Mauritius

Mauritius was our honeymoon destination in September 2025. We saw an Instagram reel of a golf and spa resort and because we had never heard of Mauritius, we decided why not go to a unique location for our honeymoon! Mauritius is literally on the opposite side of the world from where we live so naturally, the travel to and from took quite some time. We flew out of Cincinnati, with connections in Toronto and Dubai. Our first flight to Toronto unfortunately was cancelled which led to us losing a day in Mauritius due to the 24 hour delay to catch the next overseas flight from Toronto to Dubai. So we started our honeymoon in Cincinnati! When you are traveling this far with multiple connections, it is important to build a day into your itinerary for some wiggle room in case of cancellations. Thankfully, we didn't have any excursions planned on the first day but we did lose out on one night's stay in Mauritius. Not including the canceled flight, our total trip time to get there was around 32 hours.

Itinerary:

Day 1: Drive to Cincinnati from Louisville, flight was canceled, so we stayed in Cincinnati the first night.

Day 2: Fly to Toronto, we sat in Toronto most of the day but thankfully had airport lounge access to pass the time and save some money on food. We took the redeye from Toronto to Dubai (about a 14 hour flight). We landed in Dubai around 8 pm and our next flight wasn't till 3 am. If you are able to get a 10 hour+ layover in Dubai, we recommend leaving the airport and checking out the city for a few hours- we really wish we could have done that! Instead we hung out at the airport lounge waiting for our next flight. We highly recommend you get an AMEX or some sort of credit card that allows airport lounge access because you can really save some money on food in the airports on these long layovers!

Day 3: Flight from Dubai to Port Louis, Mauritius (6 hours). We landed at 7 am and decided to push through our fatigue so our body clocks could get adjusted to the 11 hour time difference. So we ended up golfing at Heritage Awali's free golf resort, eating an early dinner and going to bed really early- we were tired!

Day 4: Every day we were here, we started our day with a delicious breakfast at the hotel on the patio with a beautiful view of the ocean. The service, food and views are unmatched at The Heritage Awali Golf and Spa Resort.  This day we drove to Chamarel Falls and walked around the falls. There are signs to stay away from the monkeys, but we didn't see any monkeys while we were there. Seven Colored Earth is also in the same area. The soil is multiple colors due to the minerals from the volcanoes. They had tortoises there as well. We went to Le Chamarel for a drink before heading back to the hotel. This restaurant was on top of the mountain and had some breathtaking views. In the afternoon, we lounged at the beach at our resort and ate some delicious chicken curry wraps. That evening, they had a DJ at the hotel so we enjoyed the music and played some card games.

Day 5: 7 cascades waterfall hike (~5 hours). We booked a guide for this on Get Your Guide for $110 per person which includes transportation to and from your hotel. This experience was even more spectacular than we expected. My husband is not the biggest hiker but he said this hike was so fun because it felt like an adventure the whole time. It is not a difficult or long hike but there are some steep inclines/declines along the way so be sure you are in relatively decent shape and have appropriate hiking shoes. Our group was around 10 people total but there is a lot of foot traffic so you'll see several other groups. There is plenty of time to stop to swim and enjoy the views, plus they provide a light lunch! On the way back from our hike, we asked our driver if we could stop by Grand Bassin to see the Hindu temples. He was so kind to take us there and walk around a bit with us while explaining some of the Hindu religious figures and customs. The Mauritius population, we learned, is 70% Hindu so we felt this was an important experience to get a feel for their culture.

Day 6: Private Catamaran Cruise. This was the day we hired a driver for the day because we wanted to have some adult beverages on the catamaran. We really enjoyed this because it isn't something we had done together before. However, this is obviously a popular activity around the world in tropical places so we would recommend skipping this one due to the price. This was more of a splurge for our honeymoon. However, the captain and his crew were very friendly and made the experience very enjoyable. We saw dolphins and did some snorkeling during our cruise. If you are interested in booking, we used Oceane Cruises Mauritius - very communicative, friendly and accommodating!

Day 7: Golf day at the resort. The green fees are free with the all-inclusive package and the course is immaculate. You can drop your clubs off there, they store them and clean them for you. The clubhouse has delicious food and great views. We spent several afternoons golfing here.

Day 8: Le Tablier Cooking Class in Bel Air with Nafizah. This was another experience that took us by surprise. We assumed it would be a larger class with other couples but Cory and I were the only two in our own cooking class. Her kitchen is an addition attached to her own house. We cook in her house and enjoy our lunch in her garden. Nafizah was funny, friendly and really made the experience enjoyable for us. She made a little video compilation of us cooking and sent it to us for free. You do have to pay cash so make sure you bring enough rupees! We made Indo-Mauritian cuisine.

Day 9: 

Travel Tips: 

Transportation: We did rent a car however, you do not need one. In Mauritius, the driver's seat is the right side of the car and you drive on the left side of the road. The roads are also very narrow and winding throughout the island. If that makes you uncomfortable, we recommend hiring a driver during your stay instead. The hotel can set up a driver even for the day to drive you wherever you want to go. We ended up doing that for one day and only spent about $100 for the driver to hangout and take us wherever we wanted to go (roughly 7 hours of activities). The driver will just wait for you while you do your shopping/beaching/catamaran cruise. We made sure to get some local currency, the Mauritian rupee, to tip him.

Accommodations: The Heritage Awali Golf and Spa Resort Amazing staff, cozy & relaxing atmosphere, 10/10 recommend!

When to visit: Mauritius is in the southern hemisphere, so their seasons are opposite of the United States. We went in September which is considered their shoulder season so it was a bit cheaper. It is recommended to go October-November for a bit warmer weather and before the wet season approaches. Even though we were there in what was considered their spring, the temperature was around 70-78 degrees every day with very little rainfall. Most days were warm enough for the beach but the sea breeze on some of the cooler days made it a little too chilly for lounging at the beach.