Good day to all.
My wife and I are going to Mauritius (third visit) in April. I considder myself to be an intermediate level SUP'er and have a 9.3 Fanatic Pro Wave. Can any body give me good advice on the following issues:
1 - Would it be more viable to take my own board with me, or hire one there.
2 - Where is the best spots to surf, not to far from Le Victoria hotel.
I look forward to any replies,
Bobman.
Pretty sure Jon and some of the other guys at Surf FX on the Goldy have been there.
Maybe give them a ring?
Cheers,
Ken.
Haven't been there in a while but Tamarin Bay (West Coast) is a really good left when it works.
Unless you really know what you're doing Mauritius isn't a great place for SUP surfing, its great however for flat water paddling and kitesurfing. If you're keen there are pretty much two places to surf on a SUP in Mauritius - Tamarin Bay or Le Morne.
Tamarin Bay has a nice left on a shallow sharp reef, you really need to know what you are doing here, its a steep wave and if you come off onto the reef say hello to the cheese grater. The locals aren't friendly and will let you know about it. I've copped plenty of abuse there just paddling out minding my own business.
La Morne has some awesome waves, but again if you don't know what you're doing you risk being eaten alive on the reef, the wind really gets up and can blow you out past the waves, hence why its such an awesome kite surfing area. Try and talk to some local kite surfing schools about this as they may have some surf tours available.
You can find some tiny waves around the island in the little bays, similar to Cott on a normal day, so nothing to write home about.
To answer your questions:
1. The only place that hires SUP's on the island as far as I know are one or two hotels down in Le Morne and a few kitesurfing schools on the East Coast. I took my 8'4 Naish with me plus a few paddles which was good as I could explore the lagoons when I wanted and also get a few surfs in at Tamarin.
2. There is no surf near Le Victoria hotel, you'll need to head south to Tamarin Bay, via Port Louis to get to the spots.
I haven't been to the South East coast but I hear there might be some waves down there if you keep on going past Le Morne.
cheers
Rob
Unless you can get a confirmed board before you head out, I'd bring my own.
You will be in the NW corner of the island which is the flattest corner of the island. There can be waves on the north/north-east side but I have not explored that side. East side is generally onshore tradewinds. South is where it's all happening from Blue Bay to Le Morne and Tamarin if you have solid SW swell.
Le Morne is excellent but suffers from a lot of wind and is 45min-1hr drive from where you are. Get Le Morne with no wind and you have 5-6 great waves within paddling distance - best ever.
There are quite a few good options in the south between Le Morne and Souillac - most visible from the road.
Tamarin also has a right on the opposite side of the bay of the famous left which is a little more SUP friendly - although some of the locals are not.....
If you can get a boat and a guide the outer reefs have some pearlers as well. Mauritius is amazing!
Although my father was Maurician, I never surfed nor SUPed there. What I can say however, is that:
- there are not a lot of passes in the coral reef barrier to surf, mosts are in the southwest. east coast is windy (onshore)
- due to the closedness of the lagoon, there is no shark issue in the lagoon (unlike La Reunion)
- altough the laggon is quite dead compared to some decades away, there are still places with lot of things in the water that can sting, bite, and cut. The coral itself, of course. But it makes scenic scuba dives :-)
- I guess due to the scarcity of surf spots there, some of the "locals" (often not local at all anyways) are the biggest, meanest assholes you can find anywhere. A friend who went there to SUP 2 years ago had his 10-year old be nearly killed by a "local" frothing at the mouth, the kid was just on a beginner beachbreak, not even a proper surf spot...
- this friend had his board so destroyed by the baggage handlers that he didnt bothered to bring it back. The repairs only amounted to nearly half the board price. (plus one week water time lost)
