Mauritius Travel Tips: Know Before You Go

Here you’ll find all our tips for booking your trip to Mauritius as well as practical travel tips for your time there.

We were in Mauritius for three weeks and explored all the corners of the island for you.

This post contains all our practical travel tips for your vacation in Mauritius.

You’ll find all our tips for booking your trip to Mauritius as well as practical travel tips for your time there.

Also read our other posts about Mauritius:

What to do in Mauritius?
The most beautiful beaches in Mauritius

Who is Mauritius perfect for as a destination?

For many people, Mauritius is the honeymoon destination par excellence and in fact we met many couples spending their honeymoon there.

But Mauritius isn’t just for newlyweds. Mauritius is an ideal destination for people who love dream beaches, because there the island is full of them.

Mauritius is also a great destination for everyone who wants to combine their beach vacation with a bit of sightseeing and culture.

Mauritius has a lot to offer in this regard: colorful temples, huge waterfalls, evergreen national parks, and old colonial buildings. So let’s get one thing straight: Mauritius is definitely very diverse!

The best time to travel to Mauritius

Mauritius is a good destination all year round. Since Mauritius is in the southern hemisphere, the seasons are different from ours. The Mauritian summer coincides with our winter, and vice versa.

But it’s warm and sunny on Mauritius all year round. Even in the coldest months from June to August, temperatures still reach 26 to 28 degrees during the day.

The best time to travel and the peak season for Mauritius is between September and December, when it’s mostly unpleasant and cold back home.

In Mauritius, you can then expect relatively constant daytime temperatures around 30 degrees and the risk of rain showers is relatively low.

European spring from April to June is also a good time to travel. During this time, it’s somewhat cooler in Mauritius than during the peak season from September to December. But then the island isn’t as crowded and the prices for hotels are considerably cheaper.

We were in Mauritius from the end of May to the middle of June and enjoyed bright sunshine and pleasant temperatures almost every day. It hardly ever rained.

There’s a big difference between the east coast and the west coast during this time. Since the wind usually comes from the east, this side is a lot more unpleasant outside the main season and there’s significantly more rainfall than in the west of the island.

In the period from January to March you have to be prepared for more rainy days in Mauritius than in the rest of the year. It’s still warm though. During European summer from the end of June to mid-August, temperatures in Mauritius are at their lowest.

Of course it’s still pleasant enough with daytime temperatures of around the 25 degrees, but it might be a bit cooler than at home.

Booking a vacation in Mauritius

If you want to travel to Mauritius, you have to choose between different options when booking. Either you book your flight and your accommodation separately or you book a package vacation.

Both options have their advantages and disadvantages. When you choose a package vacation, you don’t have to worry about a thing and can benefit from cheap package deals.

But if you book separately, you also have the option of trying out different hotels in Mauritius and you can also choose from a wider range of places to stay.

We’ve put together all the information and tips to help you find the option that works best for you.

Flights to Mauritius

The number of direct flights from Europe to Mauritius is still pretty limited.

A very interesting option is flying with the Arabic airline Emirates. Emirates offers daily flies to Mauritius from several European cities.

If you don’t like long-distance flights, then Emirates is the best option for you, as the flight time of approximately 12 hours is split up into two approximately equal flights of about 6 hours.

Plus you also have the interesting option of taking a longer stopover in Dubai on the inbound or outbound flight to explore the sights of Dubai for a few days.

Current prices for Emirates flights to Mauritius

Booking a package vacation to Mauritius

If you just want to enjoy your vacation without having to deal with booking a flight, a place to stay, or transfer from the airport, then a package deal is a good choice.

There a are a lot of good offers from major European tour operators.

Where to stay in Mauritius: Our tips

The selection of hotels in Mauritius is pretty huge. There are a lot of luxury hotels on the island that really leave nothing to be desired. Of course, they come with a price tag attached, but you generally get what you pay for.

We tested a number of hotels in Mauritius ourselves and want to recommend one hotel per price category in this post.

Pure luxury: The Residence

There are a great many luxury hotels on the east coast of Mauritius, among them The Residence. We were there for three days and absolutely loved it: very nice rooms, excellent service, very good food, and simply an absolute all-round feel-good feeling.

The hotel has its price, but in this case it’s really justified. If you want to treat yourself, the Residence gives you the perfect opportunity to do so.

The Residence Mauritius on booking.com

Belle Mare Beach
Belle Mare Beach – right in front of our hotel The Residence, where we stayed the first three days.
The Residence in eastern Mauritius
Our bedroom at The Residence in eastern Mauritius

Mid-range: Veranda Pointe aux Biches Hotel

“Welcome to your new home.” These were the warm words that welcomed us to the Veranda Pointe aux Biches Hotel in the northwest of Mauritius. And in fact we felt very welcome and felt very much at home here.

The rooms are new and spacious, the staff is super-friendly, and the beach is also beautiful. The hotel definitely offers great value for money.

Veranda Pointe aux Biches Hotel

Veranda Pointe aux Biches Hotel
Veranda Pointe aux Biches Hotel – the small but exquisite infinity pool in sectioned off Privilege Area of the hotel.
Veranda Pointe aux Biches
Our room at the Veranda Pointe aux Biches

Cheap: Mystik Life Style Hotel

The Mystik Life Style Hotel in the north of the island is a very cheap but good hotel. The hotel is new and very modern. And at that price, you certainly can’t complain.

Mystik Life Style Hotel

What can you do in Mauritius?

Of course you can just easily spend your entire vacation in Mauritius by the beach or pool. This that would be a shame, because Mauritius has more to offer.

Sights and attractions in Mauritius

Mauritius has surprisingly many sights. Since this post would be bursting at its seams if we were to list them all here, we’ve written a more in-depth post where we give you the low-down on all the sights.

Read our post: Our highlights & must-see sights in Mauritius

Activities in Mauritius

Mauritius is an excellent destination for water sports. There are also some very good surf spots in Mauritius. The most famous are Tamarin Bay in the west of the island, and Le Morne in the southwest.

You can also rent out kayaks or stand-up paddles at many hotels in Mauritius.

The underwater landscape of Mauritius is also very worthwhile, so divers and snorkelers will definitely get their money’s worth.

There are some exciting offers for exploring the underwater world of Mauritius, which can all be booked online:

Half-Day Snorkeling Trip with Picnic Lunch
Underwater scooter tour

Practical travel tips for your Mauritius travel planning

A post about the best travel tips for Mauritius wouldn’t be complete without practical information for preparing your vacation.

What should you to pack for Mauritius?

Even though it’s warm all year round, you should still make sure to take a warm sweater and long pants. Especially during the off-season from April to August, it can get a bit cooler in the evenings.

Mauritius uses a different power outlet system to most of Europe. Most hotels offer adapters or have also installed standard European outlets in addition to the Mauritian ones. But just to be on the safe side, we still recommend packing a travel adapter.

Sunscreen is also really important. Especially during the peak travel season from September to December, the sun blazes down on Mauritius, and as a pale European you’re very likely to catch a sunburn. You can get sunscreen everywhere on the island, but it’s much more expensive than at home.

Mosquitoes can be a real plague in Mauritius. Especially in the national parks, there are lots of mosquitoes all year round. Malaria or dengue fever aren’t a danger in Mauritius, but mosquito bites are annoying nevertheless. Mosquito repellent is useful in any case, but you can just as easily buy it locally.

Apart from that, there’s nothing special you need for Mauritius. We recommend taking a look at our list of what to pack for Southeast Asia where we show you what we packed on our journeys through Asia. Since the climate in Mauritius is very similar, you can pretty much use the same list.

Money and travel expenses in Mauritius

The official currency in Mauritius is the Mauritian Rupee (MUR). The exchange rate is pretty much exactly 40 MUR to 1 euro. Of course you can find ATMs at the airport and in the larger cities.

Make sure to take a credit card with no foreign transaction fees so you can withdraw money worldwide for free.

Mauritius isn’t a cheap country to visit. You can easily spend a small fortune on the island, but you don’t have to. It’s certainly possible to have a cheap vacation in Mauritius.

To give you an idea of common prices, here’s a short overview:

  • Bottle of water (1.5 l) = 20-30 MUR (0.50 to 0.75 euros)
  • Bus ticket = approx. 30 MUR (0.75 euros)
  • Gas (1l) = approx. 40 MUR (1 euro)
  • Simple, local food = 120 to 240 MUR (3 to 6 euros)
  • Western food = 200 to 600 MUR (5 to 15 euros)
Currency in Mauritius
This is what the currency in Mauritius looks like.

Tipping in Mauritius

Tipping never used to be all that common in Mauritius. But thanks to all the tourists, it’s becoming more commonplace and a tip is always welcome.

In many hotels you have the possibility to put a tip into a staff tip box, where the tips are shared out among the employees. Of course you’re still free to give individual employees a personal tip if you want.

Taxis and guides are also happy for a tip, as are waiters at the restaurants.

How to get from the airport to your hotel

If you booked your vacation as a package deal, you generally don’t have to worry about your transfer because you’ll be picked up straight from the airport.

If you booked your hotel yourself, there are several ways to get from the airport to the hotel:

Hotel transfer service: Most hotels offer their own transfer service. Just ask at your hotel. In our experience, hotel transfer services are always the most expensive so we never use them.

Taxi: You can catch a taxi at the airport. Taxis in Mauritius don’t have meters, i.e. you have to negotiate the price with the driver before you leave.

Book a transfer online: You can also always book your transfer online. We did it too, and everything went perfectly. Your driver will be there waiting for you holding up a sign and will take you directly to your hotel.

You can book a transfer here

Renting a car in Mauritius

The best way to explore Mauritius on your own is to rent a car. We did that ourselves and were absolutely satisfied.

But watch out: Traffic in Mauritius is on the left-hand side. That means the steering wheel is on the right side of the car, the gear shift is on the left, and the levers for turn signals and windshield wipers are reversed. At first, we always turned on the windshield wiper when we wanted to use the turn signal. But we got the hang of it after a while. Hehe.

If you’re not used to driving on the left-hand side, then we recommend renting a car with an automatic transmission. That way, you won’t have to worry about switching gears on the wrong side and can fully concentrate on steering the car.

Be careful in roundabouts, because you enter and leave them the other way round than you do back home. Sometimes it can also be confusing that many roundabouts are multi-lane and you have to take a different lane depending on the exit you want to take. But you get used to it quickly.

Traffic on Mauritius is generally pretty leisurely and outside the cities the roads are usually deserted. You can drive 40 kph in towns, 90 outside, and 110 on the freeway. You should stick to the speed limits because speed traps are set up all over the place.

An international driving license isn’t required for Mauritius. You can just use you driver’s license from back home.

Information and travel tips for your time there

To round off our travel tip post, we have some information for your time in Mauritius.

Eating and drinking in Mauritius

Mauritian cuisine is characterized by the influences of many immigrants. There are Chinese, Indian, and African influences. Of course, being an island, fish is one of the main items on the menu.

Curries served with fish, meat, or vegetables are typical for Mauritian cuisine. But compared to Indian and Asian curries, we didn’t like the curry dishes on Mauritius as much. But they’re not bad either.

Bread, butter, and a green chili paste are served as an appetizer. The chili paste is very tasty, but also very, very spicy. So be careful the first time you try it!

Mauritius is a sugar cane nation, which automatically also makes it a rum nation. Mauritian rum is considered to be particularly aromatic.

You can also get beer in Mauritius. The local beer brand is called Phoenix and actually doesn’t taste at all bad.

Internet in Mauritius

The Internet in Mauritius is very good. We had very good WiFi at each of our hotels.

We bought a Mauritian SIM card for mobile Internet. There are two major providers on the island: Orange and Emtel. We bought a SIM card from Emtel and paid just over 25 euros for a 25 GB package! We could only dream of that back home.

Language and understanding

The Mauritian population speaks Creole, a dialect of French. If you speak French, you should be able to get by just fine in Mauritius. Most locals also speak good English, so communication isn’t a huge problem.

Do you have more travel tips for Mauritius?

We’ve summarized all our travel tips in this post. Do have any more questions? Then let’s have them! Just leave us a comment!

Of course, we’re always happy for further tips and suggestions.