Hi Guys,
I will be going to Mauritius and Reunion Island in exactly a month from today, really looking forward to it!
I really want to bring my kiting gear but I'm gonna be on quite a few flights as I am flying from perth to KL and KL to Mauritius then Mauritius to Reunion then week later back to Mauritius and then after 2 weeks in Mauritius I fly straight back to Perth.
All this moving around makes it annoying to carry around all my gear but Im still considering it of course! However for if I'm not bringing it, does anyone know some good rental places on Mauritius? Are there a lot of them?
Please let me know of any awesome things over there!
Cheers!
Who are you flying with?
I flew Air Austral to Reunion and they didn't charge me excess, then Air Mauritius to Mauritius and back to Reunion. They are pretty generous on kite equipment. My mate was flying with his kite gear and his surfboard and didn't get charged.
I seem to remember there being a few hire places in Mauritius. But it's expensive. One would only let you hire if you took lessons.
The place I stayed at in La Gaulette (Mauritius) teed up a hire ute for us which was handy. On Reunion you'll need a car to get around so don't worry about having to lug around gear. We had a little 3 door Citroen which seemed to deal with having two kite bags and a surf board stacked directly on the roof with no dramas!
Select to expand quotelostinlondon said..
Who are you flying with?
I flew Air Austral to Reunion and they didn't charge me excess, then Air Mauritius to Mauritius and back to Reunion. They are pretty generous on kite equipment. My mate was flying with his kite gear and his surfboard and didn't get charged.
I seem to remember there being a few hire places in Mauritius. But it's expensive. One would only let you hire if you took lessons.
The place I stayed at in La Gaulette (Mauritius) teed up a hire ute for us which was handy. On Reunion you'll need a car to get around so don't worry about having to lug around gear. We had a little 3 door Citroen which seemed to deal with having two kite bags and a surf board stacked directly on the roof with no dramas!
Cheers mate thats a great help! I think I might just bring my own gear then. Also gives me a reason to buy a travel bag ;) Can never have enough kitesurfing gear! Im staying at Shandrani Resort which is on the south east of the island (about an hour from Le Morne). Ive heard there is good kitesurfing on that end as well?
Im flying Malaysia airlines from Perth to KL (operated along with Air Mauritius) and then flying Air mauritius (connecting flight) to mauritius. and Im also flying Air Mauritius in between reunion and mauritius.
Plenty of places to hire at Le Morne on the beach or the is a North shop, but the rates were 40-70 euro a day for a board last month. Probably do a better deal for longer, but there is no comparison with airline charges even if you have to pay extra. We had no problems with kitebags even up to 180 cm ones, just need to watch the weight - you are likely to get charged on anything over your limit. Carry on is your friend.
Not sure about kiting at Reunion if that is your plan. I heard that water sports had all but closed up there due to shark attacks. Hiking is apparently amazing.
Enjoy it, it is a fabulous location and Le Morne with wind is all it is cracked up to be.
Take your own gear, hiring can be expensive and locations may look close but travel times on the winding roads can be SLOW. I was over there last year for the last 2 weeks of July, kited 11 out of 14 days in constant 16-20 knot winds. Main direction at this time of year is W/WSW so most locations on the east coast are good. I stayed up in Poste Lafayette and mainly kited that area, good spot to self launch at the Poste Lafayette Public beach and worth stopping in if you do a drive up the coast. Flat water inside the reef and surf close by. Had the place to myself most of the time, occassionally there were a few kiters around so don't expect crowds or anyone to assist with launching/landing. Other good spots closer to you are Blue Bay and Pointe D'Esny, the latter being the better spot. I did not venture past Blue Bay towards Le Morne as there was no reason to, abundance of choice on the west coast so spent more time kiting and less time driving.
PS. The profile picture is Poste Lafayette
I only took a 10m and 130x40 TT, I weigh in at 75kg's. If anything during my stay a larger board or additional kite a few sizes up would have been good. Only time I was overpowered was when a large storm cloud pushed through.
Below will give you an idea on current forecast. I only took a 1mm wetsuit vest, air and water temp is over 20deg 24/7 so pack light.
www.windfinder.com/forecast/pointe_d_esny?utm_source=www.windfinder.com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=redirect
Awesome mate thanks! We are actually staying at Blue Bay! Ill be sure to bring my 9 and 12m then. I weigh about 90kg so gotta have some more power. Looking forward to having the beach to myself. Hopefully be able to use the 9m every once and a while.
Thanks for the info, much appreciated
when i flew with malaysia air i didnt get charged at all for baggage and i had a golfbag style kitebag with scuba diving equipment and kites and boards in it and a 90l backpack. i was dressed as a golfer but my mate got threw with 6 kites the factory just gave him and a few new boards on the same flight he didnt even have a golf bag neither of us paid any baggage from colombo to kuala then i went to aus and he went to bali. either they thought i was a pro golfer or he was that famous cricket player from sri lanka (he did look like him hahaha) but yeah
grab a golf bag and make it so its your ONLY bag maybe just a little backpack day bag and youll be laughing. if you leave your kites behind well.... you wont do it again, because youll hate yourself. forever. youll be lieing there on your death bed curseing your squanderd holiday to one of the best kiteing locations and you didnt even bring your kites.
just take 1 kite 1 board check to see what the wind will be etc and your money.
You have to take your gear, as Kozzie says you will kill yourself if you don't.
Air Mauritius has a golf gear goes free policy, so golf bags work with that airline, but the advice of one kitesurf/golf bag is spot on, just take 2 kites and one board 9/12 would be ideal. They did weigh my carry ons, but were not too stressed out my 10kg camera bag, the check in lady said to take one camera and lens out, but we didn't and weren't asked to once we got to the plane. You can have 2 carry on items, one larger cabin bag and a smaller laptop type bag on all the airlines I've traveled with over the last few years...
