Snorkeling

Many hotels provide windsurfing and kayaking equipment for their guests, and for those who prefer less strenuous activity, there's usually a glass-bottom boat to be found. Lead-booted, bubble-headed 'undersea walks' can be arranged near Grand Baie reef, as can a ride on La Nessee, a semi-submersible boat - like a submarine - that allows a close-up tour of the reefs without getting wet. Also read: Mauritius Excursions

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.

Situated on the West Coast, the beach is fringed with filaos/ casuarina trees provides a fine lagoon for swimming and watersports. Grand baie and the northern coastline beyond Tombeau Bay has many delightful beaches Trou aux Biches with its splendid Hindu temple; then further up the coast Choisy, one of the most popular beaches of the island, which offers facilities for safe bathing, sailing, windsurfing and water skiing. Finally, the coastline curves into Grande Baie itself, the main centre for yachting, water, skiing, windsurfing, and many other watersports.

Beaches
No island on earth offers such a variety of beautiful beaches and lagoons. On the west coast are the public beaches of Tamarin, (well-known to surfers for its big waves), Flic en Flac, which provides a fine lagoon with shallow waters, Albion, pointe aux Sables, Baie du Tombeau and others. The northern coastline has many delightful beaches - Pointe aux Piments, famous for its underwater scenery, Trou aux Biches, Mont Choisy, one the most popular: Grand Baie, the main center for yachting, fishing, water skiing and Pereybere - probably one of the best bathing beaches.

Mauritius is a coral reef encircle, it's coastline glistens with beaches of powdery white sands, lapped gently by translucent water lagoons. It is this sandy margin, more than anything, that draws the tourists. Tourism is now the island's third biggest industry, after sugar and textiles. In Mauritius the best beaches have hotels close to them but these are not exclusive tourist enclaves and most have public access. There are also public beaches and it is still possible, away from the hotels and coastal roads, to find secluded stretches of sand.