A tiny island renowned for its beauty, is accessible by boat from Port Sud-Est (about 25 minutes) or Petite Butte (about 90minutes). No permits are required to visit ÎIe aux Crabes and IIe Hermitage. It's also possible to hire local boats at Rivière Cocos for trips to Île Gombrani or Île Paille-en-Queue.
There are several good scuba-diving locations around Rodrigues, but there is no diving school or public-use compressor on the island, and you need a boat. The best dives are off Pointe Colon and Pointe Roche Noire, on the east coast, and off Pointe Palmiste, on the west. Baladirou, at Pointe aux Comes, is also a good spot. Cotton Bay Hotel has a diving centre which is also open to nonresidents. Henri Tours can also organise diving trips.
Ile Ambre and Ile Bernache are within easy striking distance of Poudre or, only 30 minutes by boat. Some local fisherman may be able to organise trips to the uninhabited islands.
The Colonial Beach Hotel is situated in the small picturesque village of Pointe aux Piments on the northwest coast of Mauritius, ten minutes drive (8 Kms) from Grand Baie, twenty minutes (12 Kms) from Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius and sixty minutes (60 Kms) from the national airport of Mauritius. The colonial Beach Hotel, with its local architecture set in a tropical beach front garden of colourful flowering shrubs and palm trees, is a perfect get away.
Ilot Cocos is an island sanctuary and breeding ground, barely 1km in length, for huge populations of sea birds: common noddies and lesser noddies are present in their thousands. Bridled tern and fairy tern, are also present. Part of Ilot Cocos is fenced off to protect ground-nesting sites of bridled terns. The excursion to Ilot Cocos is unquestionably the most popular day trip available: it is a one hour boat trip and the island has good birdwatching and snorkeling, an unspoilt beach and most trips include a picnic lunch under the swaying filao trees.
The East Coast district of Flacq is quieter than Trou aux Biche or areas on the West Coast. Beaches are the major attraction and as usual, big hotels have picked prime stretches but there is still enough sand and sea left to go around Ile aux Cerfs. The only trouble is the lack of budget accommodation. Sea breezes are more common on the East Coast, bringing bracing air to the beaches from Roches Noires to Poste Lafayette. The Belle Mare area is renowned for the white sweep of sands at Palmar, while the beach at Trou'd Eau Deuce narrows as it extends to Mahebourg.
Blue Bay is the official public beach closest to Mahebourg. This attractive beach can get quite busy on weekends. Good private beaches stretch back to Mahebourg, past Pointe des Deux Cocos to Pointe D' Esny.