Home / Experience Mauritius / Beaches / La Cambuse Beach
A long, undeveloped sweep of white sand and casuarinas ten minutes from the airport — no hotels, no vendors, and rougher water than the postcards suggest.
La Cambuse runs for well over a kilometre along the south-east coast between Le Chaland and Blue Bay, and almost nothing has been built on it. Filao trees come down close to the water, the sand is coarse and pale, and on a weekday you can walk the length of it and pass a handful of people. That emptiness is the whole point, and it is increasingly rare on this island.
It is also the reason to take the water seriously. The reef sits far out and there are breaks in it along this stretch, so waves reach the shore with more force than at Blue Bay a few minutes west, and currents can run. Local surfers and bodyboarders use it; families with small children generally do not. What it does offer is scale, shade, and a genuine sense of the coast before development — plus proximity to the airport that makes it a good first or last stop of a trip. Bring everything with you: there are no shops, no vendors and no lifeguards, and at weekends Mauritian families arrive early with barbecues and stay all day.
Rougher than most Mauritian beaches — the reef is distant and broken here, so waves and currents are real. No lifeguards. Strong swimmers only, and stay out entirely when a swell is running.
Everything: water, food, shade if you want more than the trees give, and a bag for your rubbish. There is nothing sold on this beach.
Informal roadside parking under the filaos and no facilities of any kind — no toilets, showers or vendors. Quiet on weekdays; busy with local families and barbecues at weekends.
Ten minutes west and the complete opposite: 353 hectares of protected coral garden in calm, shallow water, snorkelled straight off the sand.
Half an hour west along the coast: a wave-cut lava arch over a sea cave, at the end of a rough cane-field track.
Off Mahébourg: a restored coral islet where native ebony forest, pink pigeons and giant tortoises have been brought back.
La Cambuse public beach,
Le Chaland, near Plaine Magnien,
Grand Port District, Mauritius
Around 10 minutes from the airport
Approximately 15 minutes from Mahébourg
Around 1 hour from Port Louis
Follow the coast road from the airport roundabout towards Le Chaland and Blue Bay; access points are unmarked gaps in the treeline, with informal parking on the verge.
Less so than most Mauritian beaches. The reef is distant and broken along this stretch, so waves reach the shore with force and currents can run. There are no lifeguards — it suits strong swimmers, and nobody should go in when a swell is running.
None. No toilets, showers, vendors or shops — only informal parking under the filao trees. Bring water, food and shade, and take your rubbish away with you.
About ten minutes by car, which makes it a good first stop after landing or a last walk before a late flight — provided you are not counting on a swim.
Weekends and public holidays, when Mauritian families arrive early with barbecues and stay all day. On a weekday morning you may have long stretches of it to yourself.
Blue Bay, ten minutes west, is shallow, clear and reef-protected, with shade, parking and snorkelling straight off the beach — the obvious alternative if you are travelling with children.