Blue Bay Mauritius

Blue Bay – Mauritius 2015

Whether you are staying at Jonash Apartment, nearby or anywhere else on the island, Blue Bay Mauritius is an experience you’ll want to repeat.

Being designated a Marine Sanctuary combining beautiful ocean views. A family safe bathing area and sandy beach with the opportunity for some amazing snorkeling, it’s little wonder that the area is a favourite of the Mauritians. Indeed, this is a place best visited during the weekend or Bank Holiday (of which in Mauritius there are plenty) whereupon the locals descend en masse to make use of the extensive picnic area for family barbecues and music. The experience is profoundly enriched with the sounds of sega drums and singing  interspersed with the calls tropical birds seemingly joining in the festivities. Under normal circumstances I find motorbikes possibly one of mankind’s most irritating of inventions. However, the occasional arrival of a cavalcade of youths with smiling faces on motorbikes adds a real exhilaration to the proceedings, an almost Grease like ambiance. Calling back to a time when life was simpler.

The area is beautifully rustic, authentic Mauritius. Little has been done to cater for tourism, which is a blessing. You’ll find no hawkers and even the few stands selling the boat tours don’t seem to be that bothered whether you take them or not. Currently you are free* to snorkel throughout the reserve and it is possibly the best site in Mauritius. However, you must ensure that you have with you a snorkeling flag/buoy as there is a fair amount of boat activity in the area. For the non-swimmers it’s worth paying for a licensed boat or taking a voyage on a glass bottom boat to experience the wonderment of Blue Bay Marine Park.

Facilities in the area comprise of a couple of shacks to buy drinks and snacks along with small shop cum restaurant which offers about 4 cooked local dishes. It’s worth questioning the price before ordering as you could end up paying double as a tourist! There are also public toilet and shower facilities.  Just off of the picnic area, opposite the hotel is an excellent restaurant specialising in seafood and Mauritian cuisine. You will also find some more European dishes for the philistines.

For advice about travel in and around Mahebourg/Blue Bay please ask us.

It would be good to tie this day out with one or two of the other points of interest in the area:-

 

Black Pyramids of Mauritius

Raoult biscuit Factory

Mahebourg Market Day

Mahebourg Maritime Museum

Ile aux Aigrettes

The Frederik Hendrik Museum

 

 

Travel around Blue Bay and Mahebourg

Travel Throughout Mauritius from Mahebourg

Mahebourg is a fantastic place to travel from being as is has a bus station with buses to all main destinations in Mauritius. The furthest and most expensive  bus journey to the North (at time of writing) will not cost more than 100MRU (about £2.00). Whilst they are not exactly National Express they do the job more than adequately, if a little warm but also are a fantastic way of seeing the Island. It’s easy enough to find. Go to the market in the centre of town, from there you will see the sea. Just head toward it and you can’t miss it! Failing that, just ask someone “Pour allez a la autobus?” (I have omitted the accent from the ‘a’ because that’s exactly how it comes out in my case). If you are as skilled in the art of French speaking as I you will be looked at as if you’ve just arrived from Mars. If you’re in luck, which you definitely will be as there are plenty of English speakers, once you revert to shouting and gesturing in English you will be told, in English better than your own.

Travel Locally  Around Mahebourg

The main point of Interest locally is Blue Bay. The buses run from Mahebourg bus station every half hour, on the half hour. They cost 24MRU and will stop close to anywhere you ring the buzzer before. In the same way they can be flagged down from any point along their route.

Taxis

A taxi from Mahebourg to Blue Bay should cost 100MRU. However, similar to the bus service, taxis constantly fly back and forth from Blue Bay and Mahebourg so if you don’t mind sharing a taxi with some randoms then the charge is 25MRU per person. You may find this frugality appealing especially if you are a single traveller, in which case it  you can can go to the taxi rank on Labourdonnais Street, which won’t mean anything to you presently. Basically, either walk up the road from which the buses exit the bus station or the road with two adjacent petrol ‘stations’ and you’ll soon be swooped upon. Armed with the phrase ‘Taxi collective’ you will be greeted with a look of disappointment, now knowing that you are savvy to the local prices either be ushered into a taxi of randoms, invited to sit in one ’til some arrive or offered a sensible price to your destination.