Before heading to the beautiful island of Mauritius, you could be forgiven for thinking that the sum of the holiday will be white-sand beaches, stunning turquoise waters and palm trees lining the shorelines. Whilst Mauritius offers some of the most wonderful and relaxing shorelines, this is by no means the full picture, it offers so much more than might first meet the eye.

Melting-pot: a phrase which gets bandied about quite a bit, whether in reference to culture, cuisine or something else entirely, but thanks to Mauritius’ location and also natural resources, a melting-pot truly does sum up the island as a whole, a harmonious fusion of cultures.

Flying into Mauritius is a fairly relaxed affair; British Airways and Air Mauritius offer direct flights into Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport, the main entry hub into Mauritius. Emirates and a variety of other airlines also fly indirectly to Mauritius. When we arrived jumped in a taxi to the Albion are of the island where we were staying on the northwest coast, the journey was an unexpected enjoyment. Mauritius has a central infrastructure with a handful of motorways running through it as its lifeline. With the journey from one end to the other taking approximately an hour, it’s an opportunity to enjoy the sights of the lush tropical interior, much of which is hilly and mountainous, as a result of the volcanic activity from which the island was born, spot wildlife and absorb the sights and sounds.

Undoubtedly a couple of days of exploration and relaxing of the beaches of Mauritius was in store for our holiday, after all there are over 150 kilometres of beaches surrounding Mauritius. Surrounding those beaches are wonderful lagoons and shoreline vistas, encompassed by the third largest coral reef in the world. Mauritius is an absolute treat for both divers and snorkelers! Diving and snorkelling on the island is breathtaking, with large networks of coral reefs running around the island, the underwater environment is teeming with marine life of all shapes, colours and sizes, with eagle rays, turtles and reef sharks all there be discovered.

Above water the cuisine is a treat that you should look forward to tasting. When visiting Mauritius I spent my days tightrope walking a fine balance of activities like swimming, golf and tennis along with sampling the local delights, from rum, to the abundance of fresh fruit and fish. Mauritius in its earlier inhabited years quickly established itself as a stopping off point on sailing spice routes through the Indian Ocean. This is evident in the wonderful food to sample, full of richness and spice and drawing on French, Indian, Creole and African cuisine to stamp its own mark on the dining experience. My mouth was left watering numerous times during my stay.

Rum was a great and unexpected treat during our stay in Mauritius. With a background in the sugar trade, rum quickly became a produce of the island and whilst the Caribbean might be more famous for the spirit, the island can definitely hold its own when comparisons are drawn. One afternoon we spent a few hours learning about the production methods behind the rum at Rhumerie de Chamarel Rum Distillery. Producers of incredible single estate rums, comparable to whiskies in their merits. Rums for sipping and all different in character, depending on what type of barrel they have been aged in or the spices used to give the rum a different flavour. The rum tour (and tasting) is a welcome addition to a trip for any who visit Mauritius!

Mesmerising beaches, coastlines to rival anywhere in the world, cuisine and rum – what more could one want from a holiday as well as the year round good weather that Mauritius offers? The island has yet more to discover, the centre of the island is undoubtedly worth exploring and the rewards are very worthwhile. Whilst we didn’t decide to take on climbing the UNESCO World Heritage Site Le Morne Brabant Mountain, we decided to explore Black River Gorges National Park accompanied by a guide who acted as a fountain of knowledge and photographer for the afternoon.

Within Black River Gorges National Park you will find two of Mauritius’ most scenic and postcard-worthy sites: Terres des Sept Couleurs – the Seven Coloured Earths, and the Chamarel Waterfall. The Chamarel Seven Coloured Earths is a compact area of sand dunes found within the National Park that are perhaps one of Mauritius’ most famous sights. The coloured earths have a rippling beautiful effect of a surrealist merging of red, brown, purple, violet, blue, green and yellow, a result of volcanic activity and element composition that amazes and inspires. A pleasant surprise is next door to the sands where you can find a handful of friendly elderly giant tortoise embracing the slower pace of island life. There are many walks to explore through the national park, just a few minutes from the tortoise will bring you to the Chamarel Waterfall, Mauritius’ tallest and most impressive waterfall!

With dive sites to explore, Victoria Pineapples shaken in tamarind and sugar to eat, national parks in which to wander and white sand beaches to snooze on, post-sampling of rum, the only question is where in Mauritius will suit you best to you stay at and when do you want to go? Let us guide you towards your own slice of paradise!