Where to stay in Grand Baie and the north of Mauritius

Grand Baie itself has several faces. The centre, along the coast road, is for walking to dinner and hearing the village at night. The north end, around La Cuvette and towards Pereybere, is calmer and closer to a swimming beach. Pointe aux Canonniers, the headland between Grand Baie and Mont Choisy, has hotels and villas on quiet lanes, with sunsets over the water. Behind the coast road, the residential streets are cheaper but further from the sea. If you want Grand Baie without its noise, stay five minutes away and drive in for the evening: that is what Mont Choisy and Pointe aux Canonniers are for.

Grand Baie is where the north meets: the bay with its boats, the main road with restaurants and bars, two shopping centres, two supermarkets, banks, pharmacies, the catamaran departures and the only real nightlife on the island. Staying in the centre means walking everywhere and hearing the village at night. The bay itself is more harbour than beach; the swimming beaches are La Cuvette, a small cove at the north end, and Pereybere just beyond. Good for a first trip, for those without a car, and for anyone who likes to step out of the door into life.

Five kilometres south of Grand Baie, Trou aux Biches has the lagoon of the postcards: calm, shallow, turquoise, with the beach facing west for the sunset. The village is a coast road lined with restaurants, dive centres and a few shops, quieter than Grand Baie but not sleepy. Families with small children choose it for the water; divers for the centres and the reef; everyone for the end of the afternoon on the sand. Hotels and villas sit along the beach road.

Two kilometres north of Grand Baie, Pereybere is a small bay with deep water close to the shore, good snorkelling along the rocks and a cluster of restaurants around the beach. It fills on weekends with Mauritian families and stays lively in the evening. Apartments and smaller villas dominate; it suits couples and groups who want the beach steps away and Grand Baie a short drive behind them.

Between Trou aux Biches and Grand Baie, Mont Choisy is one of the longest beaches on the island, more than two kilometres of sand under the filao trees, and behind it the Mont Choisy Le Golf estate: an 18-hole course, a gated residential domain, security at the gate and no through traffic. Staying here means a villa rather than a hotel, space rather than village, and everything else within seven minutes: Grand Baie for dinner, Trou aux Biches for the lagoon, the beach for the morning walk. It suits groups and families who want a house of their own, and golfers who want the first tee at the door.

Further north, Cap Malheureux has the red-roofed church and the view of Coin de Mire, and Grand Gaube a quieter bay with a couple of hotels and local restaurants. Both are fifteen to twenty minutes from Grand Baie, more remote, and better for a second or third visit when you know the island.

With a car, the differences shrink: everything in the north is ten minutes apart. Without one, choose Grand Baie or Trou aux Biches and walk. For a family of six to eight or two couples, the maths favour a villa over four hotel rooms, and the north's villa estates are at Mont Choisy and around Pereybere. For a hotel on the sand with everything included, Trou aux Biches and Mont Choisy have the resorts. Whatever you choose, the beaches, the catamarans, the restaurants and the golf are the same ten kilometres of coast.