Rodrigues Island

Just a short hop from Mauritius, Rodrigues is another world! Find out what our clients say about staying on Rodrigues. Fantastic diving and snorkelling, very friendly people and a laid back culture awaits you!

NameH Hill
Date of travel16/10/2011
Number of people4
Level
- Had a whale of a time!

NameRobin Cooke-Hurle
Date of travel26/01/2011
Number of people2
Level
- Don't even think about missing this!
Don't even think about missing this!
Rodrigues was superb Every time one goes to one of these places the hackneyed old phrase about friendly natives is trotted out. For the first time we really did find it to be true on Rodrigues. Everyone was really nice and helpful.

Diving on Rodrigues is superb I thought the dive centre at Cotton Bay was absolutely excellent, with a team made up of two dive masters (one of whom speaks very good English) and the skipper of the boat, plus a couple of helpers. They were very professional, not at all macho, made sure that one was properly briefed for every dive and generally gave off an aura of confidence and care. The equipment was well looked after and regularly checked. The diving itself was wonderful, despite some problems with high winds. I would just add two cautions. Firstly, access to the dive sites was more dependent on the wind and tide than almost anywhere else I have been, so you will not always get the usual two dives a day, and secondly some of dive sites, especially the ones with the large fish, were technically quite demanding, with strong currents. I am not sure I would recommend it for beginners, especially as the boat never anchors (except in an emergency) to avoid damaging the corals.

Sightseeing on the island. Port Mathurin was fun to wander about for a couple of hours, and the tortoise sanctuary definitely worth a visit. We also went down Cavern Patate, which again was worthwhile, and had a wonderful day on a private visit sailing to Ile aux Chat with a fisherman, organised by Gilbert, with spectacular snorkelling on the way, with lunch including a barbequed fish which Patrizia caught. I recommend a Rodrigues sausage roll, bought from a kiosk on the side of the road!

The best meal we had in the whole trip was lunch at Le Grand Lagon, a table dhote about 200 metres after the entrance to the tortoise sanctuary. It was simple, but very fresh and deliciously cooked, with by far the most subtle use of herbs and spices that we found. We also had good dinners at La Belle Rodriguaise, owned by the couple who wrote the Rodrigues cook book, and at Cases a Gardenias. It was dark when we went to La Belle Rodriguaise, and it is a nightmare to get to, but it looked as if it was in a stunning position above Gravier.