As you may or may not know, I was lucky enough to go on holiday to Mauritius for 2 weeks in November of last year. I knew when I was there that I was going to want to experience as much as I possibly could, as chances were that I would never go back. So when we were told about the opportunity of a Catamaran Day-Trip, I managed to convince my partner into going. I am glad that I did as we had a lovely day, and it is something I won't forget for a very long time!
What is a Catamaran you may ask? Well to be honest, I didn't actually know what a Catamaran was until I arrived at the beach and my sister in law pointed one out to me. It is basically a ship which consists of 2 hulls connected by a frame. They have been used for hundreds and hundreds of years, and are now very popular for sporting and leisure trips, such as the one I went on.
We managed to arrange this trip on one of our excursions to Grand Baie, one of the tourist areas in Mauritius. Several businessmen have licences to book these trips for tourists, and tend to come up to you on the beach to tell you about the excursions and activities that they offer. Our trip was arranged through the same man who booked our Underwater Walk trip (which I have also reviewed on this site!) so we knew he was reliable.
We were told that we had to book it a few days in advance, so that they could make sure the Catamaran was full to capacity for the trip. I think we booked it on a Wednesday and went on the trip the following Tuesday. We were told that the price for the day trip was going to be 1200 rupees. This is equivalent to about £20 which is quite good value
considering what happened on the trip! He informed us the boat would be leaving at 8.30am from Grand Baie and to be on time!
Now, we were staying on the other side of the island so we had to get up at about 6am and catch the 6.30am bus to Grand Baie. The traffic was quite bad but we managed to make it to the beach by 8.30am. Just after 8.45 we were shown to a small glass-bottomed boat which would take us out to the Catamaran. We were only on the small boat for about 4 minutes. When we got there, we had to climb from one to the other, but we were all helped by 3 men who worked on the Catamaran. It was a bit wet and slippery but we all got on board safely! In total, there were 7 people from our family and about 6 others from another party, so the boat was quite full.
We all had to stow our bags and possessions below deck so that they would be safe while we were sailing, and then we took our seat. We chose to sit at a round circular seat as we had Harry, who was quite poorly with teething at the time, so we wanted to make sure he was quite safe. The other sat at the end of the Catamaran, with mats to lay on and being splashed by the sea. Soon after leaving we were offered a rum punch, coke or water to drink by the boat men. Music was also being played, and with the sun beating down on us, I felt really happy and looking forward to the day.
Then the sickness came. Before having Harry, I prided myself on being the only one on school trips to France who never got sick on the ferry, I often helped the teachers dole out the sick bags! But this time around I felt so ill, it just wasn't funny. I tried just closing my eyes for a while, but the boat men moved me to the end of the boat, where they splashed water on my head and pushed on my pressure points in my wrist, which alleviated the sickness feeling for a while. Eventually, I was a bit sick and spent the rest of the boat curled up on the seats with my head in my partner's lap feeling dire!
The boat ride lasted about an hour over to the island, and I just couldn't wait to get off the damned boat by the end! When we docked, we were the first boat to arrive. We were given our bags and then we had to climb off the boat, onto some large rocks which led to the beach. This was a bit hazardous for my mother-in-law but the boat hands were very helpful. We were all led to an area to put our belongings down so we could all go swimming. Soon another 2 or 3 Catamarans arrived with many more people!
The island itself was beautiful. It had a pure white sandy beach, with a gorgeous turquoise blue sea. The Catamarans made it look so tropical and fantastic. We all went off to swim for a while, the sea was cool but a pleasant relief from the beating sun. We were given unlimited drinks, each Catamaran had a table where the men from their boat were serving drinks and you just asked them for whatever you wanted. They offered the rum punch, coke, sprite, water and even beer! After a couple of hours, they began to cook a barbeque, and about 20 minutes later they started to tell us the food was ready.
It looked so delicious! We were all given a plate and told the men what we wanted. They had chicken drumsticks, sausages, lobster, other fish and salad as well. They were generous, giving everyone at least 2 bits of everything. And when everyone was served, if you finished your food you could go back and help yourself to more! After the main food was served, they bought around barbequed bananas which I hated but my partner loved! They were very sweet and smelled funny in my opinion! After eating, we were serenaded by a few of the guys singing some James Blunt songs to a guitar, so relaxing and fantastic!
Again we were then given a few hours to swim and sunbathe. The boats also gave out snorkelling masks and snorkels which a lot of people used. The sea was clear so you could swim out to the rocks nearby and see some fish and other sea life nearby. There were also many people just sunbathing on the b each, but as I had a poorly baby on my hands, I sat in the shade with him for a while. The men kept coming to check if we were okay which was nice. When it was time to go, we found a little hut where we went and changed out of our swimming stuff so we wouldn't be too wet on the ride home.
People from the other boats got on board first, as they had to use our boat to get across to theirs. Eventually when we all boarded, we set off all at the same time. However, our Catamaran was much bigger and we got ahead of the other boats quickly. Although the sea was a little rougher this time, I didn't feel seasick luckily as I had a nice full tummy! Harry was asleep for most of the journey so we spent it looking out across the great expanse of turquoise sea. Again we were offered drinks and music was playing, but it was much more relaxed this time around, with everyone tired from a fun day.
Arriving back at Grand Baie an hour later, we were again put onto the glass bottomed boat to get back to shore where we were given our shoes and bags and left to go our own ways. A plate was handed around to tip the men who worked on the boat for us, and we all left a good amount as they did such a super job. However the French people who were shared a boat with (who didn't leave the drinks and food table by the way!) shoved a load of tiny change onto the plate, amounting to about 75 pence. What a thank you, huh?
Would I recommend it? I certainly would! For our £20 per person, we got a full day of entertainment and it is certainly something you can't do just anywhere you go on holiday! All the food and drink was included in the price and cooked fresh. You could help yourself to as much as you wanted, and the men were keen to ensure you were having a good time. They were very kind when I was feeling queasy, and really looked after me. They were polite, friendly and people who clearly loved their job, and who wouldn't?!
Obviously if you are a person who is afraid of sailing then this isn't the trip for you as it involved at least 2 hours on a boat on the open sea. But if you like boats and sailing, this is a great opportunity to have a wonderful day of sun, sea and sand, food drink and fun for just £20! It was a nice relaxing day and I shan't forget it ever!
exceptional by (11%):
very helpful by (89%):
