Mauritius

Mauritius is the stuff that post cards are made out of, the water is a deep blue  crystal clear, the sand is soft, fish are plentiful and coral reefs dot the shores. Our ship docked in Port Louis in the northwest corner of the island though my plans for  the 12 hours we were in the country were concentrated on exactly the other side of the country in  the area known as Blue Bay.

Blue Bay

Upon docking, two other friends and I boarded the express bus for the ~30 mile journey to the blue bay marine park. Blue bay is a nature reserve that was created around 10-12 years ago to protect its reefs from the destruction caused by some of the local fishing practices. One method in particular that our guide mentioned was the use of grenades, which although is an effective fishing method, curiously seemed to damage the coral reefs. Regardless, today blue bay is still some of the best snorkeling on the island so that was our destination.

Breakfast

Lunch

After the 30 cent, hour long bus ride past sugar cane fields, local villages and universities we made it  to the other side of the island. We started the day off perfectly enough by buying some type of chicken and spicy green leaf sandwich for $1 and then chartering a glass bottom boat to take us out around the bay (for $10!). This was my first experience ever snorkeling  that I can remember  so trying to breath without getting water in my lungs while constantly cleaning my goggles as they fogged up marked the first 10 minutes in the day. Thankfully after that ten minutes my experience playing underwater hockey for a night kicked in and it all worked out.

The snorkeling was absolutely gorgeous, there were way more fish around the reef then I expected and they had no fear! You would have to practically touch them to get them to move, else you could just float in the water and they would swim right up to you  and meander around in front of your goggles. Fish of all kinds were darting through the cracks and crevices of the coral, some blended in, some like the parrot fish shone blue for everyone within a hundred feet to see

When we returned to the beach that afternoon, we spent the rest of our short short time in Mauritius gathering sunlight on the beach before trekking back across the entire country to meet our ship in Port Louis.

The Port