The South-West Coast

At the south-western tip of Mauritius the Le Morne peninsula juts into the ocean, crowned by Le Morne Brabant, a basalt monolith 556 m high surrounded by a wide turquoise lagoon. It has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2008 as a cultural landscape.

The mountain carries a human story. In the early nineteenth century escaped slaves, the maroons, hid in its caves and on its cliffs, and the abolition of slavery has been commemorated here every year since 1987. The name comes from the Dutch ship Brabant, wrecked off this coast in 1783.

Offshore, seen from the air, lies the so-called underwater waterfall, an illusion made by sand swept by currents into the deep. In winter the trade wind draws kitesurfers and windsurfers to Le Morne.

Along Le Morne beach stand The St. Regis, Dinarobin and Paradis Beachcomber: a fine base for a morning climb, or a flight over the underwater waterfall, followed by a quiet afternoon by the water.