After a week of kiting at Le Morne we head to the North of Mauritius for a change of scenery and a bit of a break. In this video, we head north starting from La Gaulette and make our way mostly along the coast and stopping at almost every beach along the way, all the way to Grand Baie in the north. The following posts show us visit some landmarks and sights around the north as well as attend the Port Louis horse racing at the famous Champ de Mars Racecourse plus some scuba diving!!
Beaches along the West Coast of Mauritius
We stopped at almost every beach on the way north to get a feel for how they compare to Le Morne and if they offer an option for kite-surfing. First up was Tamarin Beach. The bay of Tamarin is one sight you definitely should visit during you stay in Mauritius as the village has a special atmosphere and charm. The river cuts the beach of Tamarin in two parts and you can reach from one part to the other by crossing the river by foot. On weekdays the bay of Tamarin is can be very calm and you might just have the entire beach for yourself but on weekends, especially Sundays, locals meet up at the beach and enjoy the sun and the sea. Friday and Saturday night there are often people who set up a campfire singing, dancing, drinking and having a party on the beach.
Something we didn't know before, is camping is allowed on most public beaches in Mauritius! For travellers prepared to rough it a little, there's an opportunity for some big savings as you can enjoy the same stretch of coastline as the resort-goers for a fee of absolutely nothing! If you avoid the most popular areas in Mauritius, like Grand Baie or Blue Bay, there is a good chance you’ll have a beach to yourself when everyone heads home for the day. Most public beaches in Mauritius have immaculately clean bathrooms with showers and you see cleaners around the beach and facilities every morning. You will find plenty of food vendors around the beach during the day selling everything from the cotton candy to fresh coconuts.
Our next stop was at the beach of Flic en Flac between the village of Albion and Tamarin.
The Flic en Flac beach ( a moniker is thought to be a corruption of the old Dutch name Fried Landt Flaak which means “Free and Flat Land” in Dutch) is one of the longest beaches of Mauritius and continues almost all the way to the village of Tamarin. The beach has white sand and a turquoise blue lagoon and is great for bathing, swimming, snorkelling.
We were staying in the Pereybere area and after sunset on the small, but the very scenic, beach we stumbled upon an unassuming but surprisingly good local restaurant up the road. In fact, we were so impressed we returned the very next evening to have some of the other dishes on offer! For a starter, we shared delicious squid with garlic and Hakkien - a popular Mauritian appetizer of Chinese origin, similar to spring rolls.
