Mauritius: the dos and don'ts, is it over expensive? General tips?

Just looking for some basic enough info on Mauritius, the do s and don'ts, is it over expensive? General tips really. Thanks.

Re: Mauritius

Hi, I was there last year and had a great time. The best advice I could give is to do a bit of research Google, tripadvisor etc. There is a fairly good forum on tripadvisor from which you can get some great info from both residents and visitors to the island. I would also advise going all-inclusive. We spoke to others there that didn't and they said food and drink was really expensive.

Its important to pick the best hotel you can afford because there is not an awful to do on the island. The countryside is quite poor and facilities outside of hotels aren't great. There is however very little crime so don't be afraid to go out and about.

Picking your time to go is also important. Its winter there during June, July and August. A friend of mine went there in August and it rained 7 out of 10 days. Just showers but you could do without them.

I stayed in The Heritage and can recommend it. You travel agent can offer good advice here. Hope this helps

Re: Mauritius

bluetoff said:

Just looking for some basic enough info on Mauritius, the do s and don'ts, is it over expensive? General tips really. Thanks.

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I was there for a few days and it pissed rain most of the time - wasn't very impressed really.

It's a very densely populated island with quite a lot of poverty (something like 1m people live on it and it's maybe 20miles by 20miles - and a lot of it is pretty poor - especially in the interior) ... so it's not a desert island paradise type place by any means at all (Maybe the Seychelles would be better for this type of thing in that region)

Yes it had some nice beaches (or at least they did look like they'd be nice if it wasn't raining!) ... I think a lot of the tourist action in Mauritius is in very big (and expensive) hotel complexes which people then to spend most of their holiday in - not venturing out too much.

If that's your type of thing you might like it (it's not my type of thing so i'm probably biased against it )

Re: Mauritius

SOM42 said:

Picking your time to go is also important. Its winter there during June, July and August. A friend of mine went there in August and it rained 7 out of 10 days. Just showers but you could do without them.

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I was there in July ... so I guess that explains it

I'd second your comments about the food and drink - I wasn't staying in a large hotel and found it expensive and not of great quality in restaurants etc.

Re: Mauritius

Thanks for that, so on average what would you be paying for a pint/bottle of local/international beer, and is the food alot more expensive than Ireland or expensive on a similar level.

Re: Mauritius

bluetoff said:

Thanks for that, so on average what would you be paying for a pint/bottle of local/international beer, and is the food alot more expensive than Ireland or expensive on a similar level.

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I don't remember it being more expensive really (you'd have to hope it wouldn't be any more expensive than Ireland!!) ... just not being a bargain - especially as it was poor quality (the food anyway - I think the beer was okay )

I would say that this is because most of the tourism in Mauritius seemed to me to be in big gated hotel compounds which people spend most if not all of their holidays in ... therefore there aren't that many restaurants out there (as the local population isn't rich enough to support many)

Re: Mauritius

bluetoff said:

Thanks for that, so on average what would you be paying for a pint/bottle of local/international beer, and is the food alot more expensive than Ireland or expensive on a similar level.

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Yes doctork is right. They don't really have bars or restaurants outside of the hotels. I have heard horror stories from some people who were paying over twice the price for food and drink than they would in Ireland. Even the basics like bottled water was costing a fortune. As I said already all-inclusive is probably the best way to go.

I was there a few years ago and stayed in Merville Beach, which was walking distance into Grand Baie. There were some bars / restaurants in the town which was good, I likewise hated the idea of being 'trapped' in a hotel for two weeks. Dont remember them being overly expensive. Was there in a Sep and the weather was great. Hired a jeep and explored, while poor, the people are very friendly (as very reliant on tourism) and we vistied some inland waterfalls, the western coast and a crocodile farm etc. I enjoyed it overall but then again the weather was great so chilled a lot.