Nachdem unsere Tauchgänge auf Sansibar so enttäuschend gewesen waren, hatte ich an Mauritius vorab keine großen Erwartungen gestellt. Doch nun, im Nachhinein, kann ich resümierend sagen: Meine acht Tauchgänge auf der Île Maurice waren wesentlich besser als die in Tansania. Aber seht selbst....

My visited dive sites in Mauritius

The Wall (Coin de Mire/ Gunner's Coin)

The dive spot The Wall was my very first in Mauritius. Here the dive guides did a test dive with us, during which we divers had to complete various exercises. It was looked at who is suitable for the further dives. Luckily I passed the check myself, which unfortunately did not apply to all divers.

The Wall was, as the name suggests, a sloping wall covered with fan corals. Here I saw many colorful fish.

Diver levels: Beginner to Advanced
Depth: 5-42 meters

Confetti Bay (Coin de Mire/ Gunner's Coin)

Confetti Bay is an ideal place for all macro fans. Lots of small colorful fish swim around here, which actually look like a colorful heap of confetti when they interact. This dive site has a slight gradient of up to XNUMX meters, although beginners can also dive here at shallower areas from XNUMX to XNUMX meters. In addition to the numerous colorful fish and corals, I also saw a moray eel here.

Diver level: Beginner to Advanced
Depth: 5-28 meters Depth:5-28 meters

Aquarium (Grand Baie)

The Aquarium Grand Baie is the ideal place for underwater photographers and macro lovers. Night dives are also possible here. At the Aquarium Grand Baie, I spotted small crabs, leaffish, a group of blue-striped snappers and lionfish. But I also saw clownfish, stonefish, boxfish, corals and emperor angelfish. Here it proved to be particularly helpful to have an experienced dive guide with us who could show us everything that we would probably not have seen with the naked eye swimming by.

Diver level: Beginner
Depth: 8-14 meters

Merville Patches (Grand Baie)

At the Merville Patches dive site, five rock formations (=patches) line up where the young animals are protected. The soil is also very sandy. Lots of moray eels, lionfish, schooling bannerfish and titan triggerfish can be seen here. But with a bit of luck you can also spot emperor angelfish, boxfish, small crabs and large mussels.

Diver level: Beginner
Depth: 10-13 meters

Shipwreck Djabeda (Coin de Mire/ Gunner's Coin)

Now we come to my absolute diving highlight on Mauritius, the shipwreck Djabeda. Until this day, I was rather less interested in wreck diving, but sometimes you just have to be forced to your luck. The ship was not visible at first and then suddenly lay in front of you, which made the dive something quite spectacular.

The Japanese fishing boat Djabeda was once sunk off Coin de Mire Island to create an artificial reef. Since it is at a depth of XNUMX meters, only experienced divers or divers with deep dive training are allowed to dive there (deep dive). The ship, which is XNUMX meters long, XNUMX meters high and XNUMX meters wide, was very easy to dive through because it was upright and had not tipped over. In addition, it was in good condition. It was home to numerous soft corals, schools of fish, kingfish, moray eels, triggerfish, stonefish, lionfish, as well as rockfish, leaffish and nudibranchs.

Diver level: Deep Diver/ Advanced
Depth: 22-35 meters

Boulder Reef (Coin de Mire/ Gunner's Coin)

This dive site, made up of nothing but spectacular rock formations, is home to an abundance of marine life: octopus, parrotfish, grouper, wrasse, sweetlips, angelfish, sergeant majors, trumpet and clown fish, moray eels, crayfish, as well as numerous corals, sponges and sea anemones. Here I also came across a coral breeding station.

Diver level: Beginner
Depth: 18 meters

Turtle Point (Grand Baie)

Before Corona, about XNUMX sea turtles lived in Turtle Bay, as my dive guide told me. Unfortunately, for inexplicable reasons, the number has dropped to two during the pandemic, although I was fortunate to see both of them. I have never seen such large, imposing sea turtles as here - those in the Maldives and Indonesia were all much smaller. I also saw lionfish and corals at Turtle Point.

Diver level: Beginner to Advanced (Deep Diver)
Depth: 15-30 meters

Aquarium Péreybère (from Grand Baie)

The Péreybère Aquarium is a real Eldorado for lionfish: up to XNUMX specimens can be found here in a single spot. Nowhere else have I seen so many of these in one place. A bicycle, moray eel, blue-striped snapper and schooling bannerfish can also be found here.

Diver level: Beginner
Depth: 12-13 meters

Other interesting dive sites in Mauritius

• Flat Island: Chance of shark sightings (Since we weren't enough divers in the off-season, we unfortunately didn't go out to Flat Island because the journey would have taken too long and would have been too expensive.)
• Round Island: chance of shark sightings too
• Stella Maru: another popular shipwreck
• Silver Star: also a shipwreck
• Whale Rock
• Holt's Rock
• Shark Cathedral (Round Island)
• Batfish Wall (Snake Island)
• La Fosse/ Snake Canyon (Snake Island)
• Carpenter (Coin de Mire)
• Blue Bay Marine Park: good for beginners

Snorkeling in Mauritius

Even if you don't have a diving license, you can discover the wonderful underwater world of Mauritius by snorkeling.

Our dolphin tour on the west coast (Black River, Tamarin, Flic en Flac)

On the west coast of Mauritius it is also possible to swim with wild dolphins in the open sea, which is not so easy. We have linked our honest experience report at the end of this page.

Le Morne (house reef of Paradis Beachcomber Golf Resort & Spa)

We also went snorkeling at the house reef of our hotel, the Paradis Beachcomber Golf Resort & Spa on Le Morne Beach. Here we encountered many corals that were better preserved than we expected. In addition, we saw many colorful fish, in parts we even felt like we were in an aquarium. Unfortunately, we did not see any turtles or larger animals.

More snorkeling opportunities in Mauritius

• Blue Bay Marine Park
• Trou aux Biches (Snorkeling is said to be good here, but we found snorkeling between the many moving boats too dangerous and decided against it.)
• Mahebourg Bay 
• Pointe aux Piments
• Flic en Flac
• Ile aux Cerfs
• Flat Island and Gabriel Island

The best travel time for diving in Mauritius

The best time for diving is the Mauritian summer between November and April/May. During this time the water is warmer (XNUMX°C to XNUMX°C) and the sea is calmer. You only dive with a rashguard and swimming trunks. Also the visibility under water is best in these months. However, at this time it is oppressively hot on Mauritius up to XNUMX°C and it rains a lot, which brings an unpleasant high humidity. In addition, the cyclone danger is significantly higher in January and February, which, according to our taxi driver, can sometimes mean that hotel guests are not allowed to leave their hotel room for up to five days at a time. In short: The months of November, December, March and April/early May are best for diving in Mauritius.

In the Mauritian winter from June to October, on the other hand, the water temperatures are only between XNUMX°C and XNUMX°C. Since I found the sea relatively cool in June, I myself wore a three-piece combination of my rash guard with swimming trunks, a XNUMX mm shorty and a XNUMX mm wetsuit. When my dive guide noticed that I was freezing, he suggested that I wear several suits one on top of the other like the layering principle. Even he wore several layers on top of each other.

Locals with whom we got into conversation always indicated the months from September to December as the best time to travel to Mauritius.

Source for the water temperatures

My experience with the dive center "Sunset Diving" in Grand Baie

The communication with my dive center "Sunset Diving" in Grand Baie was already great from Germany. Lindsay always answered my emails very quickly. Since we traveled to Mauritius in the middle of the low season, in June, I also did not have to book dives in advance, but should simply come by the dive center in Grand Baie.

On my first visit to the dive center (= check-in), the price structure was explained to me and the equipment was shown. I also had to prove my diving experience and fill out a form. The whole process seemed very routine and professional to me. The Sunset Diving staff were also all very friendly, so I drove back to the hotel with a good feeling.

A check dive was then arranged for the following day, since my last dive was more than half a year ago. Among other things, I had to put on and take off the mask and take out the regulator and find it again. This test took place at the dive spot "The Wall". After that we continued diving.

My journey from our Hotel Trou aux Biches to Grand Baie, XNUMX km away, was very uncomplicated. Because the dive center doesn't have its own shuttle, I took the public bus that left right in front of our hotel. I paid the equivalent of XNUMX-XNUMX cents (XNUMX rupees) for a bus ride, while the taxi would have cost me €XNUMX for a round trip per day. So I saved a lot of money and even had entertainment during the XNUMX-XNUMX minute drive.

The scuba equipment at Sunset Diving was really excellent. All Scubapro utensils were well maintained and some were even completely new. Since the engine of the boat was broken on our second day of diving, we drove out to the dive sites very luxuriously with the catamaran of the diving center on this day and on the third day. Normally this is used for other excursions. But on my fourth day of diving the boat worked again.

The journey to the dive sites in Grand Baie took about XNUMX-XNUMX minutes by boat. We even drove to Coin de Mire (Gunner's Coin) for XNUMX minutes. Due to the slower catamaran on my second and third day of diving, we were on the road a bit longer.

At our travel time in June there was not much going on in the dive centers, because we were in the middle of the low season. This meant that there were just XNUMX-XNUMX people per dive master, with only four divers on the check dive. Of the guides with whom I was on the road, all without exception were super nice. I would like to emphasize particularly positively Lindsay. Also the professionalism on the boat or catamaran and under water proved to be very good. Before each dive there was a detailed briefing.

For eight dives over four days I paid the equivalent of XNUMX€ including the equipment. Although Nitrox was available at the dive center, we all did not dive with it.

My conclusion: Sunset Diving in Grand Baie is highly recommended. The dive masters were always on time, friendly and very professional. From me there is a XNUMX% recommendation.

Excursus: The oil spill off Mauritius in 2020 and the state of the reefs in 2022

August XNUMX: In August XNUMX, a large Japanese freighter named "Wakashio" ran aground on the southeast coast of Mauritius, spilling a very large quantity of oil and causing a momentous environmental disaster. Coral reefs, the diverse underwater world, lagoons and bays were threatened with permanent pollution, which even forced the Mauritian government to declare a state of environmental emergency. As a result, numerous Mauritians had their hair cut off to counter the impending ecological and economic damage. These donated hairs were then used to create a large barrier to soak up the spilled oil. This is because hair is known among researchers as an adsorbent for crude oil, which means it is often used in similar spills. And dive centers also stepped up to help save the reefs, according to Sunset Diving's Facebook page.

June XNUMX: Due to the previous oil spill off Mauritius in XNUMX, we did not know whether the consequences would still be visible in summer XNUMX. What will the water quality be like on our vacation? In what state will we find the reefs and marine life? – To our delight, where we were diving and snorkeling (in the north and south-west of the island) there was no longer any sign of all the oil. The underwater world was intact and the coral was surprisingly well preserved. However, we cannot assess the condition of the water and the reefs at the accident site in the south-east of Mauritius in the summer of XNUMX.

Conclusion: Is diving and snorkeling in Mauritius worth it?

In my opinion, diving in Mauritius is definitely worth it, even if it is far from being comparable to the Maldives. It could be especially interesting in the north on Flat Island and Round Island, where the chances of shark sightings are higher. Since we were in the middle of the low season in June and there were very few divers on the whole island, we unfortunately did not go to these diving hotspots. These are too far away from the main island and just getting there would not have been financially worthwhile for the dive center with three to six divers.

Overall I found the diving in Mauritius to be better than expected. I was really positively surprised, especially after the flop on Zanzibar and after the oil spill off Mauritius.

My top 3 dive spots were:

1. Shipwreck Djabeda (Coin de Mire):because it was my very first shipwreck | because it was very well preserved and you could dive through | because it was a deep dive

2. Turtle Point (Grand Baie):because I have never seen such huge sea turtles diving before, they were much bigger than in the Maldives and in Indonesia

XNUMX. All the others were all equally great, even if you couldn't find any big fish. The many small colorful sea creatures and corals were still very impressive.

After eight dives with Sunset Diving, I found it difficult to say goodbye to Lindsay and the entire team, as I had a wonderful time with them.

Many, many thanks to Lindsay, Oscar and Romano from Sunset Diving.

Find out more about Trou aux Biches Beachcomber Golf Resort & Spa on Expedia.*

Find out more about Paradis Beachcomber Golf Resort & Spa on Expedia.*

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Links and sources:

personal experiences on site during the Whitsun holidays 2022

Dive school Sunset Diving in Grand Baie

Note on our own behalf: This article was created voluntarily and there is no cooperation with Sunset Diving or Vitamin Sea. I.e. we paid XNUMX% for all dives ourselves. We were almost fully reimbursed (except for the fees) for the private dolphin tour by Vitamin Sea following a complaint about the totally unacceptable behavior of our boat crew.

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