Beach Pictures - Mauritius

Trou aux Biches beach, Mauritius, in winter [June-August]. Click on the image for more photos.

Mauritius' soft, white beaches have been popular for many years - particularly with French and Germans - due to their warm Indian Ocean waters protected by coral reefs, the good weather and the very competitive pricing.

This is not a destination with much in the way of 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 hotels and you can't go wrong.
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.

The land is just 36 miles [58km] long and 29 miles [47km] wide and not far east of Madagascar which itself is just east of South Africa. Natives are predominantly of Indian/Hindu origin and all speak at least three languages - Creole, English and French.

The best time to hit Mauritius beaches is mid-September to mid-December, or April/May, though just about any time is OK.
Winter, July-September can be partly cloudy with occasional rain and chilly at night, but 5/6 hours of bright sun and swimsuit temperatures make the low season prices a bargain. Winter daytime temperatures reach around 24C, nights 16C.
January-April can be very, very hot, up to about 38C.

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 mainly on the west coast - Trou aux Biches, Flic en Flac and Paradis. The best beach on the east coast is Belle Mare.

For more photos click: Mauritius Sights | Mauritius Map | Seychelles Pictures

Beaches: Indian Ocean | Worlds Best | Seychelles