Mauritius Travel Guide - Getting Around

Air Mauritius (website: www.airmauritius.com) operates daily flights connecting Plaisance Airport and Rodrigues (flight time - 1 hour 15 minutes). Air Mauritius Helicopter offers transfers and sightseeing tours (tel: 603 3754; e-mail: helicopter@airmauritius.com).

Coraline sails once a week to Rodrigues Island from Port Louis (tel: 210 5944 or 6120; website: www.mauritiusshipping.intnet.mu).

One major highway runs north to south, otherwise a good network of paved, if sometimes narrow, roads cover the island. Traffic drives, erratically, on the left.

Coach/bus: Excellent and numerous bus services ply the island, The main three companies are the National Transport Corporation (NBC) (tel: 426 2938), United Bus Service (UBS) (tel: 212 2026) and Mauritius Bus Transport (MTB) (tel: 245 2539).

Taxi: These are regulated and metered and linked to provinces or hotels, printed on a yellow panel on the drivers' door. Tips are not customary for taxi drivers, but appreciated.

Car hire: Numerous car hire firms include major international and independent firms.

Regulations: Drivers are required to be over 23 years old. Speed limits are 80kph (50mph) on the motorway and 50kph (31mph) in built-up areas. Seat belts must be worn.

Documentation: A foreign licence is accepted.

Bus and taxi services are best used in urban areas. Bicycles and motorbikes are also available for hire.

The following chart gives approximate journey times (in hours and minutes) from Port Louis to other major cities/towns/resorts in Mauritius.

	Road
Curepipe	0.20
Grand Baie, North	0.30
Mahebourg, Southeast	1.00
Flic-en-Flac, West	0.30