Mauritius is a small island in the Indian Ocean. Due to its small size, it is overlooked or goes unnoticed by many, except those who know how to pick a good holiday destination.

Tropical

The main selling point of holidays in Mauritius is its climate. Due to its location close to the Tropic of Capricorn, the island enjoys a tropical climate all year round, with cool winters with temperatures in the high teens and hot, humid summers. Winter is from April to September and summer in the remaining months. There are only 2 main seasons.

Summer is the best time to travel to the country for holidays but the occasional visits by cyclones might put a brake to your activities as the country shuts down and people stay indoors for protection. Sometimes, damage can be wide-ranging so even though the passage of a cyclone over the island might take a couple of days, day-to-day activities don’t return to normal for weeks. This only happens very rarely though.

In winter, the island is affected by anticyclones which only weakly influence the weather with continuous light rain and cold winds from time to time. Otherwise, on the coast you might hardly notice these effects and still enjoy the sun and its warmth during a spot of sunbathing. Some people might also prefer the fresher temperatures of winter, especially if they are going to pursue an active holiday rather than lie down on the beach most of the time.

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Beaches

This leads us to another selling point of Mauritius – its beaches. The island is nearly continuously surrounded by coral reefs. These coral reefs serve to break down powerful waves from the high sea and keep the lagoons within calm. The presence of these reefs has protected the sandy beaches which would otherwise have been washed away many years ago.  Today, any serious holidaymaker on the island is bound to visit a few beaches and spend some time bathing in the sea or lying down in the sun. Children will no doubt play for hours on end in the sand.

Beware the effect of the sun though. Too many tourists get entranced by the vision of blue lagoon and sparkling sand at the beginning and spend as much time as they can there, only to end up suffering from headaches and sun burnt. If you have just arrived on the coast, stay away from the beach from noon till 2 pm when the sun is at its highest and strongest. Wear a hat and cover up with sun lotion and clothes. Don’t be tempted to dress down just because it’s hot as your body needs time to take in the intense sun rays.

You might also not be used to the heat and humidity. The high humidity means that the sweat that forms on your skin because of the high temperature cannot evaporate quickly, thus preventing your body from cooling down. So take some time here to adjust to your new surroundings and as usual, drink plenty of water.

You should now know more than you started about Mauritius holidays and what makes it appealing.

This article is brought to you by Mauritius Holidays Tips.