Le Morne is the postcard, and unlike most postcards it holds up. A long stretch of white sand on the south-west tip of the island, a flat turquoise lagoon, and the basalt monolith of Le Morne Brabant rising behind it. The public beach is free to enter and open access, which surprises people who assume the whole peninsula belongs to the hotels.
The wind decides your day
This is the single most useful thing to know. Le Morne sits where the trade winds funnel around the mountain, which is exactly why it is the island's kitesurfing capital. The wind builds through the morning and is usually well established by early afternoon.
If you want the flat, glassy lagoon from the photographs, you need to be there before about ten. By two o'clock the same water is choppy and the beach is busy with kit. Neither is worse, but they are completely different days out, and the one you get is decided by what time you arrive.
Getting there without a car
Take a bus toward Baie du Cap and get off at Le Morne village, then walk about twenty minutes to the public beach. The catch is the return: most bus routes wind down between six and seven in the evening, so staying for sunset means arranging a taxi in advance. Agree the fare before you get in.
With a car, there is free parking near the public beach. It fills on weekends when Mauritian families arrive with cool boxes, which is a good sign about the beach and a bad one about your chances of a quiet spot.
Shade, and the lack of it
There is a line of casuarina trees at the back of the beach and that is all the shade there is. It goes early on busy days. Bring an umbrella if you plan to stay past midday, and take water: there is no reliable shop at the beach itself.
Climbing the mountain
Le Morne Brabant is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed for its history as a refuge for escaped slaves, and the summit route is not a casual walk. The lower section to the viewpoint can be done independently and takes most people a couple of hours return. The upper section, above the plateau, involves exposed scrambling and requires a licensed guide.
Start early. The trail is exposed for most of its length and there is no water on the route.
When to come
May to November is the reliable window for the beach, and it overlaps neatly with the strongest kitesurfing season. December to April is hotter and wetter, and sits inside cyclone season.
The short version
- Free, open access, no ticket.
- Arrive before ten for flat water and light on the mountain.
- Twenty-minute walk from Le Morne village if you are on the bus.
- No bus home after about six thirty. Sunset means a taxi.
- Bring shade and water.
