Home / Experience Mauritius / Historical & Cultural Sites / Caudan Waterfront
Port Louis on the water’s edge — shops, cafes, a craft market, a museum, an arts centre and a working marina, all on one pedestrian promenade with the harbour on one side and the Moka mountains behind.
Le Caudan opened on the old docks in November 1996 as the island’s first waterfront shopping and leisure development, and it takes its name from Jean Dominique Michel de Caudan, who set up a saltpan on the bay in 1726. The complex is built around four buildings: Barkly Wharf, the first to go up; L’Observatoire, named for the meteorological and astronomical observatory that stood here from 1832 and where Charles Meldrum studied cyclone patterns in the 1860s; Dias Pier, the newest wing; and the Caudan Arts Centre.
For visitors the appeal is that so much sits in one walkable, traffic-free stretch. Around a hundred shops run from international labels to textile factory outlets and duty-free counters; the Craft Market’s stalls sell model ships, basketwork, spices and carved wood; and the restaurants, cafes and food court cover everything from a quick dholl puri to a long harbourside dinner. The Blue Penny Museum is here, with the 1847 Post Office stamps, and the 430-seat Caudan Arts Centre programmes theatre, concerts and exhibitions. Add a casino, a cinema, the Odysseo oceanarium next door and the marina itself, where container and cruise ships work the harbour in full view. It also makes the natural base for the rest of Port Louis: Aapravasi Ghat, the central market, Place d’Armes and Chinatown are all within a short walk.
Complex open daily, free to enter
Shops roughly Mon–Sat 9:30 AM – 6:00 PM
Sunday mornings only; restaurants later
Comfortable shoes for the cobbles, and a card — the duty-free counters need your passport and boarding pass if you are shopping tax-free.
Level, pedestrianised walkways with lifts between wings and on-site paid parking. A Metro Express stop and the central bus station are both a short walk away. The complex itself is free; the museum, casino, cinema and Arts Centre events are ticketed separately.
Inside the complex: the 1847 Post Office stamps, antique charts of the Indian Ocean and the original Paul et Virginie marble.
A five-minute walk along the quay to the UNESCO-listed immigration depot where nearly half a million indentured labourers landed. Free entry.
Across the road and a world away — the capital’s central bazaar, at its best in the morning for fruit, spices and street food.
Le Caudan Waterfront,
Marina Quay, Caudan,
Port Louis, Mauritius
~40 min from Grand Baie
~30 min from Flic-en-Flac
~50 min from the airport
On the harbourfront at the western edge of Port Louis, with paid parking on site, a Metro Express stop alongside and the central bus station a short walk away.
No. The complex is open and free to walk through. Individual attractions — the Blue Penny Museum, the casino, the cinema and Caudan Arts Centre events — are ticketed separately.
Most shops open Monday to Saturday from around 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM, with shorter hours on Sunday mornings. Restaurants, cafes and the casino stay open considerably later.
The Blue Penny Museum, the Craft Market, the 430-seat Caudan Arts Centre, a cinema and casino, the Odysseo oceanarium next door, and the marina promenade itself, where you can watch container and cruise ships working the harbour.
Model ships are the signature Mauritian craft here, alongside basketwork, spices, carved wood and local textiles. The stalls sit on the ground floor of the main complex.
Le Caudan is on Marina Quay at the harbour edge of Port Louis, with paid parking on site, a Metro Express stop alongside and the central bus station a short walk away — which makes it the easiest base for exploring the rest of the capital on foot.