Mauritius Beach Pictures
Trou aux Biches

Trou aux Biches beach, Mauritius, in winter (June-August).

Mauritius' soft, white beaches have been popular for many years - particularly with French (Île Maurice in French) and Germans - due to their warm Indian Ocean waters protected by coral reefs, the good weather and the very competitive pricing. All-inclusive hotels are the main accommodation route for most tourists here and the best beaches are mostly adjacent to an excellent selection of reliable and well-run beach resorts; tourists who prefer to eat out a likely to be disappointed.

The two best beaches on the island are, in our humble opinion, Trou aux Biches (on this page, northwest) and Paradis (southwest). Both are attached to beach resorts though the sand is freely available to the public.
Paradis has the whitest, finest sand, the most expensive boutique hotel and is nearer to Mauritius airport and the island's few attractions (map) while Trou is bigger and much less expensive, with many more activities and selection of restaurants but still gorgeous soft sand and sheltered waters.

Note that the west coast is definitely the place to be, with less wind and rain than the east coast.
The best public beach with no hotel squatting alongside is either Flic-en-Flac or La Preneuse, which are very popular with locals at weekends.

Trou aux Biches with a squall on the way.

Mauritius Tourism

This is not a destination with many great sights or ethnic interest and north-south traffic gets horribly snarled in the Port Louis bottleneck, but stick to the powder sand, the calm, azure sea and and the wonderful international hotels and you can't go wrong on an all-inclusive beach holiday here, though a day trip around the island in a rental car or tour bus can make an interesting break from 12/7 sunbathing.

The excellent cuisine tends towards French, Indian, Chinese or a fusion of all three, with seafood a common offering, naturally. The local Phoenix beer is superb and a fair price, but wines are imported and expensive.

Trou aux Biches Resort Hotel, a fantastic place and not expensive, depending on the room chosen and season.

Trou aux Biches beach is at least 2km long, with powder white sand, tho' sprinkled with bigger coral pieces near the water line. It is lined with guest houses, small hotels and has public access at the south end. An excellent and not ridiculously priced first-class resort hotel unobtrusively occupying much of the rest, with a few more establishments at the inferior and rocky north end.
The smart hotel is called the Trou aux Biches Hotel and is especially good value out of season when clouds hover a few hours a day and nights get cool.

Where is Mauritius?
Mauritius island is in the Indian Ocean 900kms (560miles) east of Madagascar island which is east of southern Africa. See Africa Map including Mauritius.
The land area is just 36 miles (58km) long and 29 miles (47km) wide, with few roads which mostly channel through the capital, Port Louis on the west coast. This leads to frequent traffic jams which are exactly what the majority of tourists do not want to experience, so don't plan on traveling around too much.
Natives are predominantly of Indian/Hindu origin and all speak at least three languages - Creole, English and French.

Trou aux Biches Resort bungalows. More Beach Resort Hotels.

Weather

The very best time to visit this island is April, May (average highs 28C, lows 20C), and mid-September to mid-December (average highs 27C, lows 19C), though just about any time is OK including the June - September months which are much cheaper.

June-September (winter) are the cooler months, a little cloudy with occasional rain and cool at night, but 5/6 hours of bright sun and comfortable swimsuit temperatures make the low season prices a bargain. Average lows are around 17C and highs 24C.
January-April are the warmest months with average lows of 22C and highs of 30C, though mid-30C (F) is not unusual.

The east coast gets first call on the prevailing westerly winds, so is generally breezier and wetter than the west coast. Mauritius' best beaches are on the west coast - Trou aux Biches, Flic en Flac, La Preneuse and Paradis. The best beach on the east coast is Belle Mare but remember this is windier and wetter than the west shore. It does make a big difference.

Beach entertainment from a local dance troupe. Next, Paradis and Bel Ombre beaches

Activities

• Horseback riding on many scenic trails for differing levels of riding ability with Mauritius Horse Trails.

• Tandem Skydiving with a calm and experienced team at Skydive Mauritius.

• Scuba Diving, training and dives with Divers'Ocean based in Trou aux Biches or Sea Urchin Diving beside Flic en Flac.

• Casela Nature and Leisure Park near the west coast between Flic en Flac and Tamarin is a kind of zoo offering activities such as walking with lions or hug a tiger as well as canyoning, long zip lines, quad biking and more.

• Nature Walks from Nature Trails Mauritius run off-the-beaten-track nature/scenery/wildlife walks. Chazal ecotourisme is similar.

• Golfing at Golf du Chateau in Bel Ombre or Paradis Hotel and Golf Club in Le Morne (both southwest Mauritius).

• Visiting Gangla Talao, a quite spectacular Hindu temple beside a lake full of eels and fish.

• We were unimpressed by these sights: Trou aux Cerfs volcanic caldera, a waterfall (cascade) seen from the Riviere Noire lookout and the seven earth colours of Chamarel.

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