Just as the standards of luxury continue to be raised to satisfy ever more discerning tastes, exotic travel these days is something entirely different from what it was even a decade ago. To globe-trotting American golfers, the singular pleasures of strolling the fairways of Hawaii, the Caribbean and the British Isles are by now well known.
What’s the new frontier? For spectacular island golf and exquisite seaside resorts, travelers are venturing to remote outposts once the province only of honeymooners, celebrities and the ultrarich: Mauritius, for example, as well as Bali, Fiji, Corsica, the Azores and the Canary Islands. Blessed with splendid isolation and enchanting natural settings—volcanic mountains, waterfalls, dense forests, ocean bluffs—these truly exotic islands captivate with allures unmistakably their own.
The Azores • Mid-Atlantic Arcadia
Everywhere a visitor looks in this Portuguese archipelago—a group of nine volcanic islands huddling in the middle of the Atlantic—lies evidence of a turbulent geological past: steaming geysers, thermal pools and lush calderas, as well as the occasional whiff of sulfur in the air. But each of these isolated gems has its own personality. There’s Pico, for example, with its almost eight-thousand-foot snow-capped peak; São Jorge, where ancient paths snake down to fertile plains at the base of sea cliffs; and Faial, whose colorful port still welcomes international yachtsmen. The largest two islands of the Azores, São Miguel and Terceira, positively define verdancy. Navigating the twisty roads that course through these hilly lands, one can find tumbling waterfalls, cerulean lakes, hydrangea-hedged roads and, unexpectedly, golf courses, each of which reflects the amazing variety of Azorean landscapes.
Where to Play
Batalha Golf Course * * * *
The championship A and B nines at this twenty-seven-hole layout on the north coast of São Miguel offer links-style golf with stiff winds and sweeping sea views in combination with more protected woodland holes. The most challenging of the Azorean courses, Batalha hosts an event on the PGA European Tour’s satellite circuit. Its long, broad fairways lead to large, fast and tightly bunkered greens that are beguiling to read. Pampas grass, eucalyptus trees and other decorative plants complete the tableau.
Rua do Bom Jesus Aflitos, São Miguel; 011-351/296-498-540, verdegolf.net. YARDAGE: 7,037. PAR: 72. GREENS FEE: $70. ARCHITECT: Cameron & Powell, 1997.
Furnas Golf Course * * * *
One of Portugal’s oldest courses and, along with Batalha, the longtime host of the Azores Open, this forested design has rolling fairways tightly flanked by massive trees, many of them Japanese cedars. Clouds scuttle overhead, and surrounding volcanic peaks add to the aura. The often elevated greens are small, contoured and protected by deep bunkers filled with black volcanic sand, making short-game finesse a must.
Achada das Furnas, São Miguel; 011-351/296-584-341, verdegolf.net. YARDAGE: 6,815. PAR: 72. GREENS FEE: $70. ARCHITECTS: Mackenzie Ross, 1939; Cameron & Powell, 1991.
Best of the Rest
Terceira Golf Club (terceiragolf.com) is a lovely course laid out amid lush pastures threaded by low lava-rock walls. It was designed in the 1950s by American Air Force personnel stationed nearby.
Where to Stay
The art deco Terra Nostra Garden Hotel (rooms from $128; 011-351/296-549-090) on São Miguel, twenty minutes from Furnas Golf Course, offers botanical gardens and a geothermal iron-water swimming pool. Set above the south coast a half hour from the Batalha course, the Caloura Hotel Resort (rooms from $92; caloura.com) has a diving center on the premises. On Terceira, Quinta de Nossa Senhora das Merces (rooms from $112; quintadasmerces.com) is a renovated eighteenth-century manor house in the Brasil Mountain nature reserve, ten minutes from Terceira Golf Club.
Where to Eat
A Colmeia, in the Hotel do Colegio on São Miguel (hoteldocolegio.com), creates innovative twists on traditional fare, such as horse mackerel stuffed with corn bread and chorizo. In Angra, the capital of Terceira, Quinta do Martelo (quintadomartelo.com) serves organic produce and spicy stews in a restaurant above its 150-year-old grocery.
Island Essentials
Getting There
The only airline flying direct from the U.S., SATA International (azores-express.com) runs seasonal nonstops to Terceira from Boston and to São Miguel from Providence, Rhode Island. Flight time is four hours.
Other Attractions
Cha Gorreana, a nineteenth-century tea estate on the northeast coast of São Miguel, offers tastings of its green and black teas. Enjoy a warm out-door shower at Caldeira Velha, a São Miguel hot spring cascading into a flower-draped pool. In Terceira’s capital, with its centuries-old buildings, the Angra do Heroi´smo Museum traces the history of the island. Every weekend from spring to fall you can find Terceira’s unique bullfighting—the bull is tethered in the city streets. In Biscoitos, a coastal village, Casa Agricola Brum has wine tastings and a small museum of viticulture.
—Jeanine Barone
Bali • Sensual Asian
Bali is not afraid of reinventing itself. Up until the early eighties, the majority of western visitors to this small tropical island, one of the thousands that make up the Indonesian archipelago, were the hordes of happy-go-lucky European and Australian kids backpacking their way along the Southeast Asian hippie trail. These budget travelers were welcomed with open arms by locals who for centuries had made their living from agriculture and fishing. Since then, massive investment has turned the island into one of the most popular holiday destinations in Asia. Although backpackers can still be found hanging around the cafes and bars of Kuta beach, the rest of the island has gone considerably upmarket. Posh hotels and resorts have sprung up all along the south coast and have even penetrated the jungle and mountains of the interior.
Where to Play
Nirwana Bali Golf Club * * * * 1/2
Bali’s finest course also happens to be one of Asia’s best. This seaside layout, attached to the five-star Le Meridien resort, gallops across rice paddies and through dense jungle. The crashing surf of the Indian Ocean comes into view on many of the holes, most memorably on the par-three seventh, where a crisp mid-iron is required to carry waves and beach to a well-guarded green.
Jalan Raya Tanah Lot, Tabanan; 011-62/361-815-960, nirwanabaligolf.com. YARDAGE: 6,805. PAR: 72. GREENS FEE: $150. ARCHITECT: Greg Norman, 1997.
Bali Golf & Country Club * * * *
Situated amid the resorts and hotels of the Nusa Dua peninsula, this palm-fringed course may lack the jaw-dropping beauty of Nirwana Bali, but it has its moments and should certainly be on the itinerary of any visiting golfer. Elevation changes and abundant landscaping make the front nine the more attractive of the two, although the flatter final stretch features vast sandy wastes and finishes along the ocean.
Nusa Dua; 011-62/361-771-791, baligolfandcountryclub.com. YARDAGE: 6,871. PAR: 72. GREENS FEE: $142. ARCHITECT: Nelson & Wright, 1991.
Best of the Rest
Despite some scruff around the edges, the island’s only other course, Bali Handara Kosaido Country Club (balihandarakosaido.com)—situated high up in the central mountains—is worth the trip. The course lies in the crater of an extinct volcano and offers amazing views of Lake Bratan.
Where to Stay
Le Meridien Nirwana Golf & Spa Resort (rooms from $190; lemeridien.com) is an obvious choice for those who want to stay within pitching-wedge distance of Nirwana Bali Golf Club, while the Grand Hyatt Bali (rooms from $300; bali.grand.hyatt.com) is the pick of the many resorts located near Bali Golf & Country Club. Given the island’s size, however, it’s perfectly possible to stay away from the rather hectic southern coastal strip and still get in some golf. The serene Como Shambhala Estate (suites from $495; cse.comoshambhala.bz), fifteen minutes from the ancient city of Ubud and about an hour’s drive from all three courses, is an exclusive jungle retreat that specializes in holistic and detoxification therapies and ranks as one of the world’s unique hotels.
Where to Eat
Contrary to popular belief, fine dining can be found on Bali. Try Kafe Warisan Restaurant & Bar (kafewarisan.com) in Kerobokan for Balinese and French cuisine and the trendy Ku De Ta (kudeta.net) in Seminyak for Asian-Pacific fare.
Island Essentials
Getting There
Cathay Pacific Airways (cathaypacific.com) flies daily from New York to Bali via Hong Kong (twenty-three hours flying time). Bali’s aiport, Ngurah Rai, is four miles south of the capital city of Denpasar, within easy reach of the island’s main resort areas.
Other Attractions
The majority of vacationers still come for the sun, sand, surf and scuba diving, but Bali also offers much more. The Balinese art scene flourishes, and a trip to the galleries and museums of Ubud, in particular the Neka Art Museum, is well worth the diversion. For the more active, Bali has some great hiking trails, and a dawn climb up the still-active 5,635-foot Ganung Batur volcano rewards those who make it to the top with breathtaking views of the rising sun.—Alex Jenkins
Canary Islands • Volcanic Character
Picture the volcanic landscape of Hawaii’s Big Island accented by Arizona-like high-desert terrain. Spain’s Canary Islands, the seven-island chain in the Atlantic Ocean northwest of Africa, are the result of volcanic eruptions that created not only a stunning topography of mountains and craters but also an amazingly diverse range of ecosystems and climates. Be aware: The only canaries you’ll see are at a zoo or in the curio shops. The name of the island chain is believed to be derived either from a North African tribe known as the Canarii or from a native breed of menacing dogs encountered here by the few ancient Romans who came ashore. During the Age of Exploration, the Canaries were a compulsory port of call for ships on their way to the New World. The Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and English introduced their traditions, all of which helped mold the islands’ modern-day identity. Golf arrived in the late nineteenth century, courtesy of the British. Five of the islands have a token nine- or eighteen-holer here and there, but Tenerife (with eight courses) and Gran Canaria (with six) have by far the best golf to offer.
Where to Play
Buenavista Golf Club * * * * 1/2
Tenerife’s answer to Pebble Beach, Buenavista unfurls along the northern shoreline of the island, with five ocean holes set on a cliff above craggy rocks and crashing surf. As if the ocean views weren’t enough, designer Seve Ballesteros created additional eye candy with a central lake and waterfall between the ninth and eighteenth holes.
Calle La Finca, Buenavista del Norte, Tenerife; 011-34/ 922-129-034, buenavistagolf.es. YARDAGE: 6,019. PAR: 72. GREENS FEES: $75-$115. ARCHITECT: Seve Ballesteros, 2003.
Costa Adeje, Old * * * *
Utilizing the stone-wall terraces of a former banana plantation, desert cactus and rock, and black volcanic sand for bunkers and waste areas, Spanish architect José Gancedo fashioned a course with equal parts challenge and beauty. When the wind starts to howl off the ocean, club selection is as difficult as predicting the roulette wheel at the casino in nearby Playa de las Américas.
Finca Los Olivos, Adeje, Tenerife; 011-34/922-710-000, golfcostaadeje.com. YARDAGE: 6,781. PAR: 72. GREENS FEE: $115. ARCHITECT: José Gancedo, 1998.
Best of the Rest
Two other scenic oceanside courses on Tenerife are Golf del Sur (golfdelsur.net), which hosted a Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf match and features tropical flora and black sand bunkers, and Abama Golf Course (abamahotelresort.com), a palm-lined layout by Dave Thomas, the designer of the Belfry. On Gran Canaria, El Cortijo Club de Campo (elcortijo.es) wends through hundreds of century-old palm trees and has a wonderfully hilly back nine.
Where to Stay
The hilltop Hotel Botanico & Oriental Spa Garden (rooms from $265; hotelbotanico.com) on Tenerife overlooks the ocean and snow-capped Mount Tiede. Guests have preferred access to Buenavista Golf Club and El Peñon, the second oldest club in Spain. The best option in Gran Canaria is Hotel Riu Grand Palace Maspalomas Oasis (rooms from $120; riu.com) amid the sand dunes of the island’s southern coast. Two eighteen-hole courses are within fifteen minutes, and the concierge can arrange a round on any of the island’s layouts, including El Cortijo.
Where to Eat
Regulo Restaurante (011-34/922-384-506), run out of an elegant home in Tenerife’s historic district of Puerto de la Cruz, serves delicious fresh seafood and locally produced Malvasia wine, praised by Shakespeare, among others. If you venture to the island of Lanzarote to see its otherworldly landscape of volcanic ash, dine at El Diablo (011-34/928-173-105) in Timanfaya National Park, where fish, steaks and poultry are cooked by volcanic heat—a cast-iron grill is placed over a hole in the ground.
Island Essentials
Getting There
The most popular city for direct flights to the Canary Islands is Madrid. The flight time from New York to Madrid is seven hours. From Madrid to the Canaries is two hours and forty minutes. Iberia Airlines (iberia.com) flies from JFK to Tenerife.
Other Attractions
Volcano sightseeing is a popular off-course activity. The Parque National Las Canadas del Tiede on Tenerife, which surrounds Mount Tiede, offers intriguing formations. On the island of Lanzarote, Timanfaya National Park, with its eerie landscape that has appeared in many a science fiction film, you can take a tour by camelback. But it’s the islands’ spectacular beaches—some with distinctive black volcanic sand and others with gold sand—that remain the biggest draw. Other recreational pastimes include hiking and mountain biking, as well as casino gambling and shopping at large complexes such as Tenerife’s Playa de las Américas.
—Ed Schmidt Jr.
Corsica • Napoleonic Outpost
Best known as the birthplace of Napoleon, Corsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean. Though it’s twice as close to Italy as it is to France (fifty miles versus one hundred), the French have laid claim to Corsica since 1768, when the island was wrested from centuries of Italian rule by the Treaty of Versailles. Today, Corsica mixes both cultures into a distinctive stew, with most natives speaking neither Italian nor French but rather a local tongue. The southern town of Bonifacio claims the distinction of having been mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey as the site where cannibalistic Laestrygonians hurled stones at Odysseus’ fleet from the cliffs above. Much of the island is carpeted in maquis, a dense native underbrush that produces masses of fragrant flowers. Napoleon never returned to Corsica later in life, but while imprisoned in his final years he said he could smell the "scented isle."
Where to Play
Sperone Golf Club * * * * 1/2
Corsica’s only eighteen-hole course, Sperone sits atop headlands at the southern tip of the island, overlooking the Mediterranean and the tiny islands of Cavallo and Lavezzi as well as Sardinia across the Bonifacio Strait. The layout consists of twelve quality inland holes sculpted out of rocky gorse-choked hills and six positively striking ones strung out along the coast, where the water ranges from brilliant turquoise to military blue. The first brush with the sea comes at the par-four eleventh, a dogleg left that eases down to a bluff-top green. But it’s the final encounter, at the par-five sixteenth, that’s unforgettable. From the championship tee on a spit of land that juts out into the sea, you must carry the ball well over two hundred yards to reach the fairway. From there you can either play safe or go for broke with a fairway wood through trees and over another cove to get home in two. Rees Jones, whose father designed the course, calls it "one of the most spectacular coastal holes in the world."
Domain de Sperone, Bonifacio; 011-33/495-731-713; sperone.com. YARDAGE: 6,678. PAR: 72. GREENS FEES: $72-$109. ARCHITECT: Robert Trent Jones Sr., 1990.
Where to Stay
Most convenient for golfers is to rent one of the on-site villas of the Hameau de Piantarella (villas from $3,115; sperone.com) at Sperone. For a more traditional hotel experience in Bonifacio, just ten minutes from the course, try the Caravelle Hotel (rooms from $128; hotel-caravelle-corse.com). This twenty-eight-room charmer occupies a nineteenth-century family residence beside a marina and serves meals and cocktails in a vaulted fisherman’s chapel that dates back to the thirteenth century. Higher on the full-service luxury scale is the Grand Hotel de Cala Rossa (rooms from $221; hotel-calarossa.com), a Relais & Chateaux property five miles north of Porto-Vecchio on the southeastern coast, a scenic forty-five-minute drive from Sperone.
Where to Eat
Corsica’s delectable cuisine centers on fresh fish, seafood stews, lamb, fig jam, chestnuts, brocciu (a ricotta-like cheese made from goat’s or sheep’s milk) and, perhaps best of all, various cuts and preparations of pork. Kissing Pigs (011-33/495-735-609), a harborside bistro in Bonifacio, specializes in marvelous local wines, cheeses and charcuterie. Four miles outside of town and built around giant boulders with tables that overlook the sea, Marina di Cavu (011-33/495-731-413) is a hugely memorable restaurant that’s part of a petite hotel of the same name. It won a "Bonne Table" distinction from Alain Ducasse in the guidebook Chateaux & Hotels de France.
Island Essentials
Getting There
Direct flights from London (Heathrow) and Paris (Orly) are available to all four of Corsica’s airports on carriers such as British Airways (ba.com) and Air France (airfrance.com). From London to Figari, which is closest to Sperone Golf Club, is three hours; from Paris, it’s just under two.
Other Attractions
The ever-present winds that blow through the Straits of Bonifacio make Corsica a windsurfer’s paradise. The island’s beaches are also quite popular. What’s even more outstanding, though, is the diving, thanks to the warm clear waters and the rich diversity of the seabed, especially red coral and yellow flowering anemone. For a sense of history, set aside time to explore the "haute village" high above the harbor in Bonifacio and the variety of tributes to Napoleon in Ajaccio.
—Joe Passov
Fiji • Polynesian Paradise
Ask golfers what they know about Fiji and most will identify it as the birthplace of Vijay Singh. Beyond that, they have little if any idea. In fact, this South Pacific republic comprises a chain of 333 islands, roughly a third of them inhabited. The landscape is quintessentially Polynesian: Palm trees sway in cooling zephyrs and crushed-coral beaches are lapped by gentle, reef-retarded swells. Although the course on which Singh learned the game remains a crude eighteen, Fiji has some distinctive tropical layouts dotted among its dozens of luxury resorts. English is the primary language spoken in this former British colony, but there are two Fijian words any visitor needs: bula (hello) and vinaka (thank you). And you can’t leave without trying kava, the ceremonial drink made from the ground roots of a plant related to the pepper tree. A relaxant, it tastes fairly muddy but pleasantly numbs the mouth and lips.
Where to Play
Denaru Golf & Racquet Club * * * *
This lush design—the best in Fiji—is shared by a group of opulent resorts on Denarau Island (essentially an offshoot of the main island of Viti Levu). Rugged mountains tower over the course, and some of the bunkers are tidal, causing them to be intermittently swallowed by ocean surges. If you’re a guest of the nearby Sheraton Fiji, don’t miss the twice-daily hole-in-one contest: a sixty-five-yard flick from just off the clubhouse veranda to the practice green. You get three cracks to win three free nights plus two rounds of golf on a future visit to the resort.
Denarau Island; 011-679/675-9711, denaraugolf.com.fj. YARDAGE: 7,123. PAR: 72. GREENS FEES: $65-$74. ARCHITECT: Eiichi Motohashi, 1993.
Pearl Championship Golf Course * * *
A riverside course at the Pearl South Pacific resort (formerly the Pacific Harbour International Hotel), this was the site of Greg Norman’s first international victory, in 1978. The layout is rather flat—its defenses are the wind and several Scottish-style burns—but the setting is lovely. Located on the south side of Viti Levu a half hour from Suva, the Fijian capital, the holes wind through a rainforest.
Pacific Harbour, Deuba; 011-679/345-0905, thepearlsouthpacific.com. YARDAGE: 6,908. PAR: 72. GREENS FEE: $25. ARCHITECT: Robert Trent Jones Jr., 1975.
Where to Stay
Most travelers visit both a mainland resort and one on an outlying island. On the mainland, the Sheraton Fiji (rooms from $410; sheraton.com) offers luxury rooms with magnificent ocean views; book a deck table at the Blue Vonu restaurant and watch the setting sun dissolve into the inky water while ceremonial torches flicker against the dusk. For an offshore splurge, visit the Wakaya Club (suites from $1,900; wakaya.com), a private-island hideaway east of Viti Levu. This is where Keith Richards suffered a mild concussion after reportedly falling out of a coconut tree last year during a break from the Rolling Stones’ world tour. You can play the resort’s nine-hole course or take a thirty-five minute charter flight to Denarau.
Where to Eat
Fijian cuisine is a melting pot of Indian, Chinese, Japanese and indigenous Polynesian influences, with a heavy emphasis on seafood. The traditional dish kokoda consists of raw fish marinated in lime juice with coconut cream. Daikoku Restaurant (011-679/670-3622) in Nadi serves a variety of Japanese dishes, such as melt-in-your-mouth tuna sashimi and the local delicacy, giant clam. Ports of Call at the Sheraton Fiji offers sublime fine dining with excellent fresh fish and sinful crepes.
Island Essentials
Getting There
Air Pacific (airpacific.com) flies from Los Angeles to Nadi International Airport four times a week. The trip takes eleven hours. Once in Nadi (pronounced NAHN-dee), located on the main island of Viti Levu, you have several options: fly by seaplane to an outer-island resort; drive two hours east to the beachfront resorts on Fiji’s Coral Coast; or take a twenty-minute taxi ride to the mainland retreat of Denarau Island.
Other Activities
For an adventure, board the eighty-three-foot schooner Seaspray (ssc.com.fj) and visit some of the country’s outer islands, including deserted Monuriki, where Castaway was filmed. En route, the crew will trawl for reef fish such as walu (Spanish mackerel) and mahimahi and barbecue them on board while you snorkel.
—Nigel Wall
Mauritius • Siren of the Indian Ocean
"Heaven was copied after Mauritius," wrote Mark Twain after his visit more than a hundred years ago to this remote volcanic island, which sits in the Indian Ocean some twelve hundred miles off the coast of southern Africa. Its tropical beauty embraces towering mountains, stunning waterfalls and sugarcane plantations—all ringed by colorful coral reefs and white sand beaches. Mauritius has developed a seductively cosmopolitan culture thanks to its diverse history of Dutch, French and British rule in the four centuries before independence in 1968. The exotic influence of today’s mainly Hindu, Creole and Chinese population is evident in everything from Mauritian art and cuisine to the styling of the island’s luxurious beachside hotels. English is the official language, although French is more commonly spoken and Creole is the lingua franca. Golf has been played here since 1902, when the British Royal Navy founded the Gymkhana Club, near the capital of Port Louis, the first of the island’s six eighteen-hole courses.
Where to Play
One&Only Le Touessrok Golf Course * * * * 1/2
This golf hideaway resides discretely on its own tiny island across a lagoon from the east coast of Mauritius and can be reached by a five-minute trip in a private water taxi from its parent resort. Mangrove swamps give way to carpets of emerald fairway carved through a forest of banyan trees, bamboo and bougainvillea in a former nature preserve that remains a haven for rabbits, herons, pheasants and Mauritian parakeets. Despite limited acreage, Bernhard Langer conjured a supremely atmospheric challenge involving breathtaking drives over plunging ravines, clever elevation changes and sublime approaches to precarious plateau greens bolstered by outcroppings of volcanic rock. It’s a stern but beautiful test.
Ile Aux Cerfs, Trou d’Eau Douce; 011-230/402-7400, oneandonlyletousserokgolf.com. YARDAGE: 7,082. PAR: 72. GREENS FEE: $192. Architect: Bernhard Langer, 2003.
Best of the Rest
Almost as dramatic as Le Touessrok is Paradis Hotel & Golf Club (paradis-hotel.com), set on a peninsula in the shadow of La Morne Mountain in the southwest corner of the island. The club offers free group lessons to hotel guests. The thirty-six hole Belle Mare Plage Golf Club (bellemareplagehotel.com) regularly hosts the Mauritius Open. Its Legend course snakes through menacing mangroves, while the Links, designed by Peter Alliss, is an American-style parkland layout, albeit with tropical flourishes.
Where to Stay
Elevating Mauritius’s renowned standards of luxury and service to their highest levels, the Moorish-themed One&Only Le Touessrok (rooms from $769; oneandonlyresorts.com) occupies a prime beachside setting and offers comprehensive amenties, including state-of-the-art gyms and a sumptuous Givenchy spa. The resort is a lavish complex designed around a private beach and two free-form infinity pools. The property was refurbished several years ago to include a miniature Venetian network of modern ocean-view suites on a gorgeous headland. Twenty minutes up the coast, its sister hotel, the One&Only Le Saint Géran (rooms from $897), nestles privately in the palms beside its own beautiful beach. The place radiates colonial elegance, with traditional local furnishings and a blissfully calm, romantic ambience.
Where to Eat
The One&Only resorts boast two of Mauritius’s finest restaurants: Safran at Le Touessrok, offering contemporary Indian cuisine under the guidance of Michelin-acclaimed chef Vineet Bhatia; and Le Saint Géran’s Spoon Des Isles, a venture of legendary Alain Ducasse. Also try La Ravane (011-230/401-5050), reached by boat from the Paradis Hotel. You can feast under the stars on such specialities as lobster curry and Tandoori rack of lamb before a show of Sega, the national song and dance.
Island Essentials
Getting There
Flying from New York to Mauritius requires a stopover in either London or Paris before connecting with a nonstop Air Mauritius (airmauritius.com) or Air France (airfrance.com) flight. Total flight time is about nineteen hours.
Other Attractions
If you can drag yourself away from castaway beaches such as Ilot Mangénie at Le Touessrok, be sure to venture to the Black River Gorges National Park, where mountain roads border spectacular reservoirs, waterfalls and plunging valleys of ebony trees. Grand Baie on the northern tip is a shopping and leisure paradise where you can board the famous Blue Safari submarine for a close-up of Mauritius’s Technicolor coral beds and sea life of tropical fish and Moray eels. Port Louis, the capital, provides another essential excursion with its colonial architecture, bustling markets and posh complex of shops and restaurants at Le Caudan Waterfront.
—Dominic Pedler
