Where to picnic in Mauritius

The island's only working lighthouse stands above a coast of basalt cliffs battered by the waves. You picnic on the grass up top, facing the open ocean with the spray rising. Nothing like a lagoon beach: it's raw, windy and spectacular at sunset.

• 🅿️ Parking
• 🌅 Viewpoint

The most accessible viewpoint in Black River Gorges National Park: a few metres from the car park and the whole southern plain opens up to the ocean, with the waterfall below. Tables are set out under the trees, shaded and cool — you're above 600 m here.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🪑 Tables
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🌅 Viewpoint
• ♿ Easy access

A sheltered bay edged with basalt rock and old casuarinas, between Balaclava and Pointe aux Piments. Far quieter than the big public beaches up north: people come to read, picnic as a couple and watch the boats come in. The water is calm almost every day, the bay being naturally protected.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🏊 Swimming
• 🌅 Viewpoint

Kilometres of white sand and a turquoise lagoon, with an unbroken band of casuarinas giving shade at any hour. The public beach is vast: even on Sunday you'll always find your own corner after a five-minute walk. Watch out for the easterly wind, which really picks up on winter afternoons.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🪑 Tables
• 🔥 Barbecue
• 🚻 Toilets
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🏊 Swimming
• ♿ Easy access

The island's clearest lagoon, a protected marine park, with corals visible a few strokes from shore. The public beach is well equipped and heavily shaded, making it one of the south-east's best family spots. Mask and snorkel here are essential, not optional.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🪑 Tables
• 🚻 Toilets
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🏊 Swimming
• ♿ Easy access

A genuine forest national park, permanently shaded, with waymarked trails and laid-out areas near the entrance. You picnic in the cool between two walking loops, far from salt and sand. It's also one of the island's best places to hear endemic birds early in the morning.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🪑 Tables
• 🅿️ Parking
• ♿ Easy access

The island's northernmost point, with the famous red-roofed church and the northern islands lined up on the horizon. It isn't a big swimming beach but a grassy, breezy seafront — perfect for a bite with a view and for watching the fishing boats come home at the end of the day.

• 🅿️ Parking
• 🌅 Viewpoint
• ♿ Easy access

The west's biggest public beach: a casuarina belt running for kilometres, concrete tables, and a lagoon that stays calm even when the easterly is blowing on the other coast. It's the universal Mauritian plan B: when the east is windy, everyone shifts here. Sunset straight ahead, guaranteed.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🪑 Tables
• 🔥 Barbecue
• 🚻 Toilets
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🏊 Swimming
• ♿ Easy access

One of the rare places in Mauritius where the coral reef breaks off: the ocean hits the cliff head-on, and you can hear it. A big lawn on the clifftop, trees for shade and a path to La Roche qui Pleure. Swimming is forbidden and genuinely dangerous — you come for the spectacle and the wind.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🪑 Tables
• 🚻 Toilets
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🌅 Viewpoint
• ♿ Easy access

A complete change of scenery: here you swap the lagoon for the cool green interior. The ridge road looks down over the lake and the northern plain all the way to the sea, with shaded areas under the trees along the reservoir. It runs several degrees cooler than the coast — the smart move on very hot days.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🌅 Viewpoint

A family public beach at the foot of the Martello Tower, with Le Morne mountain as a backdrop and a very calm lagoon. Less spectacular than Flic en Flac but far quieter, with casuarinas, tables and a real neighbourhood feel at weekends.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🪑 Tables
• 🚻 Toilets
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🏊 Swimming
• 🌅 Viewpoint
• ♿ Easy access

The public beach at the foot of Le Morne Brabant, a World Heritage site: white sand, turquoise lagoon and the mountain dominating everything. It's windy — hence the kitesurfers offshore — but the casuarinas shelter you well. Quite simply one of the island's finest picnic settings.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🪑 Tables
• 🚻 Toilets
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🏊 Swimming
• 🌅 Viewpoint

The longest public beach in the north, backed by a genuine casuarina forest that holds the shade all day. This is THE Mauritian Sunday classic: concrete tables, whole families, pots simmering and football games on the sand. The lagoon stays shallow for dozens of metres, perfect with little ones.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🪑 Tables
• 🔥 Barbecue
• 🚻 Toilets
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🏊 Swimming
• ♿ Easy access

Next door to Belle Mare but noticeably quieter, Palmar's public beach offers the same white sand and shallow lagoon with fewer people on weekdays. The casuarinas come almost down to the water, so you can settle in the shade and still keep the kids in sight in the lagoon.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🪑 Tables
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🏊 Swimming
• ♿ Easy access

A short but hugely popular cove, with natural shade along the edge and every shop a step away: snacks, ice creams, dholl puri. It's the practical pick when you don't want to prepare anything — buy on the spot and settle in. The water is shallow and very clear, but it gets busy at weekends.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🚻 Toilets
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🏊 Swimming

A long stretch of fine sand extending Blue Bay, less busy than its neighbour and every bit as beautiful. The lagoon is shallow and very calm, sheltered by Île aux Aigrettes opposite. Casuarinas provide shade back from the sand — one of the south-east's best spots for a full day with children.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🏊 Swimming
• ♿ Easy access

A jagged, windy coast, far less visited than Belle Mare, with sandy coves between rocky points. You come here for the quiet and the morning light, not for easy swimming: the lagoon is narrow and you can feel the current in places. Ideal for a picnic for two facing the open sea.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🌅 Viewpoint

A long public beach in the south, lined with casuarinas, where you'll mostly meet local families. The lagoon turns calm again after the raw coast at Souillac, and the place stays quiet on weekdays. A good compromise: southern peace with a real swimming beach.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🪑 Tables
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🏊 Swimming

The name says it all: flows of black basalt dropping into a clear lagoon, broken up by small sandy beaches. It's a very quiet holiday-home area during the week, with casuarinas for shade and lava caves to explore along the shore. Perfect for a calm day away from the crowds.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🏊 Swimming
• 🌅 Viewpoint

A southern beach that has stayed off to one side, with casuarinas, few facilities and often nobody at all on weekdays. The lagoon is narrow and the sea livelier than up north: come to lay down a mat in peace rather than for a long swim. The access road cuts through cane fields — the drive is part of it.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🏊 Swimming
• 🌅 Viewpoint

A wide open bay where the river meets the sea, known for its wave and for dolphins at first light. The sand is more golden than elsewhere and the beach shelves gently. This is not a sheltered lagoon: the swell comes right in, which makes it a spot to watch as much as to swim.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🏊 Swimming
• 🌅 Viewpoint

A long strip of white sand facing a transparent lagoon, sheltered by casuarina trees. Settle in early for breakfast, swim, head off when the sun gets fierce. Sunset here is one of the island's most reliable — the coast faces due west.

• 🌳 Shade
• 🪑 Tables
• 🚻 Toilets
• 🅿️ Parking
• 🏊 Swimming
• ♿ Easy access