Blessed, blessed and blessed! Mauritius, a place which I have never thought I would be able to experience has come true! I participated in the AirAsia X Instagram contest late last year and I emerged the winner which granted me flight tickets and a 5 night hotel stay at Mauritius
I brought my close friend Ying Zi along to join me on this adventure, and off we headed to Mauritius! It was a 7 hour flight with Airasia, luckily we had empty seats so it was pretty spacious in the plane. Upon arriving at Mauritius, we got our visa on arrival (no cost) and headed out.
One thing you should note: Mauritian currency (Mauritan Rupees) is extremely hard to find at Malaysia so I actually brought money there (I brought SGD, because our RM was weak LOL) and changed it at the Mauritius Airport where the rates are pretty alright.
Rate I got: RM1 = 8.25 MUR
We didn't have anything planned, so we just took it as a chill vacation and did as we wanted day by day. Here is my itinerary:
Day 1
- Arrived Mauritius (3.30pm)
- Check in at Aanari Hotel, Flic En Flac
- Chill at Flic En Flac Beach
Day 2
- Vallee Des Couleurs (Extreme stuff)
- La Vanille Crocodile Park
Day 3
- Gorges National Park
- Chamarel Rum Distilerry
- 7 Colouered Earth
- West coastal drive back to Flic En Flac
- Gentleman's club at Flic En Flac
Day 4
- Grand Baie
- Port Louis
Day 5
- Chill at Flic En Flac
Day 6 (Full Day)
- Catamaran Cruise from East
- Ill aux cerf
Day 7
- 2 am flight back to KL
Flights & Hotels
I have a feeling Airasia has already cancelled the route to Mauritius, as I can't seem to find any prices online, as for hotels, it can go as low as $30 for a decent room, so its up to you :) do stay around the beach areas as it'll be much better
The hotel
The hotel's Gym
Flic En Flac beach
Next, Car Rental!
Taxis are extremely expensive at Mauritius, so its best you rent a car. We got a Hyundai i20, for about RM800 for the week (1,100 MUR per day) Petrol for the whole week was about RM200 (1,600 MUR Full Tank)
If you can, do get it online earlier as there are more affordable cars such as the Hyundai i10 for about RM700 for a week, we just were unlucky that it was all rented out.
Cars there are the same as Malaysia, but do note that most of them are Manual, so do make sure you get an Auto option if you can't drive a stick
Also do download your offline google maps before you head there as the roads are quite complicated, or you can opt for a sim card over there for about RM60 (1 GB)
Total Cost: RM500 (RM1,000 divided by 2 pax)
Food
Food in Mauritius is pretty expensive, as it is quite a touristic area. a normal meal in a restaurant will cost about 150-300 MUR. Some of the easy eats are normally things such as fried rice, magic bowl and fried noodles.
Mauritius cuisine is slightly more expensive from 300 MUR - 450 MUR, and their cuisine is similar to indian cuisine with loads of curries and spices. I guess one meal for it should do the trick, and bbqs are pretty good as well, but slightly more expensive
I would definitely recommend their supermarket as you can get nice Samosa's and bakery stuff for about 10-50 MUR (This is definitely good for breakfast or a bite in a car)
Another place i would recommend is Jeanno's hut located at Flic en Flac beach (west coast). His burgers and wraps are amazing, and they are affordable from 100 MUR - 300 MUR depending on what sets you take. (Hint: LAMB BURGER was the bomb!)
Jeanno's
(Pic credit to TripAdvisor)
Beers are cheap especially at the supermarket (30 MUR) or you can always buy their local Rum over there as it is pretty good.(200 MUR and above). If you buy a beer at the bar, it'll cost about 80 MUR - 120 MUR
Food expenditure:
Breakfast: Hotel
Lunch: 800 MUR
Dinner: 900 MUR
Alcohol: 800 MUR
Total: 2,500 MUR
Places to visit:
We didn't cram out our schedule much as we did take it day by day and mostly only left our hotel in the afternoon. Based on my itinerary, you can actually cram Day 2-3 together as it is all located at the south west of the island. You can actually add in a few more volcanos or nature parks if you cram it up a bit
Vallee Des Couleurs
This is a nature park located at the south of the island, We headed here as we wanted to try out the longest zipline in Mauritius (1.5km) and also try out some other extreme activities there. Each activity had its own price and we decided to do the zipline and the bridge walk which was pretty exciting.
Price
300 MUR Entry Fee
1750 MUR Zipline per person
850 MUR Bridgewalk
Total: 2,900 MUR
Bridgewalk
Zipline
But first lemme take a selfie
La Vanille Nature Park
This is a small park located about 30 min south from Vallee Des Couleurs. This is a pretty small park compared to Casela nature park but we chose it as Casela is pretty expensive. funny thing is that I was more interested in the giant tortoises there as you're able to walk around them and I felt that was more interactive compared to the rest of the park.
Other animals there would be such as the crocodiles, deers, lemurs, monkeys, insects and so on.
Price: 430 MUR per person
Giant Tortoises
Pokes
Black River Gorges National Park
We took a drive around the Gorges National Park, where we got some tremendous views around the park. Theres also the tamarind waterfall there, which requires you to hike in, but sadly we missed that one as we missed a turning
Chamarel Distillery
We stumbled upon this by chance, when we were driving around Gorges National Park. This is a pretty nice distillery where you're able to see the process of how rum is made, and at the end of the tour, you're able to have the different rum tastings that they offer. You're also able to purchase the rum after that if you're interested in it
Price: 370 MUR per person
Chamarel Distillery
Pretty serene
Choose your poison
7 coloured Earth & Chamarel Falls
This is one of the unesco sites in Mauritius, which is worth a visit. You would take a winding road where you'll see the waterfalls first. The waterfall is from a distance, but its still pretty beautiful
As for the 7 coloured earth, you're able to see amazing landscape of how 7 different colours of sand are all mixed together. The mountainous view is pretty amazing as well
Cost: MUR 200 per person
Quite a distance
Chamarel Falls
Can't stop the dab!
West Coastal drive
This is pretty chill as you're able to see mountains and seas while driving back towards Flic En Flac. It definitely is one of the best ways to end a day. There are also a few lookout points where you can stop by during the drive
Flic En Flac Gentlemen Club
This is for all the guys, unless you would want to bring your girlfriends there if they're cool with it LOL. Entrance to the club is free, and you can just purchase your drinks inside. Btw, the girls there don't disappoint as they're pretty hot :)
This is about a 1 hour drive up from Flic En Flac, I found this part pretty normal, but it is up to you if you would want to drive up. Their central market there mostly sells clothes, and some cultural things. The beach here is pretty small, so I would still recommend flic en flac compared to it
Grand Baie beach
Port Louis
The City Center of Mauritius. There are a few local markets here, but most of it wasn't selling much things which are interesting. This is a nice place to see the sunset as it is on the west coast of the island, and there are a few bars which you can check out over here
The Casino here opens at 8pm and is pretty affordable as well. Blackjack starts at 200 MUR per round, and 5 Card Poker starts at 100 MUR per round
Port Louis
Stalker much
I think he was trying to give the finger
Catamaran Cruise to Ill Aux Cerf
This is a full day tour where you would depart on a sail boat from Preskil Beach Resort to Ill Aux Cerf. I definitely loved this as you would sail with a bunch of people, and they'll bring you to some snorkeling sites on the way there. There's also the waterfall where they'll stop by for photos and you'll chill at Ill Aux Cerf for about 2 hours
The cruise includes breakfast and lunch, with a free flow of drinks throughout the way. So I guess its pretty worth it for the price you pay especially if you wanna get your holiday tan
Ill Aux Cerf was "ok ok" only as the waters weren't as clear compared to the other beaches we went to. We also went parasailing at Ill Aux Cerf to get a magnificent view of the island.
Cost: RM277
Parasailing: 1,600 MUR for 2 pax (800 MUR per person)
Our glorious ride
First time on a yacht
The view
Ying Zi and I
I can just get sun baked forever
Snorkelling time!
Trollin around
With the party group
Chillin
Waterfall stop
Ils aux cerf
Island water not as clear LOL
Like aquaman coming out of the sea
Speed boat ride to the parasailing stop
Parasailing
Up in the air
All in all it was a fabulous trip, pretty pricey as I didn't budget too much for this trip.
Total up:
Hotel/Flight: N/A
Car Rental: RM500
Food: RM303 (2,500 MUR)
Attractions: RM1,318 (7,800 MUR + RM277)
Total cost: RM2,121 (not including flights and hotel)
So now you know roughly how much to spend as a benchmark, but definitely you can go lower than this! :) if inclusive of your flights and all, i would guess 3- 3.5k in total per pax
Thanks for readin!
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