Grand Baie Transportation

Mauritius’ Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport is located in the south east of the island, close to the village of Plaisance and the town of Mahebourg.

If you are staying in one of the northern beach resorts (for example, Grand Baie, Pereybere, Mont Choisy and Trou aux Biches), then you will face a journey of close to one hour by taxi from the airport to your accommodation.

I knew prior to my visit that getting from the airport to Grand Baie by public transport would be extremely difficult and time consuming. It is just about possible, but it involves a slow bus ride from the south east to the capital, Port Louis, and then the need to transfer from Victoria Square bus station to Immigration Square bus station, before a final 30 minute bus ride to Grand Baie by express bus. So, if your trip doesn’t include an airport pick-up, then getting a taxi is the only feasible option.

I asked a young lady at the airport’s tourist information desk and she confirmed that getting to Grand Baie by bus was not a realistic option. She also suggested that a taxi for the 65km journey should cost me around 1,600 Rupees (approx. 30 GBP).

I made my way out of the airport and there were plenty of taxis waiting for arriving passengers. A driver put my bag into the boot of his car and I jumped into the front seat of his modern taxi.

The journey from the airport to the north involves taking the country’s only motorway (the M2) right through the centre of the country to Port Louis. The route passes through lots of nice scenery in the island’s sugar cane covered interior, passing by the mountain village of Curepipe, before arriving at Port Louis. My driver pointed out the interesting sights along the way and told me about his country.

I thought that the driver was driving rather erratically. At times we seemed to be crawling along at a snail’s pace despite being in a 90 km/h zone with very little traffic on the road. And then, at busier points, the driver would speed up and overtake other vehicles. He also seemed to meander between lanes quite often.

At Port Louis, my driver asked if it would be ok for him to go for a coffee and a snack, as he had been awake since 4am and had nothing to eat or drink. He invited me along, but I was too tired after a long flight, so opted instead to sit in the taxi while he popped off to a café for 5 minutes. Suitably refreshed, he returned and proceeded to drive in the wrong direction towards Tombeau Baie, having seemingly got confused about the location of my accommodation in Grand Baie. I pointed out the address to him and he made a detour back onto the motorway, passing through Pamplemousses and eventually arriving at Grand Baie, more than an hour after leaving the airport.

The driver dropped me off outside my apartment and asked for 2,600 Rupees (approx. 50 GBP). I thought I had misheard, and handed over the 1,600 Rupees that I had been told to expect to pay. After a bit of haggling, we settled on a fee of 2,000 Rupees.

At the end of my stay, the owners of my accommodation booked me a taxi back to the airport, at a cost of just 1,280 Rupees (approx. 25 GBP).

If your holiday in Mauritius does not include transfers to your accommodation in the price, it is probably a good idea to contact your accommodation and ask them to arrange for a taxi to pick you up at the airport. If you sort out your own taxi upon arrival, you will likely face a taxi bill of 2,000+ Rupees to get to the northern coast.