Where to Stay in Port Louis and the North-West: Best Areas

When planning where to sleep for a Port Louis trip, you can either stay right on the marina inside the historic capital for zero-commute sightseeing, or base yourself fifteen minutes north on the sheltered beaches of Baie aux Tortues and Balaclava so you can combine morning city walks with afternoon lagoon swims.

Le Caudan Waterfront and the Harbour Quarter (best for walkable city sightseeing)

Staying on the peninsula of Le Caudan Waterfront is the smartest choice if you want to explore Port Louis without touching a car. Flagship waterfront hotels (such as the five-star Labourdonnais Waterfront Hotel and sister marina properties) look straight out over yachts and harbour tugs, put the Blue Penny Museum and boardwalk restaurants outside your lobby door, and leave you a five-to-ten-minute flat walk from UNESCO-listed Aapravasi Ghat, Place d'Armes, Central Market and the Victoria Metro Express station. The marina enclave remains well lit, calm and secure after the commercial streets of downtown close at dusk.

Balaclava, Baie aux Tortues and Pointe aux Piments (beach resorts 15 minutes north)

Follow the M2 highway just twelve kilometres north of Port Louis Harbour and the industrial docks give way to the coral-fringed bays of Baie aux Tortues (Turtle Bay), Balaclava and Pointe aux Piments. Because this stretch of the north-west coast shares the same leeward mountain shelter as Port Louis, it enjoys warm, calm water and blazing west-facing sunsets even in the July-to-August winter. Upscale beach resorts and boutique hotels sit beside the Balaclava Marine Park and the 18th-century French arsenal ruins, placing both central Port Louis and Pamplemousses Botanical Garden within a fifteen-minute taxi ride.

Moka and Ebène (cool highland air at the foot of Le Pouce)

Directly behind the Moka Range along the M1 motorway and Metro Express corridor, the green plateau district of Moka sits at 400 metres above sea level. Serviced apartments and business hotels here enjoy crisp mountain air, views straight up to the thumb spire of Le Pouce, and immediate access to the Moka trailheads and the historical Eureka colonial house.

Trou aux Biches and Mont Choisy (powder-sand northern lagoons)

Twenty-five to thirty minutes north of Port Louis, the long casuarina-shaded beaches of Trou aux Biches and Mont Choisy offer self-catering villas and guesthouses that work well for a three-day Port Louis and northern Mauritius itinerary.