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Mauritius Information North
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The North
of Mauritius, with the village of Grand
Bay as the cheerleader, is the most tourist-orientated
region of the island. The North of Mauritius counts approximately
thirty hotels, as many guesthouses, tens of
restaurants in addition to several bars and
discotheques, and many shops.
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Climate |
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The
wind being generally offshore, the beaches and lagoons are sheltered
making the northern region recommendable for the windy winter
months. Even
so, a sweatshirt or something warmer is necessary for the
winter evenings of June to September.
In summer,
(November to March) the North and especially Grand
Bay can get very hot and humid where a T-Shirt
is the only thing you can wear. |
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| Topography |
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The Northern region is known as the "Northern Plains" for it
is generally as flat as Belgium. Its beauty and interest definitely
being the seaside as the open sea off the coast is wonderful
and is attractive all year round.
Apart from the Grand bay area itself, the seaside
of the North is rich in colours and variety. The sea surface
inside the lagoons is often smooth as in swimming pools, with
an unmatched transparency. The view of the lagoons fading from
green to blue, delimited by the white surf of the coral reefs,
topped by the deep blue of the open sea is simply breathtaking.
The generally good sea conditions are best, making the North
/ Northwest region the ideal place for nautical
activities.
Access to the sea being quite restricted by the presence of
hotels
and private bungalows,
the interesting features of the north are its several fishermen's
villages found along the coast. Taking half a day for a sightseeing
drive along the coast, taking time to stop in villages like
Pointe-aux-Piments, Grand Gaube and Poudre d'Or is the right
thing to do when you have had enough of the beach. The North
also has at least two inland places of interest, which are "La
Nicoliere" drive and the Pamplemousses
botanical Garden.
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La
Nicoliere |
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La
Nicoliere is on the way to the East and can be a country
road access to the centre of Mauritius. La
Nicoliere is a small lake / reservoir, surrounded by nature
preserved hillsides where the vegetation is totally different
to the one along the coast, just a few kilometres away.
Wild monkeys
and bats can be spotted while driving uphill in late afternoon
and it is possible to stop at two or three viewpoints along
the road and enjoy the view and fresh air and why not take
a short walk in the bush.
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| The
Pamplemousses Garden |
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The Pamplemousses
garden was created under the initiative of former French
Governor Francois Mahe de Labourdonnais (1699-1753) as his residence,
after he had decided to develop Port Louis as main port in 1735.
Labourdonnais, had decided to grow in this garden, the widest
variety of trees, plants and spices collected from several French
counters along the spice route. "Pierre
Poivre" (Peter Pepper if literally translated)
who dedicated part of his life to spices, settled in Mauritius
after the departure of Labourdonnais and
further developed this project, which finally turned up to
be a financial fiasco for the "Compagnie des Indes."
What's left today is only a small portion of the whole garden,
but remains a pleasant break especially if called at on the
way back from Port Louis.
Opposite
the garden is the welcoming village of Pamplemousses
and one of the oldest church of the country, with a few restaurants.
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Grand
Bay |
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Mauritius is generally not a busy place (except for
road traffic) but the village of Grand Bay
with its amount of restaurants and, to a lesser extent, its
bars and discotheques is probably the only place giving the
impression of nightlife. Depending on the period, it can get
busy if not “buzzy” in peak seasons, especially
in December / January.
Since most restaurants
stop serving food as from 10.00 p.m. it is advisable to keep
the drinks short prior to dinner and find out about the few
late night bars for a night cap. For the most
zealous night owls, these bars would be your waiting area until
activity in the night clubs pick up, generally around midnight.
Due to the fact that it was the first coastal village to be
frequently visited by tourists, some aspects of Grand Bay are
typical of all the tourist destinations.
Grand Bay has also attracted several people from the other villages
and regions to a point where it is difficult to identify today
who are the true people of Grand Bay. Commerce and tourist attraction
is the common denominator.
Grand Bay has nonetheless maintained a lot of its typicality,
just like the rest of Mauritius. You can still
see in Grand Bay some typical grocery shops, more than 40 years
old, acting as the fishermen's pub, the roadside Indian pastry
merchants, and sometimes oxcarts.
Grand Bay is far from being a night only place. Packed with
the finest shops of Mauritius, and situated in the north where
the sea is most attractive, it is the ideal landing place for
the tourists wishing to carry a variety of
activities.
Therefore Grand Bay remains a good destination as it only takes
half a day, on foot or by car to discover a minimum of Mauritius
while taking advantage of the shopping opportunities
and of the restaurants. |
Due to favourable sea conditions, Grand Bay offers the best
opportunities of Nautical activities and nearly all excursions
proposed in Mauritius can be booked from the numerous local
tour-operators on the street side. Some of them may not be reliable
and we advise contacting agencies from licensed receptive agents
working with foreign tour-operators.
View location on
Google Earth. |
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| In
and around Grand Bay and the North |
Restaurants
There are so many of them that recommendations are difficult
as their quality keeps oscillating. Grand Bay nonetheless counts
several good addresses proposing cuisines of very different
origins.
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| Activities |
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Spending
days out at sea is the thing to do when staying in the North.
It is of course possible to step on board one of the numerous
catamarans for a day trip around the isles of the North;
rates being affordable, it is an easy way to enjoy a minimum
of the sun and sea; undoubtedly the main reason for coming all
the way to Mauritius. However, being on board with 20
persons to moor next to 10 other boats is the not best way to
enjoy the pleasures of the sea, calm, peacefulness and the feeling
of total freedom. We thus strongly recommend to rent one of
these boats on an exclusive basis, even if it represents an
important financial effort, and to choose a mooring away form
the other boats. Boats can be rented for a full day or a sunset
cruise.
For real intense enjoyment in real Mauritian style, we would
suggest an overnight trip on board a Sailing
catamaran or on board a Power
catamaran.
Outside sailing, there are several good dive sites and diving
centres along the North coast. There are also some other original
ways to dip into the blue, by making undersea walks, dive
with a “Subscooter” or on board a submarine. |
On
land side, one can go for a horse-riding
trip inside the Mont Choisy park, with Horse Riding Delights
or at the Maritim Hotel (Balaclava.)
Yemaya Adventures proposes trekking
or mountain
biking at La Nicoliere (and kayak trips among the mangroves
of Ile d’Ambre).
See our guide on Mauritius
excursions, sports and activities for further guidance.
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| Accommodation |
There is no doubt that Grand Bay is the area offering the largest
choice of accommodation of all types; including the rooms to
let in various houses which, by the way, we would not recommend
as they are often below acceptable standards.
For budget accommodation we recommend the apartments
and studios. If you are with a group or family, the rental
of private beach villas is an excellent way of “living
in Mauritius” and are often very affordable when rented
for 6 to 8 persons. |
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Updated:
June 2006
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