Beaches in Mauritius

A volcanic island ringed almost entirely by fringing reef, so the lagoon rather than the ocean is what visitors encounter. Water inside it is shallow, warm and calm; the reef edge is visible as a line of surf offshore. Where the reef is close in — Blue Bay is the clearest case — coral is reachable by swimming from the sand. The trade wind funnelling around Le Morne on the south-west peninsula has made that corner the principal kitesurfing site in the Indian Ocean. All beaches are public by law and are used heavily by Mauritians at weekends. Seasons here are the reverse of the northern hemisphere's: the southern winter from May to October is drier, cooler and windier, which is when the kitesurfing works, and the summer from November to April is hot, humid and carries cyclone risk. Reef flats mean the tide matters — at low water some lagoons become too shallow to swim. Sea urchins and sharp coral on exposed flats make reef shoes sensible rather than fussy.

Two of the three are reef-front beaches; the rest are grand resort beaches. The sand is coral sand throughout, and all are reached by road. Together they account for 14 km of shore. · computed from the 3 records below