The south-east, ten minutes from the runway

Many booking apps place the airport of Mauritius in Port Louis. It is nothing of the sort: Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, also known as Plaisance, lies in the south-east of the island, while the capital is in the north-west, some fifty minutes away by road. This geography decides a great deal. The resorts of the north, Grand Baie, Grand Gaube and Cap Malheureux, are seventy or eighty kilometres away, an hour and a quarter by car. Le Morne, at the south-western tip, is at the other end of the island.

The distances given by the hotels themselves set the scale. On the east coast, Belle Mare, Palmar and Trou d’Eau Douce are some fifty kilometres away, around an hour’s drive. On the west coast, Flic en Flac is fifty kilometres away, Tamarin forty-nine. The north-west, from Balaclava to Trou aux Biches, lies between fifty and sixty-five kilometres away, about an hour. The north is the furthest: seventy-two kilometres for Grand Gaube, eighty for Cap Malheureux, Anse la Raie or Calodyne, with seventy-five minutes by car.

The south coast is the exception. At Bel Ombre, the Tamassa is thirty kilometres and forty-five minutes away, the Outrigger forty-three kilometres and forty-five minutes; the latter advises leaving the hotel three and a half hours before a flight. In the centre of the island, the Hennessy Park, at Ébène, is thirty-seven kilometres and thirty-five minutes away, and the Palms, at Quatre Bornes, half an hour.

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Three hotels on the edge of the marine park

Closest to the airport, three properties share the coast between Mahébourg and Blue Bay. Constance Le Chaland, on Le Chaland beach, south of Mahébourg, is ten minutes away by road. The building opened in 2019 as the Anantara Iko, and the Mauritian group Constance has run it since 5 February 2026. Set among sugar cane fields, it borders the Blue Bay Marine Park, which puts snorkelling within swimming distance. Its rooms measure 55 square metres, and its two villas have a private pool, a kitchen and a butler.

The Preskil Island Resort, at Pointe Jérôme, near Mahébourg, is also ten minutes away, without the nuisance of aircraft, facing Île aux Aigrettes. It has two hundred and fourteen rooms, an infinity pool of 650 square metres, a kitesurfing and kitefoiling school, and a baby club that takes children from three months. There is no dress code, and a dedicated lounge, the Horizon Departure Lounge, looks after departing guests.

Finally, the Shandrani Beachcomber occupies a private peninsula of fifty-three hectares at Blue Bay, fringed by three beaches, at the heart of the marine park. It offers two optional all-inclusive packages, and almost all its water sports are free, waterskiing, sailing and wakeboarding included. A useful detail for anyone flying out at dawn: continental breakfast is served from 6:00.

The south-east is more than a convenience for those in transit. Around Le Chaland, this is a stretch of coast that has stayed away from mass tourism, among fishing villages, mangroves and sugar cane fields. Île aux Aigrettes, a nature reserve off Pointe Jérôme, is visited by boat and on a guided walk, in search of the pink pigeon and the Mauritius fody. The waters of the Blue Bay Marine Park are renowned for snorkelling.

Further north, at Grande Rivière Sud-Est, the Laguna Beach Hotel has sixty-four rooms facing the lagoon, with the Grand Port mountain range on the other side. Its decor draws on the neighbouring fishing village, with handmade furniture, rattan and seashell lamps, and it offers fishing trips on a local boat with the village fishermen. A free shuttle links it to Île aux Cerfs.

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First night, last night

For many travellers, the best way to use the south-east is to slot it in. A flight that lands late, or leaves early, is easier to face ten minutes from the runway than an hour and a quarter away by road, especially at the end of a long-haul flight. A stay can thus begin or end on the edge of the Blue Bay Marine Park, and carry on in the north or the west.

The more distant hotels, for their part, have arrival and departure lounges, for guests whose room is not yet ready or has already been handed back. The Attitude hotels on the east and north coasts have a shower room and luggage storage; C Mauritius, at Palmar, a free lounge with changing rooms, showers and toilets; the Veranda Paul et Virginie, at Grand Gaube, a departure lounge. These lounges make the wait more comfortable. They do not make the road any shorter.