Le Morne to Ile aux Cerfs, every day out reviewed.
Which catamaran actually reaches the island. Whether the south circuit needs a whole day. What a dolphin morning off Tamarin really costs. Every Mauritius tour, read and ranked.
Mauritius is 65km wide. The coast you sleep on decides your week.
Almost every full-day tour here is sold as a direction: the south, the north, the west, the east. They are four different islands, and the drive from your hotel is the deciding factor.
Trou d’Eau Douce to Grand Baie: the days with the longest jetty queues.
Every review →Ranked by how many travellers have actually been and said something afterwards. The order is theirs, not ours.
1
Ile Aux Cerfs Catamaran Trip w/ Lunch & Transfer
Mauritius catamaran to Ile aux Cerfs with hotel transfer, snorkeling and waterfall stops, plus 3-course lunch and drinks. 7 hours.
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
Ile aux Cerfs is a boat ride, not a bus stop.
The island sits off Trou d’Eau Douce, and how you cross decides the day. A catamaran takes about an hour each way and turns the crossing into the point; a speedboat gets you there in twenty minutes and leaves room for the Grand River South East waterfall. Nearly all of them feed you on board.
Compare the crossings →
Le Morne is a memorial before it is a viewpoint.
The basalt mountain on the south-west tip is UNESCO-inscribed as a cultural landscape of maroon resistance: enslaved people who escaped the estates sheltered in its caves and on its cliffs. Oral tradition holds that a group died on the summit in 1835 rather than be taken, on the day soldiers arrived to announce abolition. Hikes start before first light, and the guides worth paying for tell that history on the way up.
The Tamarin dolphins keep their own timetable.
Spinner pods rest in the bay in the early morning, which is why every boat leaves Black River and Tamarin before breakfast. Nothing is guaranteed, and operators differ on how close they take you and whether anyone gets in the water. The reviews below are the honest guide to which crews behave well.
- 1Île aux Bénitiers: Snorkeling w/Dolphins Boat Tour & Lunchfrom $115
- 2Dolphin Swim and Whale Watching by Speedboatfrom $129
- 3Dolphin Snorkel, CrystalRock, ile o Benitiers Lunchfrom $77
What a day out in Mauritius actually costs.
Every reviewed tour on the site, bucketed by its lead price. The island is cheaper than its hotels suggest, until you charter a boat.
Glass-bottom boats in Blue Bay, the Tamarind Falls hike, the Port Louis street-food walk.
The full catamaran day to Ile aux Cerfs, the northern-isles cruise, most circuits with hotel pickup.
Private south and south-west circuits with a driver-guide, speedboat days, the seven-waterfall hike.
Private charters, whale expeditions and the full-day private guides.
- 1East Coast Mauritius Private Scenic Seaplane Tourfrom $259
- 2Discovery Tour 35kmfrom $267
- 3Scenic Helicopter Flight with Hotel Transfersfrom $670
Behind the beaches, Mauritius climbs.
Tamarind Falls drops through seven pools above the central plateau and the Black River Gorges hold the last of the island’s native forest. Both are half-day walks in humid heat with real scrambling, and both are the cheapest good days on this list.
- 1Tamarind Falls Highlights 3-Hour Hiking Tripfrom $58
- 27 Waterfalls Hike with Lunch and Hotel Transfersfrom $110
- 3Chamarel 7 Colours & Waterfalls, South-West Tourfrom $125
The tea, sugar and rum route through southern Mauritius.
See all 17 on the route →Bois Chéri, the sugar museum at Beau Plan and the Saint Aubin distillery are the working ends of an industry built by enslaved people until 1835 and by indentured labourers from India afterwards. The exhibits say so plainly, and the day is worth taking on those terms. Most tours pair two of the three and put lunch in between.
Tea and Sugar Plantation Guided Tour with Lunch
Read our review →
Sights of the South Private Tour with Rum Tasting
Read our review →
Historical Guided Day Tour : City – Sugar World – Botanical Garden
Read our review →
Port Louis is a working capital, and lunch is the reason to go.
The central market runs on dholl puri, gateaux piments and alouda, and the food walks time themselves for mid-morning when the stalls are full and the heat is bearable. The city empties at six, so this is a morning, not an evening.
- 1Exclusive South West Tourfrom $126
- 2Street Food & City Tourfrom $58
- 3Private Paradise Tour with Gardens, Marketsfrom $129
By base — where you sleep
Port Louis78 tours
Trou d’Eau Douce74 tours
Grand Baie45 tours
Chamarel & the south-west40 tours
Tamarin & Black River30 tours
The Savanne coast25 tours
Grand River South East22 tours
The central plateau13 tours
Le Morne13 tours
Mahebourg & Blue Bay12 tours
Flic en Flac10 tours- Every base on the island →
Mauritius runs on cyclones, pilgrimages and pre-dawn starts.
Four things that decide whether a booking works, none of which appear on the confirmation email.
- 01Le Morne Mountain Guided Sunrise Hike and ClimbLe Morne hikes leave in the dark. The marked path stops at the plateau; the climb above it is scrambling on rock and is only sold with a guide.
- 02Dolphin Encounter, Trou aux Cerf and Grand BassinGrand Bassin is an active Hindu pilgrimage lake, not a viewpoint. Dress and behave as you would in a temple, and expect the southern roads to fill with walking pilgrims around Maha Shivaratri.
- 03Catamaran Cruise to Ile Aux Cerfs with BBQ LunchThe cyclone season runs roughly November to April. Boat days are the first thing cancelled and the wind decides at dawn, not the day before.
- 04Swim with Dolphin Speed Boat Tour with lunchDolphin boats leave between six and seven in the morning because that is when the pods are in the bay. A midday departure is selling you a sea cruise.
The newest Mauritius reviews.
All recent →
Whale & Dolphins Swimming – Private Speedboat Exclusive Tour
Read our review →
The East Discovery Tour: Bois-Cheri Tea Factory, Blue-Bay Marine Park & Lunch
Read our review →
The Adventure East of Mauritius: 3-Watersport Activities & Blue-Bay Marine Park
Read our review →
Private Dolphin Snorkeling Tour. Equipment available Free.
Read our review →
Private :Whales and dolphins watching/Swimming with dolphins
Read our review →
Catamaran Mauritius: South East 5 Islands Catamaran Cruises
Read our review →
