In short:
- Belle Mare is not one spot. It is roughly ten kilometres of sand on the east coast.
- No rails reach the east. The practical answer to “how to get to Belle Mare” is a taxi from your hotel.
- From the east the drive takes minutes, from the south-west 1 h 20 and up. Table by zone below.
- Belle Mare Public Beach is open to everyone. At resorts a taxi pulls up at the main gate, not the sea.
- Ile aux Cerfs is easy from here. Boats leave from the nearest jetty, Trou d’Eau Douce.
Belle Mare runs about ten kilometres along the water. Your hotel sits on one stretch of that shore. The stretch decides your travel time and where a taxi meets the sand. Below we cover how to get to Belle Mare from each resort zone. You will also see where to step onto the beach. Maps and hotel listings write Belle Mare or Belle-Mare. Same shore.
How to get to Belle Mare: travel time from your zone
Every coast reaches Belle Mare overland and in one go. The metro does not run east, as the lines stay on the central plateau. Buses do come here, but they link the shore to big inland hubs. With suitcases that means changes and half a day gone. So the trip comes down to one taxi ride from the hotel.
Travel time depends on your zone.
| Coming from | Drive to Belle Mare | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| East: Trou d’Eau Douce, Poste Lafayette | 10–25 minutes | Follows the shore itself |
| North: Grand Baie, Pereybere | 40 min – 1 h 15 | Calmer after ten in the morning |
| West: Flic en Flac, Tamarin | 1 h – 1 h 30 | Crosses the island via the plateau |
| South-west: Le Morne, Bel Ombre | 1 h 20 – 1 h 45 | Goes through the south and the plateau |
Trips from the west and south-west pass through the plateau towns. Traffic is heavy there from about 07:00 to 09:30 and 16:00 to 18:30. Leaving after ten saves more than any detour. In the DodoGo app your map pin decides which stretch of sand the taxi reaches. Booking a ride on the spot is covered in taxi near me in Mauritius.
For the other resorts we put everything in one table of driving times in Mauritius, with a note on which routes run through the capital.
Where to get out: public beach or hotel gate
Belle Mare has two drop-off points, the public beach and your hotel reception. The strip has several public entrances, and the largest is Belle Mare Public Beach. Entry is free, and a taxi drives right up to the sand. Access to the water is not continuous, with fenced hotel plots between the entrances. Resorts sit behind gates, so a taxi goes to the main entrance. From there guests walk to the sea through the grounds.
Coming for a beach day? Drop your pin on the public beach. Coming to check in? Enter the hotel name in DodoGo, not “Belle Mare”. Otherwise the pin lands by the water, and you walk to your room with suitcases.
What is near Belle Mare: a jetty, a wilder beach, a town
Three landmarks sit close to Belle Mare. They are Trou d’Eau Douce jetty, Poste Lafayette and Centre de Flacq. Boats to Ile aux Cerfs leave from the jetty. The crossing and the way back are covered in how to get to Ile aux Cerfs. A day splits neatly between two points. Morning on the island, afternoon on the beach.
Poste Lafayette lies further north along the same coast. It is wilder and windier, with few hotels. The town of Centre de Flacq sits inland, and people go there to shop. Its market is the largest on the island, with Wednesday and Sunday the main days.
The east against other coasts: what the drive buys you
The east is windy, and its lagoon is wide and shallow. A reef about a kilometre out shelters the lagoon. The water by the sand stays calm. The south-east trade wind blows hardest from May to October, peaking in July and August. Kitesurfers and windsurfers gain from that. Anyone after flat water and a sea sunset loses out. The sun sets behind the island here. Bars and restaurants outside the hotels are fewer than in Grand Baie. The coast road has almost no pavements, so you cannot walk between beaches.
Plan ahead: the way back and the airport
Plan the return, not the way there. Buses from Belle Mare head inland, to Centre de Flacq, Port Louis and Curepipe. The last departures are early, around five in the afternoon. Nothing runs along the coastal strip between the hotels. In the evening only a taxi gets you off the shore. Sundays cut some routes further, and the metro in Mauritius does not run east.
SSR airport sits in the south-east, about 50 km away along the coast. No direct bus links the terminal with the east coast. You need at least one change. The ride in is covered in Mauritius airport transfer. DodoGo works around the clock and across the island, so a late landing breaks nothing.
Questions and answers
How to get to Belle Mare from Mauritius airport?
Overland only. No direct bus links SSR airport with the east coast. The airport sits in the south-east, about 50 kilometres away along the shore. A taxi runs from the terminal straight to your hotel, at any hour.
Is there a bus to Belle Mare?
You can reach the beach. One line from Port Louis ends at the public beach. But departures are rare, and the last ones leave around five in the afternoon. Between the hotels along the coast, no bus runs at all. With luggage that means half a day of changes. A taxi from the door is more practical.
Where is the public beach in Belle Mare?
The strip has several public entrances, and the largest is Belle Mare Public Beach. Entry is free, and a taxi drives right up to the sand. Hotel plots are gated, so a taxi goes to the main entrance instead.
How long is the drive from Belle Mare to Trou d’Eau Douce jetty?
About 10–25 minutes along the coast road. Boats to Ile aux Cerfs leave from that jetty. Combining the island with a beach day works, because both sit on the same shore.
Does the metro go to Belle Mare?
No. Metro Express has two lines. Both stay on the plateau between Port Louis, Curepipe and Réduit. The east coast has no rails. That leaves a taxi, from the hotel door straight to the shore.
The east coast runs on a simple timetable. Market morning in Centre de Flacq, a day on the sand under the trade wind. In the evening, back to the hotel. Install DodoGo in advance — for iPhone or for Android. Dropping the pin takes a minute, whether on the public beach or at reception.
