Where is Mauritius?
Mauritius is a fantastic holiday destination and is well-known to South Africans, Europeans and Australians. Because of its distance from the USA, it’s not as well known there. Mauritius is a small island nation +- 800km to the east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. This beautiful island is well-known for its powdery, white beaches, incredibly clear aqua water and friendly people. There is so much to do, you won’t have a second of boredom but if, like me, you just want to lie in the sun drinking cocktails, you’ll have the time of your life!
Where we stayed
Our family of 4 stayed at the wonderful Sugar Beach resort on the west coast of the island. I was most excited about the Colonial architecture, lush tropical gardens and will you just look at the color of that water? The staff were incredible and so accommodating. Every person we came across from waitstaff, the concierge, barmen and landscapers were friendly and helpful. They love their island and are so pleased to be able to share it with tourists.
We spent our 10 nights in a suite where the kids had a separate space with their own bathroom which was ideal. Sharing a bathroom with two teenagers is not my idea of a holiday. The room was spacious, luxurious and the bed was incredibly comfortable. The bathrooms were lush with double vanities, a huge soak-tub and lovely walk-in shower. We also had an outdoor seating area where I spent many hours reading and dozing off with the view of the ocean and palm trees as my companion.
The food
Sugar Beach has 3 restaurants (you also have access to La Pirogue – the sister resort next door, and all its restaurants). We loved all of the restaurants on the resort and our all-inclusive package catered to all our needs perfectly. The main restaurant is where you eat breakfast and they also have fantastic themed-buffet dinners. The food was always fresh, tasty and interesting. Buddha Bar is set directly on the beach and served phenomenal cocktails, fresher-than-fresh sushi and Asian-influenced dishes. We indulged in quite a few sushi lunches and dinners.
Citronella’s is the third restaurant set on the property serving great pizzas, seafood dishes, pasta and wonderful desserts. We had a litchi and watermelon mocktail there which has stayed with me ever since. It was sublime! The decor in the restaurant was perfect for its setting with bright white and blue features and perfect views.
What to do in Mauritius
Most of the resorts include water sports like snorkelling, paddle boats, paddle boarding, surfing and glass-bottom boats as part of their packages. If you want more adventure, Mauritius has no shortage of activities to keep everyone busy. We chose to spend most of our days enjoying the resort’s activities and taking the time to relax as much as possible.
We spent one day taking a boat trip to Ile aux cerfs. This small, private island is set in the largest lagoon in Mauritius which means the snorkelling is just spectacular. Our boat stopped at a few places for us to get off and snorkel and wow. What an experience. If you do one thing while in Mauritius, make sure you take a boat or catamaran to Ile aux Cerfs. The water is crystal-clear and so blue, I was literally left speechless. We had a delicious lobster lunch on Ile aux Cerfs and our skippers were a complete vibe. The rum they poured was strong, the music they played was joyful and we just had the best day.
We also spent a day in Port Louis and at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden. The botanical gardens were beautiful and the giant water lilies were incredible to witness.
As you can imagine, we are dying to go back to Mauritius and are already planning our next trip. It was true bucket-list stuff and if you’re looking for somewhere to travel to with your family, I can’t recommend Mauritius enough. This post is not sponsored and we paid for accommodation, meals, excursions and travel ourselves.
