Every beach in Mauritius is public below the high-water mark, including the ones in front of the hotels. What differs is the water. The north is calm and shallow; the west is calm and deep with the sunsets; the east has wind and the sunrise; the south has cliffs and one gap in the reef where the ocean comes in unbroken.
These are the ones worth driving to. We have left out the beaches that only exist as hotel frontage.
Best for swimming: Pereybere. Best for snorkelling from shore: Blue Bay. Best long walk: Mont Choisy or Belle Mare. Best sunset: Flic en Flac or Le Morne. Best with nobody there: Poste Lafayette. Best day trip: Île aux Cerfs, first boat, walk away from the jetty.
01 · West
The UNESCO-listed mountain at the island's south-west tip: a three-hour hike, a maroon-slavery memorial and the best beach on the west coast at its foot.
HikesViewpointsBeachesCulture & historyFreeSunsets
02 · West
The long public beach of the west coast: calm lagoon, filao shade, food stalls at weekends and the island's most reliable sunsets.
BeachesSnorkellingSunsetsWith childrenFree
03 · West
A river-mouth bay below Rempart mountain: dolphins most mornings offshore, the island's only surf, and salt pans and a dark-sand beach that few visitors bother with.
WildlifeBeachesSunsetsHidden gems
04 · South
The one stretch of coast with no reef, so the Indian Ocean hits the cliffs at full strength. A cliff walk, a wild beach and the 'weeping rock' outside Souillac.
ViewpointsBeachesFreeHidden gems
05 · East
The best snorkelling reachable from the shore: a protected lagoon near the airport with corals metres from the beach and a public beach behind it.
SnorkellingBeachesWith childrenFree
06 · East
The east coast's island day trip: sandbars, a shallow lagoon, parasailing and a lot of other people. Go early, go on a weekday, walk away from the jetty.
BeachesSnorkellingWith children
07 · East
Ten kilometres of public beach on the east coast, with the old sugar-mill ruins behind it. Windier and emptier than the north; the sunrise side of the island.
BeachesFreeSunsets
08 · East
The north-east coast as it was before resorts: a wind-blown public beach under casuarina trees, a fishing village, and a coast road with almost no traffic.
BeachesHidden gemsFree
09 · North
A small, deep, sheltered cove between Grand Baie and Cap Malheureux: the best swimming beach in the north, good snorkelling off the rocks, and food vans on the road.
BeachesSnorkellingWith childrenFoodFree
10 · North
The longest beach in the north, a crescent of white sand under casuarina trees between Trou aux Biches and Grand Baie. Calm, shaded, and best in the late afternoon.
BeachesSunsetsFreeWith children