Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation off the South-East coast of the African continent in the South-West Indian Ocean, about 900 kilometres (560 miles) east of Madagascar. Mauritius Island is part of the Mascarene Islands, with the French island of Réunion 200 km (120 miles) to the southwest and the island of Rodrigues 570 km (350 miles) to the north-east. Uninhabited by humans until the 17th century, the island was ruled first by the Dutch and then by the French after the former abandoned it. The British took control during the Napoleonic Wars and Mauritius became independent from the UK in 1968. Mauritius's area is 2040 km2 with Port Louis for capital. The main languages spoken in Mauritius are Mauritian Creole, French and English. Ethnically, the majority of the estimated 1,300,000 people are Indian, but there are also many people of African descent on the island. Mauritius is renowned for having been the only known home of the dodo.
Mauritius situated in the Indian Ocean offers the perfect playground year round for windsurfing, surfing and kitesurfing. Le Morne, the windiest part of the island benefiting from E/SE trade winds, influenced by the anticyclone during the winter months of July to November, is a world-class venue, offering great contrasting conditions from the beautiful flat water lagoon to the fast down the line waves of One Eye. Le Morne offers some of the widest ranging conditions in one spot and is really a unique must visit place. Winter gives the most consistent wind conditions and Summer provides the perfect playground for surfers of all levels with many days of glassy waves not effected by strong winds. IMPORTANT! Read the spot guide, safety information and visit the Club Mistral centre for free information before going on the water. The conditions at Le Morne are world-class, but can be very tricky in certain weather conditions / combinations. REMEMBER, ASK THE LOCALS!!!
Airline: Air Mauritius (from Geneva) Stopover: Frankfurt (on the way back from Mauritius) Flight duration: About 11.00hrs (Geneva-Mauritius) and about 14.30hrs (Mauritius-Frankfurt-Geneva)
Price for flight, accommodation (2 weeks) and transfer:
INDIAN RESORT hotel (www.hotelindian-ilemaurice.com), double room (with breakfast), Sfr. 3,000.- (airport taxes included)
Visa formalities: No visa is required
Comment: On the way back, you will stop in Frankfurt. The passengers have to wait in the plane for approximately 1.00hr. Because of this, it is possible to buy some rum in the airport of Mauritius. Another possibility to fly to Mauritius is with Emirates (stopover in Dubai). They sometimes have very cheap prices: Departure 2 days earlier with Emirates would have saved us CHF 700.- per person!
Indian Resort hotel (www.hotelindian-ilemaurice.com) located directly at Le Morne with swimming pools (2 for adults and 1 for children) and "spa". Very clean and pleasant double room. 3 restaurants and 3 bars. Local dance and cultural shows at the main bar. Hotel activities: windsurfing, stand up paddle (SUP), catamarans and sailing dinghy hire, canoe, tennis, fitness, table tennis, ...
Other hotels: you can rent villas and apartments directly on the website www.windhut.com (we didn't visited them)
We didn't rent a car. To visit the island, you have the possibility of organizing a trip at the hotel reception or to book the duty of a taxi driver for the day. Comment: You will find taxis directly outside the hotel. They are much cheaper than when you book them at the hotel reception!
Club Mistral is located at the Indian resort hotel (Le Morne). They have FANATIC and MISTRAL boards and NORTH SAILS sails. The Club Mistral team is very friendly.
The hire of materials for 12 days cost us CHF 590.- per person, including the “rescue” tax, which was OBLIGATORY. IMPORTANT TO KNOW: If you are not at the Mistral Club, and you have to be rescued with your boat, you have to pay for the service. The price varies, depending on whether you are inside or outside the lagoon. It also depends on the conditions of the swell (green flag or yellow flag). No security is guaranteed if the flag is red!
INFORMATION regarding on the spot SECURITY at Le Morne:
Full information regarding the direction of the waves, Small reef, Manawa reef, Chameaux left reef, Chameaux right reef and One Eye reef (from the website www.windhut.com)
Comment: We booked with the travel agency sun+fun / Happy Surf (www.surfreisen.com) reserving the flight, accommodation and windsurfing equipment. Everything was well organised.
LE MORNE is a perfect place for windsurfing, but there are no places to go out to in the evening. If you stay in the Indian resort hotel, you should have a car to drive to the next place, La Gaulette. ATTENTION: The alcool limit is 0‰! The Indian resort hotel is very expensive if you want a drink! You can book the formula "All inclusive".
ADVICE about the lunch and the sunset sessions:
Don't stay at the hotel, but move to the public beach located 50m from the Mistral Club. You will find good sandwiches, panini and excellent fruits. And the prices are minimal!!!
