The luxury holiday island where you can stay for just £57pp a night

IT wasn’t quite the shower I was in need of in Mauritius when, halfway down La Tourelle mountain, the heavens opened.

While the rain was a welcome relief from the searing 30C heat we had endured climbing the 550m peak, it made for a tricky navigation of its narrow and rocky descent in the dark.

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We likened ourselves to real-life Lara Crofts as we scrambled over boulders and down landslides aided by ropes and tour guides, Elodie and Anne.

This three-hour trek is the most physically demanding activity on the Veranda Tamarin Hotel and Spa’s eco-friendly Explorer Programme.

It was launched last year in partnership with local businesses to give travellers an authentic experience of Mauritius.

It is not hard to see why hiking La Tourelle mountain is a national pastime when its summit provides such spectacular views over the whole of the southwestern region, plus unrivalled sunsets.

And learning that children as young as eight are regulars on the mountain did not lessen our sense of achievement. 

The Veranda Tamarin prides itself on being affordable — a much-needed addition to an island long regarded as a destination for the wealthy.

Guests who stay for more than four nights will be awarded Explorer Credits to spend on excursions including treks, fishing, dolphin kayaking, paddleboarding, a catamaran cruise and beach yoga.

They can also be used to rent a Mini Moke, scooter, bike or for the hotel shuttle service.

And although the 3H bohemian hotel is budget, it does not scrimp on style. Refurbished in 2018, it is now home to one of the island’s only rooftop infinity pools.

There’s also a second, larger pool with four-poster daybeds, hammocks ­between palms, a bar serving sky-blue tamarind cocktails, and a spa offering chakra-rebalancing massages.

Its 116 rooms, ranging from the cosy Comfort to the sea-view Privilege, are spacious with white-washed and yellow-wood furniture and colourful wall murals by a local artist.

Each lodging comes with a straw bag, sunhat and beach towels — a nice touch for guests who forgot to pack their own.

And after using all that energy climbing mountains, the hotel has several options to refuel.

Breakfast and dinner are served at Ye! Man, decked with surfboards and vintage photos of Tamarin. It offers local and international fare at its evening buffet.

RUGGED COASTLINE

But if it’s dinner and a show you’re after, guests can chow down on light bites and calamari steaks served with a side of karaoke, jazz music and DJs at the hotel’s sandy-floored Crazy Fish bar. Or you can get your pizza fix at poolside joint, Tribu.

Proper foodies will want to book the half-day Taste Buddies tour (£42), where guests sample classic Mauritian cuisine which is influenced by African, Indian and European cultures.

Part of the Explorer Programme, it sees guests chaffeur-driven to unique restaurants and even a retired local’s home where they tuck into dishes including tuna vindaloo, salted fish, octopus salad and tangy palm heart tossed in turmeric and mustard seeds.

For me though, your money is best spent on the water.

If you are not averse to a 3am wake-up call, Fish Whisperer’s native skippers offer six and nine-hour small and big-game excursions, from £240. Expect yellowfin tuna, blue marlin and spearfish among your catch.

Or right on your doorstep is Tamarin public beach, a popular spot with surfers between May and September, and home to Cyril Thevenau’s decades-old school, where a private class for two people is around £32.

While avid riders would sniff at the weak swell in February, it was perfect for my Bambi legs to learn to catch waves — if only for a few seconds.

And if surfing’s not your beat, there is another, more majestic reason to hit this rugged, unspoilt coastline — the dolphins.

One lazy afternoon while on a sunset swim we happened upon two of the mammals playfully leaping out of the water. Although they are regular visitors to the bay, locals still gather excitedly on the shoreline to watch the show.

And if you are not content with just one encounter, for £30 you can join Lokal Adventure’s Elodie and Anne on kayaks or paddleboards to spot more of the pod at sunrise.

With La Tourelle providing a picture-perfect backdrop, you can be greeted by as many as 30 bottlenose and spinner dolphins.

MACAQUE MONKEYS

Also ideal for nature-lovers, but not included in the programme, are the giant tortoises and 100m waterfall at the nearby Seven Coloured Earth Geopark, with an entrance fee of £5.50.

The main attraction is a rainbow of sand dunes, evolved from molten volcanic rocks eroded over thousands of years.

For more great views, head for lunch at the nearby Le Chamarel restaurant, set on a wooded plateau amid green pastures and coffee plantations.

A popular haunt for tourists and curious macaque mon­keys, it has a delicious “12 flavours” Creole-style tasting menu for £20pp.

While Veranda Tamarin offered everything we could desire from a sunshine break, we finished our trip at its more luxurious sister hotel on the north-east coast.

With its own private beach, the adults-only 4H Veranda St Paul and Virginie — named after the island’s version of Romeo and Juliet — is the postcard image of Mauritius, with its white sands, azure water and an Instagram-worthy terrace and jetty for candlelit dinners.

The Explorer Programme has not been extended to St Paul and Virginie, but the hotel offers its own list of excursions, which includes a cooking class under a banyan tree with the kitchen’s larger-than-life “Little Chef” and a catamaran cruise to the uninhabited Bernache Island.

It was a relaxing end to an action-packed week and while climbing a mountain may not top every holidaymaker’s to-do list, it made us feel on top of the world.

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