Golf
The Gymkhana Club at Vacoas has an 18-hole golf course (a legacy of colonial days), to which visitors are welcome by temporary membership. Clubs can be hired by arrangement with the caddy master and golf lessons are available. There is a nine-hole course designed by Gary Player alongside the lagoon at the St Geran Sun Hotel.
The Beachcomber hotels of Paradis, Shandrani and Trou aux Biches Village also have nine-hole courses. Use of the golf courses, and clubs, is free for holders of the hotels' privilege cards.
In 1994, the first international 18-hole golf course in the Indian Ocean region opened on the East Coast at the Belle Mare Plage Golf Hotel and Resort. Designed by Hugh Baiocchi, Tony Falkson and Alan Barnard from South Africa, it has been created on 158 acres of deer reserve, prime virgin land with hundred-year-old plant species and dotted with bougainvillea and flamboyant trees and with numerous water spots and lakes. On Saturdays a tournament is arranged for clients of the hotel, founder members and residents of Mauritius.
No green fees are charged to hotel guests, but you will be asked for your handicap certificate, or to take a test with a professional, before being allowed to play on the course. There is also a nine-hole course at the hotel for all types of players, as well as teaching by professionals. Clubs are available for hire and all charges can be added to your hotel bill. There is a dress code; Men must wear collared shirts with tailored trousers or tailored shorts with long socks. For women, collared shirts with skirt below knee length, or long shorts or tailored trousers. At other hotels with golf courses you can benefit from Resident Rates.