Destination No. 14 — Indian Ocean
Mauritius
An island with history, cooking and a reef all the way round.
Mauritius is often reduced to its beaches, yet it is the most cultivated island in the Indian Ocean: colonial houses, market life that works without visitors, and cooking drawn from Indian, Creole, Chinese and French lines.
A continuous reef keeps the lagoons calm, while inland the mountains and cane fields rise. The west is drier, the east windier and emptier, the north the most sociable.
Why we like this place
Three reasons
01
Because you can leave the hotel here and find a country.
02
Because the botany — Pamplemousses, the gorges in the south — carries a rainy day.
03
Because the houses are often family-run and have a tone large groups rarely strike.
For planning
- Best time to visit
- May, June and September to November
- The shoulder months are mild and dry. The southern summer from December to March is warm and humid with occasional cyclones; July and August are cooler and windier — good for sailing.
- Suggested length
- Seven nights
- A week at one address with two days inland. As a coda to a safari, five nights are enough.
What matters when choosing a coast?
The wind. The east is fresher and better for watersports, the west calmer and warmer, the north livelier, the south least developed. Between June and August the east can feel genuinely cool. For calm water and warmth choose the west or south-west — and Mauritius pairs well with a safari.
Noted by Pure Voyage
Pure Voyage Atlas
Where this leads
The Atlas connects what belongs together: the region, the collections, the right season and the houses that sit within the same story.
Within These Collections
When to Go
In the Journal
Discovery Paths
Where we stay
Addresses in this region
On Mauritius we mostly recommend family-run houses in the west and south; the choice follows the wind and the season.
Continue through Pure Voyage
Where to go from here
Not a catalogue, but a next step: the houses, routes, countries and essays we would mention at this point in a conversation.
Hotels
Addresses that belong beside this page.
Journeys
Routes that open up this region.
Recommendations
What we suggest for this occasion.
Journal
Further reading before you decide.
An Invitation
Once a month: hotels, new openings and travel ideas
One hotel that convinced us, with our advice on suite and season. The openings that actually matter. And a destination at its best right now. No offers, no advertising.