Mauritius once simple, once luxurious

I flew from the French island of La Réunion in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius on December 10, 2025, in 50 minutes - out of laziness, as the approximately 42 hours that the car ferry takes from Saint Denis (Réunion) to Port Louis (Mauritius) according to the travel app 'Rome2Rio' seemed too tedious for me. I later found direct flights to Southeast Asia only from Mauritius, not from Réunion, as I want to reach there before Christmas.

With around 2000 square kilometers, Mauritius is about half the size of Mallorca but has 1.3 million inhabitants, meaning it is just as densely populated as Réunion. You can really feel this, especially when you find yourself stuck in traffic somewhere around the capital Port Louis (150,000 inhabitants).

Complicated History

Compared to La Réunion, which has been French since 1638 and has been a full-fledged department of France since 1947, the history of Mauritius is more complicated: The island was discovered by the Portuguese in 1505 and settled by the Dutch from 1638. The French took possession in 1715. In 1810, during the Napoleonic Wars, the British conquered the island. On March 12, 1968, Mauritius gained independence from the United Kingdom but remained a member of the Commonwealth.

This tumultuous past has had curious consequences to this day: The spoken languages are Creole and French, like in Réunion, while the official language is English, and left-hand traffic prevails. The island is also known for the 'Blue Mauritius,' one of the most famous, rarest, and most valuable postage stamps in the world. It was issued in 1847 by the British Crown Colony of Mauritius and shows a youthful portrait of the then 28-year-old Queen Victoria.

Exciting Diversity

Due to its eventful history, life in Mauritius is also characterized by exciting diversity. About two-thirds of Mauritians come from the Indian subcontinent; their ancestors were once brought to the island by the British as laborers and domestic servants, while slaves from Africa toiled on the sugar plantations.

Hindu temples are scattered across the island, the largest of which is located by a lake called Le Grand Bassin. It is dedicated to Shiva and his family, whose members are represented in numerous colorful statues. Believers lay down flowers, light candles, and drink water from the lake; this is said to be as holy as that in the Ganges, my Indian driver assures me.

The downside, however, is that the ethnic Indians also dictate political life and play a disproportionately large role in the economy, while the Creoles, of African-European mixed descent, who make up about a third of the population, are underrepresented. Moreover, although the Indians have been settled here for centuries and speak Creole like everyone else, they have, as a teacher tells me, imported the unfortunate caste system one-to-one.

Five-Star Luxury...

A few years ago, I visited Mauritius on a luxurious trip, with overnight stays in five-star resorts and a private car with a driver. I first stayed at the Trou aux Biches Beachcomber Golf Resort & Spa, hidden in a palm grove in the far northwest of the island, with a sandy beach stretching to the horizon.

The resort markets itself as 'the most romantic hotel in Mauritius' and has a loyal German and Swiss clientele. On booking.com, the cheapest room for two guests with breakfast starts at around 500 euros per night, while the hotel's website offers it with an early booking discount for approx. 450 euros in the off-season and more than 700 during high season.

The small, fine Constance le Prince Maurice Resort is referred to as the 'flagship' by the Constance group and is similarly priced: in high season from about 700 euros and in the off-season from about 450 euros per night for couples, breakfast included. The Prince Maurice is located in a lagoon in the east of the island near the village of Poste de Flacq, and features villas standing on stilts in the water. In the evening, you can dine, gently swaying, in a restaurant on pontoons under white sails.

Finally, the Shanti Maurice Resort and Spa, located in the south of the island near Saint-Felix, was once a purely Ayurveda hotel. The therapies in the spacious spa area still play an important role. However, you can also spend a normal holiday at Shanti, at the beach, by the pools, in the bars and restaurants. A double room with breakfast for two costs around 380 euros in the off-season and about 700 euros per night in the high season.

...or simpler Pleasures

This time, I am traveling on a much more modest pensioner's budget and could not afford such opulent refuges, even though Mauritius is by no means a cheap destination. Instead of a luxury resort for a few thousand francs a week, I chose a guesthouse right by the water for a fraction of the price. The 'Auberge SeaFever' is also not located in a chic holiday resort but in the sleepy town of Mahébourg, which is almost entirely untouched by tourism, near the International Airport.

Here, one indulges in simple pleasures: swimming at Blue Bay or Pointe d’Esny, both reachable by bus in a few minutes. The water is just as clear and turquoise, the sand as fine as in the five-star resorts. For an evening aperitif, people meet at the former harbor at 'Les Copains d’abord,' and instead of dining in an overpriced trendy restaurant, one enjoys simple but extremely tasty Creole dishes served at 'Chez Marilyn.'

Saved Nature

Whether in a guesthouse or a resort: It is definitely worth exploring the island extensively. In the middle of the sugarcane fields of Beau Plan, in the municipality of Pamplemousse, there is a spectacular museum, L’Aventure du Sucre. It tells in generally understandable language not only about the development of sugar production, once Mauritius’s most important export product, but also the tumultuous history of the island itself. Furthermore, the museum dedicates a lot of space to the tragedy of slavery and thus becomes an important witness to a dark historical epoch.

Contemporary history can be experienced in Vallée de Ferney in the southeastern part of the island, north of Mahébourg. Here, a forest is to be restored to its original condition, meaning it will be freed from all invasive plants over the coming decades. That this picturesque nature park still exists at all is thanks to civic resistance, 'perhaps the first Mauritian citizens' initiative ever,' as our guide tells us.

A former government had planned to build a highway right through the charming valley with a view of the sea, funded and designed by Chinese investors. 'In that case, guests from the airport would have been a half-hour earlier at their hotels in the northeast,' says the guide - and for that marginal time gain, one of the last intact cultural landscapes of Mauritius would have been irretrievably destroyed. The protests were successful: Shortly before the start of construction, elections were held, and the government that had planned to push through the road construction against the will of the people was voted out.

A trip that should not be missed leads to Chamarel in the mountains in the southwest. There, there is a unique natural phenomenon to visit, the Terres des Sept Couleurs ('seven-colored earths'), a completely vegetation-free hilly landscape with a colorful striped pattern made from oxidized metals like iron and aluminum. Also selfie-worthy are the giant tortoises in an enclosure near the seven-colored earths.

And while you are in this beautiful area, make sure to visit the Rhumerie de Chamarel, a modern distillery where sugarcane liqueurs are produced that have won international awards. Those who come from Tuesday to Friday can observe the entire working process from the pressing of the sugarcane to the distillation. At the end of the tour, there is a tasting of the liqueurs.

So fortified (or discreetly hazy), you let yourself be driven back to the resort, to sit on the beach under a thatched sunshade, allowing the high-proof alcohol to evaporate. Or in my case: back to the guesthouse, to relax on a sun lounger on the terrace, lulled into a gentle siesta by the soft sound of the sea.