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The
most easily accessible surf spots are found mainly along
the south west coast where surfing conditions are best
during the months of May to October.
Surfing spots
The legendary and most accessible surfing spots
of Mauritius are the Tamarin bay and
Le Morne point; both along the South-West
coast and to a lesser extent the Rivière
des Galets in the South. Of course, there are
several other places where waves are occasionally
adequate. Balaclava and Pointe-aux-Piments
(on the North-West coast,) are OK, mainly in the
summer months, when depressions bring in swells
from the South-West. Other spots are difficult to
reach without a boat.
Tamarin Bay
This is a legendary surfing spot
but not a myth. Tamarin bay was well known in the
late 60’s among the hippy surfers, namely
Australians for |
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its
ideal wave. At that time, it was such a great spot that
the surfers tried not to advertise it and keep it for
themselves and gave it the name code of “Santosha.”
Since then with the natural movement of sandbanks Tamarin
is no longer an all year round spot but remains the favourite
spot for the Mauritian surfers as when conditions are
right, Tamarin bay offers the most clean right foots and
left foots (Cap Dal and Blackstone) with possibilities
of pipeline riding. Even beginners can have a treat surfing
the shore breaks of the bay. Surfing at Cap Dal
occurs along the reefs, which are rather close to the
shore (150 meters.) Only experienced surfers should venture
on this spot during low tides.
This place is magic, if not mystic, especially on “Big
Days” when the whole village is on a buzz, when
all have one thing in mind… surfing. On those days,
Tamarin is like back to the “Flower Power”
times that left several prints in Tamarin.
Le Morne
Le Morne also offers lefts and rights as One Eye
and La Prairie spots are on
each side of a pass. Le Morne spots may not often offer
the ideal waves like in Tamarin but has the great advantage
of being moderate to big almost all year round; at least
during 2 to 3 hours of the day.
Conditions at Le Morne are often extreme
as there is always a strong draught and strong sea current
dragging out of the lagoon. Both spots are along coral
reefs that are over 500 meters away from the shore. We
would recommend occasional surfers not to venture alone
and not to surf away from others, as it is merely impossible
for someone to watch a particular surfer from the beach.
The white-short question
Rumour mills carry-on about that question to the point
that we were doubtful about what to write as we received
several comments from local surfers. Being Mauritians,
we believe we are in the right place to tell the plain
truth.
Yes, there were white shorts in Mauritius
and more precisely in Tamarin. No, they are not to be
compared to the real white shorts of other places as they
would not hit surfers in the face everyday and some of
them helped other surfers when in difficulty. There are
hardly ten of them and although they still surf very regularly,
they are far more mature now and can only get a bit grumpy
when the spots are crowded. Since they exist, there has
been hundreds of newcomers (including many foreigners)
on the spots which never encountered any problem as long
as they respect priorities. They are just a group of nostalgic
conservative persons with a hint of xenophobia but many
are really nice once acquainted.
Visitors should keep in mind that this group does not
receive the support of the hundreds of Mauritian surfers
and are now surfing quietly on remote and extreme spots.The
shark question
That question is exactly the same as for white shorts.
Yes there are sharks in Mauritius like everywhere else;
and No, they are not an issue.
The varieties of sharks we have in Mauritius
are not the killer types. Near the coast there are the
grey reef sharks and the ones we call “sand sharks.”
They can reach approx 2 m long if looked for but most
of them measure around 1,50 m. Further out there are the
hammer-heads, Makos and very rarely a white tip.
The regions of Tamarin and Le Morne contain a bit more
sharks than elsewhere, especially outside the passes and
channels but funny enough, the very few reported incidents
(say 3 in the past decade) did not all occur in these
places and to our knowledge no one lost an arm or leg
and no deadly attacks have ever occurred.
Have a nice ride!
Updated in July
2007
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