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Sports
in Mauritius
Surfing, be it wind surfing or kite surfing, has affixed its place
in Mauritius. Surfing in Mauritius is appreciated and enjoyed by
majority tourists visiting the island. The ideal time to enjoy surfing
in Mauritius is from the months of May to October. You can hire surf
equipments from your beach resort or from boathouses at beachside.
Surf inside the lagoon where the water current is less, in the house
of reef of the hotel, in Tamarin Bay, Le Morne Point and many other
sites.
Surfing Sites in Mauritius
Tamarin Bay is the most famous surf site in Mauritius on the western
coast. The bay was explored way back in 60's and till now it is the
top-class surf site in this beautiful island. Cap Dal and Blackstone,
the right and the left edge of the bay along the reefs are a treat for
avid surfers. Cap Dal is not for novices when there are low tides.
Le Morne point is another surf spot with best of weather conditions
to try your hands in surfing. The pass offers moderate conditions round
the year to enjoy surfing. With One Eye and La Prairie to either sides
of the pass are set along the reefs. Breaking on the shallow reef, One
Eye provides best surfing when tides are at its peaks.
Rivière des Galets to the southern coast, Balaclava and Pointe-aux-Piments
in the northwest coast are some of the other surf sites in Mauritius.
Many other spots are accessed by boat.
Surfing Safety
It is advisable to surfers not to surf far away from others. The current
sometimes can be deceptive and can prove sometimes challenging to ride
waves. Occasional divers and novices should not surf alone.
The Mauritius Scuba Diving Association regulates the island's dive
centers, which must all be run by qualified, experienced dive masters,
who have been trained to International standards.
Mauritius regulations require that visitors dive accompanied by an instructor
and escorted by a boat. All centers are managed by CMAS or PADI international
diving instructors who can give courses from beginners up to experts and
additionally organise snorkeling excursions.
Dive sites of Mauritius:
Attractive dive sites can be found all around the island, (not just exclusively
behind the coral reefs). The diving conditions vary around the island,
for example the east coast is colder than the west both on land and in
the water.
The east coast however has some of the best dives sites of the
island. The islands of the North offer particularly attractive diving
and surprisingly, are rarely visited by the clubs due to their distant
location.
The sea temperature is generally pleasant throughout the year ranging
from 28c in summer to 23/24c in winter. Strong anticyclones in winter
may occasionally cause the sea temperature to fall by 2 or 3c but with
the exception of the cyclonic period (January - February) and during July
and August for the east coast, good diving conditions exist all year round.
The North coast offers particularly attractive diving such as the:
Whale Rock which is famous for the huge rocks, sea fan, huge stone corals,
sometimes hammerhead sharks and other different species of fish .
Flat Island, which is renowned for its 'Shark pit' shark dive.
The Silver star wreck where an old fishing boat sank in 1990.
Grand Bay and Pereybere offer about 6 diving sites along the coast ranging
in depth from 11-18m. You can see a large variety of coloured fish and
corals of all sorts in the clear water. The place names are: Grand Bay
Aquarium, Coral Head, Island Reef, Pereybere Aquarium and Merville Patche.
The East coast is famous for its beautiful beaches and magnificent lagoons
bordering the coasts and is scattered with many channels that allow easy
access to the open sea.
There is one nice dive into the current of the Belle Mare lagoon (12-30m).
There are sharks, rays, barracuda, tuna fish and kingfish.
The South East Coast allows divers to swim in a decor made up of
caves, canyons, arches, tunnels and peaks. The interesting diving sites
are:
Roche Zozo
Colorado
The remnants of the historical wreckage of the Sirius, which was sunk
in 1810 during the naval battle of Grand Port between the British and
French.
The West Coast offers an impressive underwater cave known as "Cathedrale"
which starts as an underwater cliff just close to Flic en Flac and offers
a spectacular beauty due to the topography of the place (caves, arches
and cavities). The cave is populated by a variety of fish and various
crustaceans.
Another site close to Flic en Flac is Rempart Serpent; this site has a
large concentration of several species of morays, Lionfish, stone fishes.
An excellent place to observe dolphins is near Tamarin Bay in the southwest,
where a large group of dolphins can be found.
Our strong advice is to dive with the best professionals, we therefore
highly recommend the following recognized diving centers in Mauritius.
The prices are per person and in Mauritian Rupees (MUR):
Mauritius is a paradise for deep sea fishing. Species include the blue
or black marlin, all types of sharks, yellow tuna, the Bonitos, the ‘emperor’,
the ‘pélerin’, the ‘bécune’ or the barracuda.
Huge fishes like the Blue Marlin roam our seas and hunt around the island
from November to April, and very often until May.
The ocean is 70 metres deep one kilometre away from the coast. Mauritius
holds several world fishing records (IGFA), including that of the mako
shark of 1115 pounds, the blue shark of 400 pounds, a bonito of 41.5 pounds,
a white tuna of 224 pounds and a ‘bécune’ of 125 pounds.
African records (GFUA) mention a yellow tuna of 212 pounds and a white
tuna of 224 pounds. Other specimens recently caught include blue marlins
of 1430 and 1355 pounds. Fishing boats can be hired from almost all hotels.
The most prestigious deep sea fishing competition is the Marlin World
Cup which is hosted in December by La Pirogue Hotel.
Other:
There are many opportunities for trekking
in the interior of the island. Many of the best walks are in the Réserve
Forrestière Macchabée and Rivière Noire National Park. Rodrigues
Island also has some lovely hiking country, with coastal and mountain
walks, notably to the island's highest points, Mount Limon and
Mount Malartic. The Hippodrome at the Champ de Mars has
meetings at the weekends between May and October where spectators can
watch horseracing.
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