Ile aux Cerfs

Ile aux Cerfs sits inside the eastern lagoon, a low sandy island that supplies the postcard most people picture when they picture Mauritius: powder sand curving into water that shifts through five shades of turquoise and stays waist-deep an improbable distance out. Boats run continuously from the mainland village of Trou d'Eau Douce, ten minutes across the lagoon, and the island offers the full menu - parasailing, kitesurfing, glass-bottom trips, a famous golf course - alongside stretches of shore where you can simply wade, float and do nothing at all. Catamaran day trips usually fold in a stop at the nearby Grande Riviere Sud-Est waterfall.

What you actually see

• The lagoon shallows - wadeable turquoise water and sandbanks.
• The quieter northern shore - a walk away from the arrival jetty crowds.
• Grande Riviere Sud-Est waterfall - the usual catamaran-trip companion stop.
• Watersports - parasailing, kayaks and glass-bottom boats from the beach.

When to go

The dry season from May to December brings the calmest lagoon and most reliable sun; January to March is cyclone-watch season with hotter, wetter weather. Boats start early - arriving on one of the first crossings buys a couple of hours before the main fleet lands.

Honest expectations

It is popular and it shows: the arrival area gets packed by late morning with day-trippers, jet-ski noise and hard-selling activity touts. The remedy is simple and effective - walk fifteen minutes along the shore and the crowd thins to almost nothing. Prices on the island run well above mainland rates. Independent boats from Trou d'Eau Douce cost far less than packaged catamaran tours if you only want the crossing.

Nearby

Trou d'Eau Douce village, the east coast beaches and the Grande Riviere Sud-Est waterfall.