Southern Mauritius is another island altogether: wave-battered cliffs, mountain forests, tea plantations wrapped in mist and sacred places. It makes for the most spectacular day of any stay, and also the most demanding: allow 130 to 160 km depending on your starting point, hairpin roads and weather that changes fast on the heights. A car is essential, since no public transport links these sites properly, and this is exactly the kind of day where renting one pays for itself.
Here is the itinerary from west to east, doable from the west coast (Flic-en-Flac, Tamarin) or from the north (add about 45 minutes of driving each way). Recommended departure: 8 am at the latest, with a full tank.
9 am, the climb to Chamarel: hairpins and panoramas
From the A3 coastal road, the Chamarel road attacks the mountain after Grande Rivière Noire and Case Noyale: a succession of hairpin bends under the canopy, with spectacular openings over the lagoon and Benitiers Island. Drive smoothly, give a light tap of the horn in blind hairpins as the locals do, and let faster drivers pass: the laid-out viewpoints let you stop without blocking anyone.
Fill up before climbing (petrol stations at Grande Rivière Noire and along the coast, much rarer on the heights): engines drink more in the mountains, and driving the hairpins on a low gauge is fun for no one. Chamarel village, perched at around 300 metres, has a handful of well-regarded tables for a Creole lunch: spot yours on the way through, you may well come back for it.
9.45 am, Seven Coloured Earth and Chamarel waterfall
The Chamarel geopark (entry around Rs 500 per non-resident adult, subject to change) covers two sites: the viewpoint over Chamarel waterfall, one of the island's highest with a drop of roughly 100 metres, then the famous dunes of coloured earth, undulating ochres, browns and purples born from decomposed volcanic rock. The colours are sharpest in late morning when the sun is high, and they gain extra contrast after recent rain.
Allow a good hour on site, with easy parking at each stop. The giant tortoise enclosure near the dunes keeps children entertained, and the small on-site café makes a handy break. Arrive before 10.30 am if you can: excursion buses unload their groups mid-morning.
11.30 am, Black River Gorges and Plaine Champagne
Leaving Chamarel towards the interior, the road crosses the Black River Gorges National Park over the Plaine Champagne plateau, the highest point of the itinerary at around 700 metres. The gorges viewpoint is a compulsory stop: the panorama plunges down a fully forested valley all the way to the sea, one of the last fragments of primary forest in Mauritius, where white-tailed tropicbirds sometimes wheel below you.
The weather turns quickly up here: going from bright coastal sunshine to mist and drizzle in a ten-minute climb is common. Pack a light jumper, switch your lights on in the mist and adjust your speed, as the wet road surface under the trees can be slippery. If the sky is closed in, do not give up: clear spells come and go, and the nearby Alexandra Falls viewpoint offers a second chance five minutes away.
12.30 pm, Grand Bassin: the sacred lake and the giant Shiva statue
A quarter of an hour from Plaine Champagne, Grand Bassin (Ganga Talao) is the most sacred site of Mauritian Hinduism: a crater lake at over 500 metres, ringed by colourful temples, where families come to lay offerings. Entry is free and so is parking; you will simply be asked to remove your shoes at the temple entrances and to dress respectfully (shoulders and knees covered, ideally).
You cannot miss the arrival: the Mangal Mahadev statue of Shiva, around 33 metres tall, watches over the access road, facing a statue of the goddess Durga of comparable size. The atmosphere is peaceful on weekdays, and the only real menace is the thieving monkeys lurking near the offering stalls: keep sunglasses and biscuits out of reach. During the Maha Shivaratri pilgrimage (February or March depending on the year), hundreds of thousands of pilgrims converge here on foot: an extraordinary time to visit, but with very congested roads.
2 pm, the tea route: Bois Chéri and its plantations
Heading back down towards the south, the Bois Chéri tea plantations roll their soft green waves across the hills, regularly brushed by mist. The factory can be visited (a tea museum plus a tasting room with a panoramic view over the south of the island): the tasting alone justifies the stop, vanilla tea first among equals. Allow about an hour, with a paid visit and reduced weekend hours: check before going, as the factory mainly operates on weekdays.
If you did not lunch in Chamarel, the estate restaurant, set beside a pond in the middle of the tea bushes, makes an ideal halt. This is the gentlest stretch of the day: after the Chamarel crowds, the southern heights feel almost empty, threading between cane fields and sleepy villages.
3.30 pm, Gris Gris and the Roche qui Pleure at Souillac
Finish on the coast at Souillac, the south of the south: the Gris Gris cliff is one of the rare places in Mauritius with no protective reef, and the Indian Ocean slams into the black rock with its full swell. The spectacle is gripping, especially in the heavy seas of the austral winter (June to September). Swimming is strictly inadvisable, as the currents are dangerous: stick to the clifftop path and keep well back from the edge.
Five minutes away on foot or by car, the Roche qui Pleure (the weeping rock) owes its name to the spray streaming down its rocky profile, in which Mauritians see a face. Free parking, snack kiosks and an immense view: the perfect reward for the day. For the return, two options: head back west along the coast, or push east via Rivière des Anguilles and Mahébourg, with a possible last swim in the protected lagoon of Blue Bay before the drive home.
This day in the south distils everything that makes Mauritius endearing beyond its beaches: improbable geology, primary forest, religious fervour, tea and cliffs. Leave early, fill the tank, pack a light raincoat and something to cover your shoulders for Grand Bassin, and accept that mist is part of the journey: it is what gives the southern heights their singular atmosphere. You will drive home in the evening with the rare feeling of having seen three islands in one.