My review of a catamaran trip to Deer Island in Mauritius

How much does an excursion to Deer Island cost?

I made a table with prices for different options for a boat tour. The table has a description of what is included in the tour, price and a link where you can check available dates and verify the exact price. All options include the basic version.

Private sea tour is when only you and your family or friends are on a speedboat or catamaran. In fact, this is renting a catamaran or speedboat for a day. It is best to book a private catamaran trip several days or even a week in advance. You can find the available catamaran options on the Viator website →

There are many more tour options for visiting Deer Island than listed in the table. You can choose the most suitable for you by comparing prices and programs using this list →

Deer Island (Ile aux Cerfs) sea tour: my review

I planned my trip to Mauritius so that the tour to the island of Ile aux Cerfs was on the day between hiking in Black River Gorges National Park and climbing Le Morne Brabant Mountain. This boat trip is very peaceful, and you can really relax, chill all day on a catamaran, while looking at the pristine Indian Ocean and the island of Mauritius.

One of the photos I took during the tour. During a snorkeling stop, a boat taking tourists on a parachute ride approached our catamaran.

What to expect: A relaxed, quiet catamaran ride to a beautiful waterfall and island with a couple of snorkeling stops.

What not to expect on the tour: an intense or hard program for the whole day.

The catamaran is small, but you won’t feel the waves. It moves smoothly and doesn’t swing. Unlike riding a speedboat, riding a catamaran does not cause nausea. I specially chose a catamaran ride, because after many speedboat tours in Thailand I realized that I don’t like bouncing on the waves like that.

There is plenty of room on catamarans. If you want, you can sunbathe on the deck or you can sit in the shade and drink cocktails. Everyone can find a comfortable spot without any problems.

The atmosphere was great on the catamaran. Everyone did what they wanted: chilled, drank cocktails, made friends and chatted

There was plenty of food. I won’t say that the food was wow, but it was tasty, and even vegans could find something for themselves. Bellow I’ll tell you about BBQ on the catamaran tour and show how we were fed.

My verdict: a boat tour for those who really want to relax on a catamaran.

A boat trip to Gabriel Island is more suitable for those who want an active vacation with snorkeling. More details about the tour can be found on this page →

🤿 5 best snorkeling spots in Mauritius

Catamaran tour in photos: how everything was organized, what places I visited

In the morning a minibus which collected all the tourists came to the hotel to pick me up, because I bought a tour with transport included.

Then we were taken to the dock in the northeast of the island, from where all boats and catamarans depart to Deer Island.

Important: Bring your tour payment voucher with you. On the dock, a travel agency employee checked all the tourists according to the list. Some people had already paid for the tour, some hadn’t. But you will have to show your payment voucher.

After everyone gathered, we were all taken by boat to the catamaran, and we set off on our little adventure.

On board, everyone was immediately offered drinks and alcohol (beer, wine and cocktails). By the way, alcohol was unlimited. A group of Italians got so drunk by the end of the trip that one of the guys didn’t even notice that he stepped on a sea urchin.🙈

After the first snorkeling stop, they took us to the GRSE Waterfall, which is one of the ten most beautiful waterfalls on the island. The waterfall itself is not accessible by catamaran, so everyone was transferred to a motorboat.

Here you can see what kind of motorboat is used to bring tourists to the waterfall. In the photo, the GRSE Waterfall is visible from afar, so it seems smaller. In reality, it is much more powerful

Monkeys live in the bushes near the waterfall and gladly approach tourists to ask for food, but they also like to steal things. That is why you should keep all your things with you.

The waterfall is very powerful and beautiful

Monkeys live in the thickets near the waterfall and come out to tourists to beg or steal food.

After visiting the waterfall, there was another stop for snorkeling and barbecue.
The barbecue was prepared by the staff right there on the catamaran: chicken and fish. I can’t tell you anything about the chicken because I don’t eat meat, but I can tell you that the fish was delicious. There was also rice, vegetables, roasted bananas. There was plenty of food. Everyone could find something for themselves. Here’s what it looked like:

Fish and meat were fresh, grilled right on the catamaran

Plates with food stood in a circle on the bar counter. Everyone could take as much as they wanted

I chose rice, fish and salad

🥘 10 Mauritian dishes you should try

The last point of the tour is Deer Island (Ile aux Cerfs). Here everyone was given a free hour to relax on the island. We could snorkel, sunbathe or go for a walk around the island.

Caution: there are sea urchins in the waters around the coast of Ile aux Cerfs.

After relaxing on the island of Ile aux Cerf, everyone was brought back to the dock and transferred to their hotels in Mauritius.

My impressions of the tour can be described by the word “relaxation”. I relaxed. I spent the whole day being rolled on the ocean, looking at the fish and Mauritius, sunbathing and slowly drinking rosé. What else do you need for a good vacation?