Are you looking for information and an honest review of the popular Ile aux Cerfs catamaran tour in Mauritius? If so then you’ve found the right place. Here in this article we will fully describe the standard Ile aux Cerfs Catamaran Tour and give you honest info you won’t find in the tour operators’ websites.
Mauritius is becoming an ever increasing popular tourist destination, especially for Europeans and South Asians. It’s beautiful, tropical, and cheaper than places like the Maldives or the Caribbean (though not nearly as cheap as Thailand or SE Asia)
Here in this article I’ll go over how to book the trip, where the boat tours start, what to bring, and what you’ll see when you’re on the catamaran. Spoiler alert: I didn’t like it. One of very few times I do not enjoy all-day boat tours. Read on to find out why!
Note: this article contains affiliate links, which means that should you purchase something or get a quote through them I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. This helps keep the site running with up to date information. I do not represent Discovercars, World Nomads, Booking.com, or GetYourGuide. This is information only and not a recommendation to buy the product mentioned in this article.
Ile aux Cerfs Catamaran Tour – The Basics
What is Ile aux Cerfs?
Ile aux Cerfs is a small island off the eastern coast of Mauritius in the depth of the shallow lagoon that surrounds the country. The French name comes from its colonial past and it quite literally translates to Deer Island. Settlers populated the island with Javan deer in the 1700s and used to hunt them.
Today there are no deer on the island. Just a private golf club with a fancy resort and some nice beaches, a restaurant, and some shops. The island is privately owned by the golf club but they let tourboats use part of the island. You either need to be booked to stay at the resort, play golf, or be part of a tour to visit the island.
The Ile aux Cerfs catamaran tour is named after the island, but the tour is more than just going to this one island. We will get into that in a bit.
Where do the Ile aux Cerfs Catamaran Tours leave from?
The starting point depends on which tour operator you choose. But they all start from pretty close to the island itself. Mine started from the public boat pier near the Shrangi-La hotel. Many operators also offer hotel pickup if you’re staying at one of the hotels near the pier. I was not, so I had to drive myself and park at the boat pier.
Driving in Mauritius can be a bit different than you might be used to so be sure to read over my guide to driving in Mauritius first.
For rental cars, I usually just go with who is cheapest for my dates unless they have terrible reviews. I recommend supporting the local economy and using a local rental agency in Mauritius.
Click here to find a great rate on a rental car in Mauritius!
If you don’t have your own car you will have to organize a taxi to take you (ask your hotel) or potentially pay extra for pickup (ask your operator). If you’re staying near Port Louis or on the other side of the island, you probably don’t want to do this tour.
How long is the standard Ile aux Cerfs Catamaran Tour?
The standard tour lasts 6-7 hours, not including transportation time to and from the boat dock. Plan on your entire day being taken up, as the typical running time is 9 AM till 4 PM.
What to bring on the Ile aux Cerfs Catamaran Tour
The standard Ile aux Cerfs catamaran tour includes lunch and drinks like water and juice. Depending on your operator, you might also get beer and rum included as well. So you don’t have to bring any food with you if you don’t want to. There is also a restaurant at the last stop in case you’re still hungry after lunch.
Other than food and drink they will provide you with snorkeling gear and a basic toilet on the boat. Everything else you will need to bring.
Some things to be sure to take with you:
- Towels
- Bathing suit
- Sunscreen
- Sunglasses
- Cash
- Hat (if you want to keep your head out of the sun)
Those are really the essentials and anything else you might want to bring would be additional. Your things will stay dry on the boat so no worries about that.
Best time of year to visit Mauritius
Mauritius is about 20 degrees south in latitude, so it’s tropical but can have chilly nights in the winter. Mauritius does experience seasons, with heavy rain falling in the summer (January – March). Summers can also be very hot and humid. It’s the low season in Mauritius due to the rain and humidity.
Winter (June – August) brings minimal rain and sunny skies, but daytime temperatures can struggle to get over 20 degrees C if a cold front comes in. Nights can actually be quite chilly, and you’ll see all the locals bundled up like a blizzard is coming.
The fall and spring seasons of April-May and September – December are the most comfortable time to visit Mauritius, and thus also the most popular. The weather is pleasantly warm, with highs in the mid to high 20s C and limited rain. Mauritius is best visited in these months.
How to Book a Ile aux Cerfs Catamaran Tour
You can either book your catamaran tour ahead of time, before you arrive in Mauritius, or wait till you get there and have your hotel help you book it. The latter is nice if you want to see what the weather is going to be first. But I suggest booking in advance to make sure you get the day that you want.
I booked my tour through GetYourGuide and it was as easy as could be. Numerous tour operators can be booked and after checking out a few I decided to go with Oceane Cruises Mauritius. In reality, they all offer pretty much the same thing, though prices can vary.
I wouldn’t get too held up on the actual tour operator. Choose based on who is offering the best price for the day. You should expect to pay about $80 USD for the tour. If you find one cheaper, that’s great. Anything over $100 I’d question where the money is going.
Here are some preferred options to book:
- Ile aux Cerfs Catamaran Tour with Oceane Cruises Mauritius
- Ile aux Cerfs Catamaran Tour with Mauritius Luxury Tours & Transfer
- Ile aux Cerfs Catamaran Tour with Atlantis Tours Mauritius
If you’re more comfortable booking directly through the operator you can do that too. I recommend the third party site for things like this as they have a nice app where you can see all your tours and you get a simple QR code the operator scans when you get there. Either way, it’s simple to book the tour itself online.
Stops on the Ile aux Cerfs Catamaran Tour
So now that we have discussed the logistics around booking the tour let’s talk about what exactly you are going to see. For a 7-hour tour, the amount of stops is actually pretty limited. You will only actually stop at three places and only get some time off the boat twice. As I will explain later, the catamaran moves very slowly, so most of the time you’re just on the boat going from point to point.
You can see where each of the spots as well as the starting point on the map below.
Grand River South East Waterfall
The first stop on the tour is a small waterfall in the Grand River South East, as it is known. At about 10 km away from the boat pier, it’s the furthest point on the tour and takes the longest to get to. You’ll be on the catamaran a good 1.5-2 hours before you get there. So already you can see just how slow the boat moves.
You’ll pass some nice resorts and sail right by Ile aux Cerfs eastern coast as you approach the inlet of the river. As the catamaran is too large to go up the river, you’ll actually get off the catamaran and onto a smaller boat that they have parked along the river.
As you approach the waterfall on the smaller boat you might see some monkeys jumping around the trees and rocks. You’ll probably also see some idiot tourists trying to feed the monkeys. Don’t feed the monkeys!
The waterfall itself – at least to me – is underwhelming. It’s maybe 10 meters tall and not nearly the most impressive waterfall on the island, let alone something worthy on an international scale. If you ask me, I would have rather had more time doing something else than all the effort it took to get to this little waterfall, but others seemed to enjoy seeing it.
Lagoon Snorkeling and Lunch
After the waterfall you’ll get back on the catamaran and head out into the lagoon to the snorkeling spot. You’ll be given snorkeling gear and told where to go to try to see some fish. There is not much of a reef where they take you, it’s mostly dead, so colored fish tropical fish are few and far between. The water is shallow though, so you don’t need to swim the entire time.
You’ll have about 30 minutes to snorkel. If you don’t want to snorkel you will have to just stay on the boat. Not everyone on my tour wanted to snorkel so they just chilled on the boat. During this time, the staff will start making lunch.
The snorkeling area is not terrible, but if you’ve been snorkeling in other places, like the Maldives, Indonesia, or Hawaii – to name a few – you will be disappointed. There were not many fish, and I didn’t see any turtles or rays. Turtles are known to frequent the area, though, so I guess I just got unlucky.
Lunch is provided and on the surface looks pretty good. They grilled up fresh fish and chicken with a few salads and sides. The looks were deceiving though. The chicken was okay but the fish was terrible. Was it too much to expect some decent fresh fish on a tropical island? It was like biting into a leather wallet. The pasta and potatoes were not great either.
They do provide alcoholic drinks as well. They had some local beer (I advise you to avoid the Thirsty Fox brewery as their beers are awful) and rum punch. At least that was nice on a sunny day.
Of course, I can’t speak for the other tour operators that I didn’t use. Maybe their lunches are better. But I do know that they offer the same grilled fish and chicken barbecue lunch. Either way, keep your expectation for lunch low.
Ile aux Cerfs Island
After lunch you’ll slowly sail to the final stop, Ile aux Cerfs Island itself. Most of the island is a golf course, but there is a designated area for the tours to land at. It’s right at the sandbar that connects it to the next island and you’ll get about an hour on the island.
What do you do in this hour? Well, that’s up to you. There isn’t much to do other than check out the little market (I did get a nice shirt and magnet there) and sit on the beach, with or without a drink. There is a little bar and restaurant you can order from if you’re still hungry/thirsty.
You can’t really walk much as the golf course is right behind you and you’re not allowed on it. You can walk a bit along the beach, you just have to avoid the hordes of other people that are there. This is the only beach that all the catamaran tours stop at so it’s crowded as hell. There are some beach lounge chairs if you’re lucky enough to get one. I was not.
We did get free coffee on the island as part of our tour, but that was it. Once I checked out the markets and used the restroom – there are toilets on the island – I just sat down until it was time to get back on the boat.
Once you’re back on the boat it’s a quick ride back to the boat dock, as you can pretty much see it from the beach. Your Ile aux Cerfs catamaran tour is over. And if you’re like me, you are left wondering what you just spent $80 on. Let’s get into that more here in the next section.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Let’s start with the review I left on GetYourGuide. I was generous and gave it 3 stars since the staff on the boat was great and super friendly. Here is the review I left:
“This catamaran tour was not what I was expecting. In 6 hours we covered maybe 2 miles total, moving at the speed of a snail. I could have walked faster through the water. To start, they were late getting us to the catamaran, so we were about 20 minutes delayed at the beginning. Then it was basically the same view for 6 hours with one stop to see an average waterfall, one stop to snorkel for 30 minutes, and one stop on a busy tourist trap island that was not that nice. I fell asleep multiple times on the boat just relaxing, which was nice. But I didn’t pay $80 to relax. I could have done that at my hotel. Also the lunch was terrible. The staff was great and helpful and friendly though. Overall I would not do this again.”
Now let’s get into more about why I was so disappointed in this tour.
The Good Things
The staff really were great. They were knowledgeable about Mauritius and the local wildlife/sealife. They’d get you anything you needed if they had it. The catamaran itself was also quite nice and looked pretty cool floating on the turquoise water.
That’s about it.
The Bad Things
Oh god, where do we begin? Let’s go step by step
Embarkation – I was there 15 minutes early, as that’s what my ticket told me to, and then proceeded to sit around for 30 minutes wondering if I was at the right place. Multiple people doing golf trips got on boats and headed off as I waited. Luckily there were a few others there waiting on the same tour so I knew at least I wasn’t mistaken. Finally, 15 minutes after we were supposed to leave, someone shows up to tell us that that boat is on the way. 5 minutes later the boat was finally there – a smaller boat that took us to the catamaran that was out further in the ocean. So just to get started we were 20 minutes late.
Boat speed – I literally could have walked through the water faster than the boat went. Based on my estimates I’d say it went about 3 mph (5 kmh). This was the biggest hurdle to actually doing things on this tour. 80% of the time you’re just slowly sailing looking at the exact same view for hours on end. If I wanted to relax I would have just stayed at my hotel. I wanted to see and do things and didn’t fully grasp the limited activities based on the online itinerary. It’s more like a boat “chill” than a boat “tour.”
The waterfall – There are far better waterfalls in Mauritius. I still don’t understand what was so special about this one that the catamaran tours go through all the trouble of changing boats to go to it. I’ve seen more impressive waterfalls in Ohio. I mean, it was fine. But there was nothing special about it. The only cool thing about it was seeing the monkeys on the side of the river.
FUN FACT: macaque monkeys are not native to Mauritius. They were brought over from Southeast Asia by Portuguese colonists and proceeded to run wild and mate like rabbits. They are now all over the forested parts of the island.
The snorkeling – I’ve snorkeled all over the world in tropical places and this was easily the least enjoyable. There were very few fish, probably because the reef was mostly dead. I was expecting a lot more. Maybe my expectations were too high. But I didn’t see any colorful fish in 30 minutes of swimming around. Just some plain-colored fish and no other sea creatures. I think I just got unlucky, as I know there are turtles and starfish in the area. Maybe you’ll get lucky.
The Terrible Things
The lunch – I talked about the lunch above, but worth repeating that it was terrible. I didn’t think barbecue fish could be so bad. I am usually pretty generous when it comes to food and I like most everything. But damn that was bad. The chicken was okay but nothing to rave about. They also gave the worst beer in Mauritius – Thirsty Fox. Mauritius actually has great beer – check out Flying Dodo Brewing Company if you’re in Port Louis at any point – but Thirsty Fox is the one poor beer.
Ile aux Cerfs Island – this island was such a tourist trap. I wish I would have read something like this before I booked this tour. The island is mostly a golf course so there is limited area you can explore. You get an hour on the island and by the end I was just sitting on a bench waiting for them to let us back on the boat. It’s crowded as hell and the beach is nowhere near as nice as beaches on mainland Mauritius. The shops sell some goods at a fair price, but that’s about the only thing positive I can say about the island. The reviews online about how amazing the island is are either lying or they have never seen another tropical island before.
So basically, there are too many poor things about this tour for me to recommend it. I felt I just wasted my day and there were far better things I could have done. I did have only a limited time in the country, though. So if you have 7 days or more, I can see it being a relaxing way to spend a day, so long as you know it’s a slow moving tour where you don’t see much. There are a lot of other things you can do in Mauritius with $80. Let’s look at some of those now.
What do in Mauritius Instead
This post is not dedicated to all the things there are to do in Mauritius. That’s far beyond the scope, but I’ll just give you a few highlights as alternatives to the catamaran tour. I won’t go into detail about them.
Hang out at your resort/hotel
You’re on a tropical island afterall. So if you’re staying somewhere nice it probably has a nice beach and great facilities. What better way to relax than spending the day by the beach or pool sipping tropical drinks? I would have absolutely done this over going on the catamaran tour.
Go to the beach
Mauritius has a ton of spectacular public beaches. So even if you are not staying at a resort on the coast with a nice beach, there are plenty of beaches within a short drive away. If you stay around till the late afternoon / early evening you can even join the locals in their regular seaside barbecue.
Do some hiking
Mauritius is not just a tropical paradise with beautiful beaches. It’s also covered in dense rainforest and mountainous terrain over much of the island. There are many hikes on the island, but the most famous – and most popular – is the Le Morne Brabant trail at the very southwest tip of the island. Le Morne is the mountain you see on half the photos of Mauritius on the internet. It’s the steepest hike I’ve ever done, so while it’s fun, it’s also not for the faint of heart or anything with any sort of disability or injury!
Explore Black River Gorges National Park
Black River Gorges National Park is the largest national park in Mauritius and it covers a large area of mountains and rain forest in the southwest part of the country. There are numerous hikes and points of interest in the park, including much more impressive waterfalls and some pretty epic viewpoints. You can see tons of monkeys there too.
Go on a rum distillery tour
Mauritius is rum central for the eastern hemisphere. Half the island is covered in sugarcane fields and the locals certainly love their rum. There are dozens of distilleries, but only a few are open to visitors. The most popular is La Rhumerie de Chamarel, in the mountains just outside of the national park. They don’t do individual rum tasting, as you have to take a full tour. But you can walk-in and do a tour.
If you’re at the northern part of the island Domaine de Labourdonnais has rum tastings and tours, among other activities. If you don’t make it to a distillery and you want to try some local rum just go to a supermarket. There are endless choices for local rum. Take one home with you too to show off to friends!
Where to stay in on the Eastern Coast of Mauritius
To do the Ile aux Cerfs catamaran tour you’ll really want to stay on the eastern side of the island, near the boat dock. So I’ve only recommended places within a 45 minute drive of the boat dock here. Also please note that the price range I give is subject to the season. Prices might be a bit more in the high season Oct – Dec.
Please also note that many resorts in Mauritius are adults only, so please check if children are allowed if you are traveling with a family wherever you stay.
Where to stay on the east coast of Mauritius:
Budget (less than $125 USD per night, mostly not on the beach):
Mid-range ($125 – 250 USD):
Luxury (more than $250 USD per night):
Travel Insurance
When visiting Mauritius you’ll want to have a quality travel insurance policy. We use World Nomads when we travel and can recommend them. You can find a great policy on World Nomads by using the link below.
Ile aux Cerfs Catamaran Tour – Final Word
In the end, the Ile aux Cerfs Catamaran tour is simply not worth the money and time commitment on your trip to Mauritius. If you have an extended period of time in the country it can be a cool thing to do. But there are so many better things to do in this beautiful country that I just cannot recommend this tour.
If you have a different opinion and loved it, please leave a comment below. I’d love to discuss!
