The east gets the trade wind, which keeps the hotels apart and the beaches long. It has the island's most famous day trip, Île aux Cerfs, its most Mauritian town, Mahébourg, and its best snorkelling, Blue Bay. It is quieter than the north and closer to the airport than anywhere.
01 · 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
02 · East
The old Dutch and French port in the south-east: a Monday market on the waterfront, the Naval Museum, street food and a lagoon with Lion Mountain behind it.
Culture & historyMarketsFoodFreeHidden gems
03 · East
A coral islet off Mahébourg where the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation has rebuilt the island's ebony forest and returned pink pigeons, giant tortoises and skinks to it.
WildlifeNatureHidden gems
04 · East
A wide waterfall where the island's longest river meets the sea, visited by boat from the river mouth and included in most Île aux Cerfs day trips.
WaterfallsWith children
05 · 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
06 · 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
07 · 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
08 · East
A flat, quiet forest on the north-east coast with easy trails, the ruins of a sugar mill, and the endemic paradise flycatcher. You will likely have it to yourself.
HikesNatureWildlifeFreeHidden gems