Mauritius | Once in a lifetime - Kiteworld Magazine Issue #77

KW #77

U N L E AS H E D ! 2 0 1 6 F I R ST R E L E AS E S A N D A H Y D R O F O I L BU Y E R’ S G U I D E

M A G A Z I N E HANDS OFF MY WORLD TOUR (AGAIN) • 2016 HEADS-UP • MAURITIUS • BOOST TUNING • DEATH OF FORMULA

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CAPTION // The immense playground of Le Morne. The wave breaking in the bottom right of this photo is One Eye, and the resort on the beach closest to us in the shot is the St. Regis. The main public launch spot is to the right of there on the corner of the beach. Quite mesmerising, isn’t it?

CAPTION // Choose your break! A photo of a map of Le Morne in the Club Mistral St Regis centre

CAPTION // Solis trips to Casela national park, areas of outstanding natural beauty and Chamarel the seven coloured sands

CAPTION // Julien Kerneur racking up the hours of progression PHOTO // Ydwer van der Heide / Airush

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INTRO > Mauritius is one of those destinations that regularly features towards the top of dream trip bucket lists. Although the vast proportion of the kiteboarding action imagery we see focuses on incredible waves like One Eye, Mauritius also just so happens to be one of the most complete kiteboarding islands in the world. Jim and Danielle Gaunt took a Planet Kitesurf Holidays trip to venture beyond the most popular spot of Le Morne to discover vast, spacious lagoons and freeride set-ups in other parts of the island, perfect for all levels, not just wave warriors WORDS – Jim Gaunt // ALL PHOTOS – Kiteworld (unless otherwise stated)

auritius isn’t just a quick hop to summer sunshine like Europe is for us Brits; it’s a big deal. The dreaming, the idle research, the drift towards more serious investigation, the rising belief that you could make the trip a reality and then the hours spent carefully selecting exactly the right booking options before the tidal wave of excitement when you say, sod it, let’s do it. You only live once, right?

Well, we experienced all of that apart from the hours spent carefully selecting options as Planet took care of arranging the practicalities and presented a series of options. For us we were hot-stepped straight to the tidal wave of expectation.

Often with experiences it’s the build up where the real high is. Take New Year for example – we get excited about it for weeks and there’s often so much riding on it that the night itself can be a bit of anti-climax.

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Mauritius is nothing like that. It lives up to its’ hype as an idyllic holiday destination with the added bonus that, as kitesurfers, we can swerve the surprisingly substantial numbers of people who do take holidays in Mauritius as we’ll head to the windier east, south and southwest parts of the island. “Oh great, another cool wind holiday.” might your non-kiting partner mutter, to which you can confidently retort: “Ah but my sweet, just wait till you see the hotel, utterly sheltered from the wind!”

Mauritius, for some, has transcended from just being that special occasion holiday to a regular visit as there are ways and means of doing it on a budget.

You’ll find most of those folks staying in self-catering houses in La Gaulette for example and kiting at the public beach in Le Morne. It makes for a great mix of people and a brilliant atmosphere as you’ll find a very eclectic cross-section of kitesurfers of all ages and experiences.

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“As the road meanders along the coast just a few yards from the turquoise ocean, you can start to see through the trees on the shoreline that there are waves breaking out on the reef beyond the lagoon. But, wow, that lagoon inside the reef! It’s so big, spacious and flat!”

CAPTION // St. Regis by drone

CAPTION // Julien Kerneur, lagoon leaper PHOTO // Ydwer van der Heide / Airush

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CAPTION // Heading back to the Club Mistral centre looking back along the shoreline towards the main launch

CAPTION // Delicious Mauritius. Food for the eyes, mind and belly

PHOTOS // St Regis

KNOCKING ON HEAVEN’S DOOR We arrived very early in the morning after an 11 hour overnight flight from the UK. All our ground transfers over the fortnight were through Planet’s agent, Solis. Our designated driver was called Judex, a kind man with a deep, warm voice and filled with Mauritius wisdom. On this first morning he started with a light history taking us beyond Dutch rule, to the tussle between English and French over the rights to the island during the centuries before independence in 1968. As we listened we gazed out of the window watching the tall sugar cane whiz by the window before we slowed to pass through shabby village streets where neatly dressed school children were beginning their often lengthy journeys to school in distant towns.

The drive from Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam international airport is about an hour from Le Morne which lies in the opposite southwest corner of the island. The first stop on our trip is the most famous and well trodden by kitesurfers and is the only spot on Mauritius that I had visited before. The final 15 minutes of the drive to Le Morne is the stuff that your kitesurfing holiday dreams begin with. This section of the journey is like the very moment that you’re drawn into sleep as it envelopes your body from tip to toe, right before you enter intense, vivid rapid eye movement.

As the road meanders along the coast just a few yards from the turquoise ocean, you can start to see through the trees on the shoreline that there are waves breaking out on the reef beyond the lagoon. But, wow, that lagoon inside the reef! It’s so big, spacious and flat! You approach Le Morne from the upwind part of the lagoon. Continue driving and you’ll take a left once you’ve rounded the back of the Le Morne Brabant mountain (which Judex told us has a rich history as it was a sanctuary for runaway slaves in the early 19th century) and you’ll follow the road in the direction that the busy cluster of brightly coloured signs that advertise the various schools, shops and hotels directs you in at the junction.

We were booked into the St Regis Resort which brought many jealous comments from our friends who have visited Le Morne but hadn’t had the opportunity to stay in the hotel. The six star resort sits on the downwind side of the main kitesurfing beach. We passed the big exterior of the hotel and couldn’t resist checking the beach out first. Judex chuckled, “I thought you might say that!”

You have never seen a kitesurfing set-up like this; it’s really the world’s biggest skateboard park, filled with a veritable feast of freeride and wave riding options, benefitting riders of all abilities, all from the same launch.

Drive as far as the road will take you, park up under the shady trees and walk to the far right corner: You’re stood on the most popular launch spot on Mauritius, which offers a small area but very sociable crowd (at least it was while we were there early season in June). The beach bends at a right angle creating shelter on the leeward side of the beach towards the St Regis and you’ll find kitesurfer’s families lounging comfortably, eating from BBQs and drinking together out of the wind in the beautiful sunshine.

Look out to sea off the front section of the beach and the wind is straight cross shore from the left. Head to the left, round the corner and where the beach turns 90 degrees it faces the wind blowing straight onshore. Very spacious upwind, this is where most general twin-tip freeriders will head. If you go back to the other side where the St Regis is located, the wind blows offshore from that top corner. It’s just a few minute’s walk along the beach to the main launch spot from the St Regis as you can see from the photos, so it really is a sheltered luxury kiter’s oasis. The launch spot can get busy as it’s not huge and you need to head upwind straight away if you’re just going to freeride in the lagoon, but if you’re a good twin-tipper there’s hours of fun to be had riding in the lee of that launch spot in the butter flat waters on a high tide.

The set-up on the water is hard to beat, especially for wave riders. Directly in front of you if you head straight across the wind is the break of Chameau – a playful wave for good riders. Look diagonally left and upwind of there and you have Small Reef – a wave that breaks just outside (and on big days inside) the lagoon quite safely for average wave riders. Look beyond that and you’ll see Manawa – a big, thick rolling beast that breaks much further out. It gets nice and big and steep, but holds for a long time and rolls more than it throws. It can be like riding a rolling hill but can get busy with windsurfers too, but it’s great fun if you’re up to it and being confident a relatively long way offshore.

Back at your original look out position on the beach, now look 60 degrees to the right – downwind – and you’ll see One Eye – a clean jacking face of a wave that grinds its way along the reef for hundreds of yards. It’s one of kitesurfing’s most photogenic waves and gets its fair share of talent posing on it. The set-up for performance riders is just perfect; cross-off wind and a perfect reef angle.

ST. REGIS Okay, if you are wanting to treat yourself and you absolutely want the best, to have total relaxation, the height of luxury, everything done for you, incredible and varied food morning, noon and night and a feeling of seclusion and personal space on the beach or in the hotel, then the St. Regis is absolutely the place for you.

So what’s all the fuss about? Well, you’re as close to the kite spot at Le Morne as you could be while still being completely sheltered from the wind. For partners or family members who don’t kite, they will likely hardly notice that you’re gone when you hit the water. The food in the four restaurants is incredible and we tried not to look at the price of things, but if you can forget about that, wow, it’s worth the holiday alone! Suitably, there’s a butler service and, though they insisted to help, I didn’t let them have a go at folding my nine and seven metre into my luggage. There are golf carts to whizz you around the property, a large luxury spa, there’s an amazing games room with American pool, console games, table tennis, a snug to watch films, a huge library, an actual cinema, business meeting rooms, plus all the outdoor entertainment you’d expect, from pools to bikes and of course the in-house Club Mistral watersports centre.

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I CAPTION // The chic Plantation Club building in the Outrigger

CAPTION // Bel Ombre noodle hut!

CAPTION // If you get served breakfast each morning by this lady, you’re setting off on the right foot.

Complimentary smile with your omelette at the Outrigger

CAPTION // Thanks to drone cameras, we’re afforded the sort of views we could only dream of a few years ago on a much more regular basis.

Look how green and velvety the country looks. And it is. The island gets its fair share of rainfall in the winter, but it packs most of it in just before the windy season (though we were there super early so did get a bit wet). But it’s just so warm too. Drive around the island and there’s a lushness that reaches right up to the side of the road and spills onto the streets between the homes and mostly single story ‘buildings’. This shot shows you the downwinder from Bel Ombre to Le Morne. Yum PHOTO // Kite Globing

BEL OMBRE Venturing outside of Le Morne was a first for me but we had been given a slice of the experience when we took a boat trip upwind of Le Morne when Danielle had a private learn to-gybe-asurfboard lesson with Club Mistral.

Sixteen kilometres east of Le Morne, the village of Bel Ombre is another warm and vibrant community. It’s not blessed with the type of conveniences you’ll be used to, but there a few local stores that you can buy some basics (you know - the aprés kite session chocolates, crisps, cakes, cokes and beers!). It is also where you’ll find a little blue hut nestled on the road side in the corner of a small parkland and shaded under trees where, for 70p / €1, you can buy the most delicious noodles. It’s incredibly popular with locals and we often sat on the roadside enjoying those if we were passing.

The kiting takes place at the C-Beach Club which is where the Kite Globing centre is based. I tell you, there aren’t many centres outside of big hotels with a set-up like this. The beach club has a restaurant, bar and pool and on the beach there’s a children’s climbing area, rope swings and more to keep the kids happy while mum / dad get a kite session in (but that’s not to say that it’s crawling with children – so if you don’t have them yourself, don’t worry, you won’t need ear plugs). There is a volleyball net, sailing dinghies and more and the area is pretty well sheltered from the wind; perfect for the sun beds in the beach club and on the beach.

As Kite Globing have the exclusive launch rights in the area, it never gets too busy here, which is one of the big appeals. The lagoon conditions are more or less the same here as Le Morne, though there is a little bit of a wind shadow on the beach. Experienced riders with adept handling skills will be fine, but anyway there are plenty of staff who will walk your kite out for you off the beach into the shallows to help you launch in the cleaner wind.

The tides were unusually low when we visited in June, and there is a lot of coral in this area, but as the water is so clear you can easily see where the water gets really shallow. It’s advised not to ride too much at low tide, but an hour or two afterwards you’re good to go and this section of lagoon is huge. I got to experience one of the lagoon downwinders that Kite Globing often run. Centre owner Kathrin and I kited down a few kilometres to the little village of Baie de Cap, but the more popular route is to head all the way to Le Morne. If you’re used to downwinders, then it’s rare to get such a long flat water downwinder. All 16 kilometres of this downwinder is in the lovely warm, flat and waist / chest deep lagoon. It’s incredible. And the views of the island as you weave your way over the turquoise waters alongside the little villages dotted into the green hillsides and coast is an enlivening experience. Whether you’re into boosting or are getting to grips with carving, this downwinder is an absolute joy. The Kite Globing safety boat follows you along the way for support.

I also did a downwinder with Kathrin’s husband, Max, who is a Mauritian local with a lifetime of ocean experience who has also been kiting on the island since 1999. We downwinded in the

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“If you’re used to downwinders, then it’s rare to get such a long flat water downwinder. All 16 kilometres of this downwinder is in the lovely warm, flat and waist / chest deep lagoon. It’s incredible.”

CAPTION // Outrigger food and sun stations CAPTION // Julien Kerneur letting rip outside the reef PHOTO // Ydwer van der Heide / Airush lagoon to a channel that allows us safe passage over the reef to a wave that breaks 400 metres offshore called Macambe. Max knows the place like the back of his hand, but it took me a while to get the confidence to get deeper and deeper on the wave.

I had never ridden such a clockwork wave with an easy shoulder and a thicker but predictable heart. You can catch it 150 yards before the thing really starts to jack up allowing you to pick how deep you want to go on the wave. Get too deep and the wave does break onto shallow reef, but the wind pulls you into the channel, so although my inexperience did catch me out on the inside once, I kited away with only a few lashes to the hand and feet, but it was a very real warning that Mauritus waves can be very delicately balanced between heaven and hell - if you don’t get the right knowledge and guidance.

For a quieter option to Le Morne if you’re generally wanting to twin-tip day-today, you’ll be pleased you investigated this area.

OUTRIGGER While in Bel Ombre we stayed at the Outrigger hotel which is a 300 metre / 15 minute stroll up the beach from the C Beach club. Built on a huge plot of land, the Outrigger had by far the most spacious feel of all the properties we stayed in. Even their most basic junior rooms are like mini suites with jet baths, plenty of space and enourmous beds. The family rooms have an adjoining bedroom with a bunk bed and single bed. There are three restaurants, three pools and four pool bars / restaurants.

For those wanting to relax there are beautiful beach side loungers and poster beds, a Navasana spa and, for the more sporty, tennis courts, a gymnasium, bicycles and more. We’d recommend at least booking half-board or full board for much better value on your food and drinks. Plus, you do have to drive quite a distance and do your research to find good restaurants or bars outside of the property for regular, good food. Wine is an expensive luxury here, but the beer is reasonable, thankfully!

CAPTION // Mixing it up on a downwinder in Bel Ombre PHOTO // Kite Globing

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CAPTION // Solo session at the Maritim

CAPTION // Northern charm at Kuxville

PALMAR / BELLE MARE The east coast of Mauritius has an active kitesurfing population but it’s nowhere near as popular as the south west spots. Le Morne usually benefits from a little more of a venturi effect because of the mountain, but the east and northeast of the island also get good and regular conditions with some of the most beautiful lagoons and settings to ride in. In fact, when it’s wet and there’s no wind in the south, you could find hot sunshine and good wind to the north, so this area is definitely up and coming.

The wind still prevails from the easterly direction but that means that it’s more cross onshore from the right at those spots, and you can expect nine to 12 metre kite conditions.

We stayed at the Maritim Crystal Beach hotel in Palmar which has its own kite spot right out front and was the ultimate bed-to-board riding destination we visited. The hotel also has a Kite Globing centre right on site which lies very centrally on the hotel beach. It’s very convenient and you don’t find such a priority on hotel kite centres usually, which reflects the positive way that the Maritim looks at kitesurfing and activities in general. Of all the hotels this was the most laid back.

It’s an excellent four star in terms of amenities, set-up, food and the service I’d say is five star, but the general air of the place is a little more laid back.

The kite centre is a very new set-up here and there are only a few hotel guests riding here, so if you’re looking for a relaxed riding experience that’s very convenient in terms of location, this is a solid option. We were only there for a few days and were very early in the year and out of the main wind season, but we still managed a lovely lagoon session.

The low tides were also very low when we visited Palmar and revealed multiple clusters of coral that protrude the water surface, but as the water fills in there are lots of safe areas to ride and the centre has two rescue boats on standby.

Wherever you stay in Mauritius we’d say that it’s worth hiring a car because there is lots to see and do on the island, whether it’s visiting the most popular tourist attractions of the island, such as the coloured earths of Chamarel, the giant lilly ponds in the northwest or the Casela national park where you can walk with lions, but there are also some incredibly beautiful parts of the islands you’ll miss out on seeing if you don’t. Or, you can organise these trips through Solis, like we did.

Of course, top of that list are the other waves and other lagoons. Being based in Palmar you have just over an hour’s drive to the spots in the south or a 45 minute drive north to Anse la Raie... where your jaw will hit the floor. When you closed your eyes and pictured Mauritius before arriving, this is what you saw. There’s great kitesurfing up here too and a good combination of lagoon riding and waves. If you’re an experienced wave rider you can find your way out through a channel and smash up the often playful waves. Unlike the lefts in the south, if you’re a natural footer, the waves up there have wind from the right and aren’t as intimidating as the likes of One Eye or as busy and big as Manawa. You’ll have fun here. But again, don’t just head out there thinking you can figure it out. It all looks very heavenly, but as with anywhere on the island you don’t want to end up on the reef in the wrong place. So humbly ask the advice of the likes of Club Mistral or Nico Kux (Kuxville) who both have schools up here and Kite Globing at the Maritim will guide you, too.

If you’re really up for a downwind adventure, then once a year check out the Mauritius Kiteival – an annual amateur downwinder event week that Nico Kux runs here in August. Staying in different hotels each night, you’ll do downwind stages that include: Bel Ombre to Le Morne / Pte D’Esny to Mahebourg / Palmar to Poste La Fayette / Roches Noires to Cap Malheureux. As you can see, there’s lots of epic lagoon downwind potential to Mauritius. The website has more info of the routes and spots: www.kiteivalmauritius.com

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MAURITIUS MEMORIES From the moment you step off the plane you’ll experience one of the most genuinely welcoming nations of people you could hope to come across - even those who have so little compared to you.

Mauritians are also good at holding onto ownership of their land, so although there are a lot of South African real estate agents and developments moving in, particularly in Tamarind, it’s hoped that Mauritius will never lose its soul.

There are dogs everywhere. Literally. Be careful at night because they like to sleep in the road!

The buffet at the St Regis is the best buffet I have ever experienced. And having a private Indian Chef (who trained under the famous UK TV chef Atul Kochhar) in the tea garden one evening was an unforgettable experience. As was opening a packet to reveal a tiny pair of disposable knickers I was supposed to wear for my ‘Kitesurfers Massage’ in the spa!

Driving from Le Morne in the southwest to the most northerly kite spot, Anse le Raie, is 80 kilometres and will take you an hour and 45, to give you an idea of the size of the island. If you hire a car and drive it yourself there is usually a GPS with the car. And you’ll need it. And you shouldn’t always expect it to not send you the wrong way down a one way street. Or into a field. However, unlike in the UK, if you do take a wrong turn, the locals give you a friendly wave to tell you you’re going the wrong way!

Nowhere is too far to drive for a day trip on the island, make sure you get out and about. If you don’t hire a car we can’t recommend Solis highly enough as they offer various island guide and activities as well as regular transfers. www.solis-io.com

PHOTOS // Maritim Crystals Beach

Find out more about Mauritius kitesurfing trips through Planet Kitesurf Holidays for their full range of package options: www.planetkitesurfholidays.com KW

CAPTION // The centre piece, Maritim Crystals Beach

“On the trips that we’ve done, our groups just love the lagoons up north. In the past I’ve kept a surfboard on the rescue boat when we’ve had a group who want to twin-tip in the lagoon. When they head in I’ll grab my surfboard, nip out through a channel and have a hoot riding waves til sunset. There are a lot of spots, but you should get some local advice. When you do, it’s just joy up there.”

CHRIS BULL, KITEWORLD TESTER AND CBK-HAYLING ISLAND TRIP LEADER

CAPTION // It’s a good thing you’re not charged by the acres of free space up here