clear customs and stretch your legs. You can also make it even longer if you’d like a relaxation day or to go to a layover metropolis. We deliberate to stroll round Paris on our layover, however our flights received delayed.
3. Who’s Visiting Mauritius
Due to Mauritius’ location, we observed most vacationers have been Europeans. France, the UK, Germany, and Spain carry essentially the most vacationers, adopted by China.
After we visited, we received a number of feedback asking if we have been from China. The borders have been closed due to the pandemic, so the Mauritians have been excited that we is likely to be among the many Chinese language vacationers beginning to go to once more.
4. Convey your Benjamins
Mauritius isn’t thought-about a finances vacation spot. Most individuals go to Mauritius for luxurious, and so they pay for it. Though you may journey right here on a finances, there are higher locations in case you’re searching for an inexpensive seaside trip.
5. Their Forex is the Mauritian Rupee
They use the Mauritian Rupee, and roughly USD 1 = MUR 43.95.
We solely wanted money for ideas and avenue distributors. Different spots took bank cards. You possibly can trade currencies on the airport and most lodges or withdraw from an ATM. When you withdraw from an ATM, we heard it is best to restrict every transaction to MUR15,000. In any other case, the machines would possibly get jammed.
6. Tipping Is Not Obligatory however APPRECIATED
Tipping is just not necessary in Mauritius. Here’s a fast guideline if you’re trying 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 yr, 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 is best to ebook 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 go. Throughout our December go to, the waterfalls have 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 one of the best time to go to in case you like delicate 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 immediately. 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 plenty 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) automotive is an possibility on the island, and also you don’t want a global driver’s license. Simply bear in mind they drive on the left aspect of the highway, which could be disorienting.
Roads exterior the town are simple to navigate and never too crowded, however driving in a metropolis could be irritating. Navigating through google maps labored properly going to common sights, and the roads have been in good situation in comparison with different international locations we’ve explored. Pace 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 probably value 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 just like some bloggers and influencers too.
10. Site visitors can get loopy
It will possibly take 1-2 hrs to get from one aspect of the island to the opposite. Hold that in thoughts if 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 saved telling us how dangerous visitors was, so we all the time left earlier or method later to keep away from it.
Native Tip: When you booked a resort with breakfast however have an early exercise, you’ll probably miss breakfast. Ask for a to-go bag.
11. Faucet Water is Technically Secure
Locals drink faucet water, however it isn’t really helpful for guests. No matter protected ingesting water, we pack this self-cleaning water bottle on all our journeys to refill 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. Among the finest locations to study extra in regards to the historical past of sugarcane in Mauritius is Sugar World (L’Aventure de Sucre). Right here, you may also 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 resulting from their success. You possibly can study extra about that at Aapravasi Ghat World Heritage Web site, the stays of an Immigration Depot inbuilt 1849.
Do you know the now-extinct Dodo chook can be from Mauritius? You’ll discover them on souvenirs and branding all around the island.
13. Souvenirs
- Sugar from L’Aventure du Sucre – we purchased a number of for associates again dwelling that love baking or ingesting espresso.
- Phoenix is the island’s hottest native beer. We by no means examine our luggage, however you may carry again some native beer or liquor in case 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. Terrified of Bats?
The fruit bats, aka Mauritian flying fox, are among the many largest bats and may attain a wingspan of 31 in (80 cm). We noticed them typically, flying round or on palm timber. When you’re terrified of bats, chances are you’ll need to look away. We’re not usually afraid of bats, however they have been the most important 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 might have taken a PADI refresher course and booked some diving excursions as an alternative.
Native Tip: Don’t neglect coral-safe sunscreen. We have been disillusioned 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 should see whereas visiting Mauritius. It will possibly solely be seen through helicopter, which is all the time climate dependent. Plan your journey 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 break up our keep between two totally different areas on the island to maximise our keep. Generally,
- The northern shore is extra touristy,
- the south aspect is wilder,
- the west aspect is nearer to common sights,
- and the east aspect is quieter, with extra luxurious resorts.
Native Tip: There are over 100 seashores alongside the coast. Most pristine ones in pictures are personal seashores for resorts and lodges.
Are you planning on visiting Mauritius within the close to future? Have you ever been already? Are there any ideas that we have to add?
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“Discovery consists not of searching 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 high 5 journey blogs within the US. They consider that journey could 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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