When I mentioned I’m going to Mauritius, a colleague of mine said: „You need to tell me if it’s a good honeymoon destination.“ If he wanted to hike and dive during his honeymoon it sure was, I told him. Now after spending a week on this gorgeous island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, I can only confirm that.

Despite popular belives, there are tons of things to do on this tiny island where you can drive from the South to the North in less than two hours. We just spent there a week. I could easily do two more and still „a pool day in an all-inclusive resort“ wouldn’t make it to the itinerary.

One of many things you can do is to discover its beautiful nature during dozens of gorgeous trails. Here are two of the best that will give you an unforgettable view of the island and the crystal blue ocean around it.

Black River Peak Hiking Trail

This trail would rank as a medium during dry days but gets challenging – read „muddy“ – with rain. It is hidden in the middle of Black River Gorges Natural Park so the rain itself is not the issue as you will barely feel it with all the tress covering you most of this hike, it’s the muddy trail that makes it pretty difficult (or at least takes more time than it’d need to). Get your shoes ready (no, running shoes are not the best), and let’s hike to the highest point of Mauritius.

The hike itself is very straightforward – it starts from the road going through the Natural Park, it leads 3 km up and 3 km back down. Its start is near Georges‘s viewpoint – an ideal place to park your car, check the views over the waterfalls, use the washroom, or buy some snacks and water. Then you just head a few hundred meters along the road (be careful as there’s no shoulder) and you’ll reach a trail start marked with a craved-in-stone sign on the right-hand side.

The forest will swallow you from the first steps and the next time you will see the sky will be a few hundred meters below the top. There’s nothing to tell about directions as you just follow the path towards the peak – you can’t get lost so the only thing you worry about is how to navigate between the muddy puddles. If you’re lucky and not too loud, you’ll spot monkeys and other wild animals in surrounding bushes – but nothing you should be worried about.

After 2 km or so the trees will open up and you’ll be under the final ascend to the peak. That’s where you’ll find the rope rails and boy, they’re helpful. Especially if it’s been raining recently, you might be struggling a bit but with the ropes, you’ll manage to go up. At the top, you’ll find a colorful bench to take a rest and an incredible 360° view of the island. With waterfalls, Grand Basin, and other lakes on the Southern end, Le Morne on the Western side, or countless bays and other mountain peaks towards the North. Black River Peak has only 828 meters but it might be one of the best views in your life. Definitely worth getting muddy, and painting your shoes (and clothes) dark brown.

  

Le Morne Trail

Le Morne is a sharp peak in the south-western corner of the island overlooking one of its magical nature wonders: the underwater waterfalls. It also played an important role in Mauritius‘s history as many slaves in the 19th century used the area as a hideout when they managed to escape from captivity. They eventually survived in the Le Morne forest until British colonists abolished slavery in 1835 and that’s when the first villages around started to take place.

If you’re driving there, the driveway from the main road is well marked and you can’t miss it – but you can easily lose a wheel on these few hundred meters as there are many holes and traps to avoid. Make sure you arrive at the main gate by 2.30 PM latest – the guard will not let you in after that as officially the gate closes at 4 PM. And honestly, if you want to get comfortably back before sunset, 2.30 is a very reasonable time to start. Bring your own water and snacks as there’s no place to buy from (and as always – take your garbage back with you!).

The first 2km of the trail is well maintained wide road – it’s all uphill but mainly in the shadow so while you might sweat a T-shirt out, it’s manageable. There are many sides turns to views on the way up but honestly, I wouldn’t waste time with them – what you’ll see at the top will triumph it 10x anyway.

After the 2kms you’ll reach the end of the pathway near the Southern viewpoint. There you have 2 options – either turn back or continue all the way to the top. You should only do that if you don’t mind climbing up (no ropes this time) some steep parts and – this is important – if it’s not raining or right after rain. Some parts on the rocks are slippery enough when dry so going right after the rain or during one would be super risky.

However, if you manage to go up, the views are breathtaking. You’ll have 360° views all around Le Morne with a perfect sight of the Underwater Waterfalls (which Anna still considers a tourist trap or scam but it’s a beautiful place nevertheless). We took dozens of pictures and it still doesn’t do this place justice as the views are truly Magnifique (add the french accent you hear all around Mauritius 😊).

After the tricky way down through the steep part, it will be a relaxed walk down the route you came up. We were lucky to spot some monkeys running around and just before sunset many bats settled in on trees.

Not only the views but also the history of this place will probably make it one of your all-time favorite hikes. It surely is for me.

What else to do in Mauritius

• Dive – the picturesque water invites for diving and there’re dozens of great dive spots on all sides of the island. We dived north from Grand Baie with Crystal Water Divers and saw tons of fishes, turtles, octopuses, shrimps, and lots of other beautiful marine life.
• Visit one of the natural parks – There are a few natural parks with many activities inside. From visiting animals like a giant tortoise to zip lining or quad biking. We visited La Vellée Des Couleurs Nature Park with all this included. I wouldn’t put it on top of the „must-do“ list but if you want to see beautiful nature, and nice waterfalls and take a selfie with a tortoise, it’s worth the visit.
• Visit Rum Distillery – there are quite a few estates where you can visit rum distillery, they all offer some kind of tour and degustation. We went to Rhumerie de Chamarel in Black River Gorges Natural Park. We went for lunch (that way you don’t have to pay for the degustation) which was overpriced and unnecessary fancy but I guess that’s part of the deal. The tour itself took about 20 minutes and was followed by a degustation of several different rums. If you’re into rums, it’s definitely a thing to try as you’ll finally learn the difference between flavors and types just make sure to get a driver to take you home from there. There are also some sugar cane and vanilla farms to visit if that sounds more interesting.
• Snorkeling in Blue Bay Marine Park – a super cool place to snorkel next to a small Coconut island. We just went on the beach and joined a boat going from one of the hotels for 500 MUR/person which I’m sure you can bargain down.
• Aapravasi Ghat Heritage site – the only attraction that made us drive through the capital Port Louis is the heritage site dedicated to indentured workers that replaced slaves after the abolition in the 19th century. It nicely tells the story of the Grand Experiment which was basically the start of the global migration for work.
• Beautiful beaches – we’re not really beach types but beaches all around Mauritius are beautiful. Do you know those typical travel agency catalog pictures with palms over crystal clear water? They get real on almost every beach here. The best we’ve seen were probably Mon Choisy (next to our lovely Mystic hotel on the north) or La Cambuse beach overlooking cute Ile Des Deux Cocos on the south.
• CrossFit – there are two beautiful CrossFit boxes in Mauritius (a third might be coming if I convince my wife 😊) – one on the south in Tamarin, the other on the north in Grand Baie (their box is a bit bigger and I also liked the workouts more). Both are used to tourists dropping in, just give them a shout on Instagram and have a great workout while you’re there.
• Quad biking, horse riding, swimming with dolphins, canyoneering, etc – we didn’t try any of these (I told you I’d use 2 more weeks here) but there are many other things to do.

3+1 tips on where to eat

Given wild Mauritius history, you can find all types of cuisines you can imagine and obviously for all different price ranges. From cheap local restaurants to fairly expensive touristy restaurants (especially in the North) to fancy luxurious places where you need an advance booking to get in. If I should pick the 3 I liked the most, it’d be:

South:

• Chez Marilyn Resto near Mahebourg – very unlikely you’ll be there unless you stay nearby (which we did at ChillPill guesthouse) but it’s a typical local joint where Marily cooks a few local dishes – noodles or rice with seafood or chicken. You can also get some basic salad. You probably won’t go in more than once or twice but it was the best local restaurant we’ve tried.

North:

• Island Babe Healthy Food at Pereybere – a total hidden gem a few minutes away from the main streets. Super relaxed garden with delicious healthy bowls, salads, sandwiches, or (not so healthy) pancakes.
• Max Mamma Mia – some of the best Italian food we’ve had outside Italy (and trust me we’ve tried a lot)! Great Sicilian pizza and delicious al dente pasta. It’s by the main road so it’s better for late dinner when the traffic calms down.

Center:

• One bonus tip we randomly discovered on the way to the airport was – Blacksheep burgers at Cudepipe. It’s a small joint that is easy to miss but we were desperately looking for anything open (I forgot to mention that restaurants in Mauritius have a habit of totally ignoring the opening hours they put on their Google Maps profiles) and stopped by. The burgers were absolutely delicious and if we didn’t have a plane to catch we would have had more of them.