For a holiday you’ll want to write home about, discover the beauty, beaches and best spots in Mauritius that make your family vacation a treasure trove of memories. Jane Ngiam shares her experience.

I’ll have to admit that Mauritius wasn’t the first on my bucket list of must-visit destinations. In fact, it wasn’t on the list at all. Before June this year, what little I knew about this island country was only as much as my Mauritian colleague ever told me: it has erratic weather, it’s not every developed, and it only got its first real shopping mall five years ago. In other words: Do. Not. Visit. Because this country, which only gained independence in 1968 (making it younger than Singapore) is not quite ready for Tatler.

Well, as it turns out, the aquarium enthusiast husband chanced upon an intriguing picture of swimmers walking on the seabed with a huge bubble over their heads and schools of fish swarming around them—one of the most popular tourist activities in Mauritius called the Underwater Sea Walk—and declared this a must-do for the family this year. So in just two weeks, we found ourselves scrambling for flights, booking our rooms, packing our bags and setting off for an unknown adventure in what I imagined would be “swampy island”.

I don’t know if it was more the bliss of ignorance or the grossly undersold virtues of this beautiful island, but other than my colleague’s humble opinion I’ve never heard anything negative about the country, so I was quite bowled over from day one. Some say when you have no expectations, you can only be impressed and it certainly proved true—but additionally, the laidback charm of its people and the untouched beauty of the country truly won over the jaded city traveller in me. And June wasn’t even the best time to visit Mauritius—it was approaching winter and the weather, we were told, would be erratic and bring unexpected rain.

Nevertheless, Mauritius proved an ideal getaway from the usual outbound holiday crowds at that time of the year. Perhaps because it’s such an as-yet-undiscovered holiday destination, we managed to secure flights even within just two weeks of our intended departure.

Pre-trip, the kids were given the task of researching the destination and planning the itinerary they wanted. The Mauritius Tourism Authority proved to be a most useful resource; with just five full days to spend there, we managed to eke out an itinerary that included visits to the north, south and central attractions of the island and even spent an idyllic day getting baked and strolling on the beaches of the “holiday isle”: Ile Aux Cerfs (or the “isle of deer”—more on that later).

And what is our verdict? Well, when you’ve tired of the energy-sapping cities, the tourist-laden beaches and camera-toting crowds at scenic destinations, Mauritius may well be your most relaxing holiday yet. Here are the highlights of our trip.

The Luxury Stay
Having experienced their hospitality and luxury in Tunisia last year, we decided to make The Residence by Cenizaro our stay of choice. We were met at the airport by our smiling host Ruben, who whisked us swiftly into the resort’s Lexus and on to the hotel in Belle Mare within an hour.

Although it was only around 6pm, Mauritius is four hours behind Singapore, which meant we were way past dinnertime at home. By the time we were settled in our spacious adjoining suites, it was already pitch-dark outside, but as we went to bed with the sounds of gently crashing waves in our ears and the scent of salty mist in the air, we knew the promise of sun, sand and sea awaited us.

We awoke to rays of morning sun streaming through our louvred windows. The resort, located on the east coast of the island, affords a magnificent sunrise right from the balcony of our suites. The beach is just steps away and we finally see the resort in the morning light. An expanse of blue in varying shades met our eyes—the azure of the sky, turquoise of the sea graduating into the sapphire of the Indian Ocean beyond… you just couldn’t take a bad picture if you tried.

With 135 rooms and 28 suites located along a powdery stretch of beach, The Residence Mauritius (TRM) is one of the best luxury stays on the island which already has no room to build more beachside resorts. TRM is popular with Europeans who mostly visit during their summer months of November to April, and also with honeymooners and families on vacation. 

Taste of Mauritius

The first morning, the resort arranged for us to visit the local market with their resident chef, Kelley Moothen. After breakfast and some photo-taking of the picturesque resort to contribute to our TripAdvisor review, we bundled ourselves into the resort car and headed to the local market in Flacq. At request, our driver Sunil drove us through the plantation and factory of Alteo, the largest sugar miller in Mauritius. Introduced along with deer and pigs to Mauritius in 1640 from Java, sugarcane and sugar is today the island’s leading sector in terms of export. Everywhere we drive, fields of the tall swaying plants greet us; it turns out that June is both the harvest and planting time for sugarcane.

A cacophony of sounds, colours and exotic smells, the Flacq market is open on Wednesdays and Sundays. Stalls are rented from the government by the locals, who bring the produce grown on their farms here to sell. Moothen takes us through the market where he selects the ingredients needed for our lunch. Back at The Plantation, an outdoor kitchen has been set up for our cooking lesson. First on the menu was smoked marlin with palm heart salad—the latter is an expensive delicacy prized for its high nutrient and low calorie content. Under the chef’s supervision, my son cooks up a delicious chicken curry. 

Filled with the flavours of Mauritius’ local cuisine, we head out to explore the activities that TRM has to offer. All the non-motorised activities are available without charge, as long as weather permits. These include kayaking, paddle-boating, sailing and snorkeling. The highlight is a ride out on the motorised glass-bottomed boat, which takes us out to the coral reef to view the schools of fish, sea urchins and marine life. You’ll end up with a bit of a neck ache from looking down throughout the hour-long boat ride, but the clean and well-maintained boat affords you a safer way of viewing the gorgeous reef than snorkeling that far out in the currents.

With sugarcane as its main export, it’s no surprise that rum is Mauritius’ most famous alcohol. We start dinner that evening with a delicious mojito (the kids had strawberry milkshakes), and partook of a sumptuous dinner at The Dining Room before tumbling into bed with sun-warmed skin and beach-weary bodies, ready for the next day’s adventure.

Black River Gorges
Our second day was to be a full day’s excursion to the south of the island, to view its rich biodiversity and natural sights. 

With a picnic basket in the boot, our  driver Sunil headed out first to the south-west part of Mauritius to the Black River Gorges National Park. We walk to a vantage point from which we can see a dormant volcano mouth down below. Walking tours are available for nature enthusiasts; these take you through the protected forests where you can view the over 300 species of flowering plants and possibly even run into one of the nine endemic species of birds. In fact, the Black River Gorges is an important habitat for Mauritius’ most endangered bird species: the Mauritius kestrel, echo parakeet, and pink pigeon. But with so many places on our itinerary, all we have time for are some photos before heading off.

Grand Bassin
A light misty rain greets us on arrival at the Grand Bassin, or “Ganga Talao” to the locals. Along the way, Sunil regals us with historical facts about the lake, which has been declared a holy lake after some of its waters were said to have been mixed with waters of the great Ganges River.

“Some 300,000 to 400,000 people visit this lake during the holy week of Maha-Shivaratri,” he shares. “They wear white to symbolise purity and walk barefoot up the road and all the way into the lake where the temple sits.” A 33-metre-tall statue of Lord Shiva stands watch over this road and the entry to the temple; it is the second largest statue of Lord Shiva in the world, and the largest in Mauritius. Next to it, a statue of Durga Maa Bhavani is being built. Along with the drizzle, a light mist starts to creep across the lake, shrouding it in a peaceful and romantic veil. As the drizzle starts to turn into a steady rain, we scoot to the car and drive out to a picnic spot under a gazebo in a nearby park and where we enjoy our hearty packed lunch. Then it’s off to Chamarel to see the seven-coloured earth.

Chamarel
This geological wonder of Chamarel’s seven-coloured earth is a natural phenomenon. Owing in large part to how Mauritius is a great land mass of volcanic matter, this relatively small area which is now a huge tourist attraction gets its name from different colours of the earth that evolved through a conversion of basaltic lava to clay minerals.

Even though the earth is exposed, its evident colours including red, brown, violet, green, blue, purple and yellow never erode despite torrential downpours. In fact, if you take up a small handful of each of the colours of this earth, they will eventually separate into their own colour spectrum, due to their inherent iron and aluminum oxide content.

Ille Aux Cerfs
After a day of exploring nature, we are anxious to hit the beach again. The next day, our excursion takes us to the “isle of deer”—so named because the waters leading to this island from Mauritius were once so shallow and clear that it is said deer swam to it and took up residence there. Today, there are no more deer on the island; it is now home to a beautiful stretch of lagoon, with water sports activities, a small bazaar selling souvenirs and also a five-star luxury hotel.

We are booked on a full-day trip by catamaran to the island, which is the best way to visit as lunch, a free-flow of drinks, tea and transfers are taken care of. Cruise with fellow travellers at a leisurely pace, with optional para-sailing activities along the way as well as a stopover at the Grand River Falls. Lunch is provided on board.

Before arriving at the island, we dock about one kilometre offshore in the shallow waters, where we are encouraged to plunge directly into the clear turquoise waters for a spot of snorkeling (gear is also provided) or just swimming. Even that far out from land, the water only reaches shoulder height and sparse corals feed the fish that you can swim freely with there. Once on the island, there’s nothing else to do but lazing on the beach. Bring out your sunblock, a good book and a beach towel – and while the afternoon away with a breeze caressing your cheek and sand between your toes.

Casela nature & leisure park
We drive out to Flic-en-Flac the next day for another exhilarating adventure—a full day at Casela Nature & Leisure Park. Sprawled over 14 hectares, Casela offers visitors so many activities that you can’t cover them in one day alone. With some planning, we booked our zipline adventure and safari tour, and managed to fit in tilapia fishing and even baby goat feeding all within six hours. Professional photographers are at hand to capture every exhilarating moment, and all the pictures can be yours in a souvenir thumb drive for around SG$40. This relatively new park is a hit with locals as well as tourists, so it’s advisable to visit on a weekday if you want to avoid local crowds. Sundays are also when the Lion Walk activity is closed.

So, you might ask—how was the Underwater Sea Walk? Well guess what, we missed it entirely. There was just so much else to do, and the weather conditions were not right on the last day when we had two hours to spare.

This just means we will have to make a return visit.