Catamaran tour Mauritius: every boat day to Ile aux Cerfs, compared

Ile aux Cerfs is a sand island inside the east lagoon, and the whole reason it is on every itinerary is that getting there is the day. There is no road to it. You sail across shallow water, you stop, you eat on the boat, you come back — and the boat is what you choose between, not the island.

The photograph at the top of this page is the arrival: a catamaran lying off a white beach with casuarina trees along the shoreline and small boats pulled up on the sand. That is what the end of a catamaran tour Mauritius sells looks like, and it is the same beach whichever of the five listings you book.

What is not the same is the hours. One listing runs six hours, three run seven, and the fifth swaps the sailing boat for a speedboat. Two of them name Trou d’Eau Douce as the departure point. Three of them name the Grand River South East waterfall as a stop on the way, which is a real difference in a day: the boat goes up to a river mouth instead of sailing straight across.

Snorkelling appears in three of the five descriptions, a BBQ lunch in all of them, and two listings say three courses with drinks on board. That is what the operators commit to in writing, and this page is built from it.

Six hours, $54, 1,387 reviews at 4.3. The cheapest listing here sails from Trou d’Eau Douce, visits the Grand River South East waterfall, puts snorkelling in the clear water on the itinerary and serves a three-course BBQ lunch with drinks on board. It is also the most reviewed boat day on this site, and it carries the lowest rating of the five. Both of those facts are worth the same amount of attention.

Seven hours, $55, 923 reviews at 4.6. A full day on the east lagoon with the BBQ lunch, snorkelling in the shallows and a stop at the GRSE waterfall. One dollar more than the six-hour trip and an hour longer, which makes it the odd one out in the pricing of this niche.

Seven hours, $68, 1,138 reviews at 4.7. A full-day cruise on a 45-foot catamaran, with swimming, snorkelling among tropical fish and the BBQ lunch included. The listing names the size of the boat, which none of the others do.

Seven hours, $78, 839 reviews at 4.7. The east-coast lagoon day, again leaving from Trou d’Eau Douce, with snorkelling, the GRSE waterfall and the BBQ lunch.

Seven hours, $141, 456 reviews at 4.8. Not a catamaran at all. A speedboat day along the south-east lagoon that takes in the islands bordering it, a lighthouse, wrecks on the coral reef and Ile aux Cerfs, with snorkelling and a BBQ. It is the highest-rated of the five and the thinnest on reviews, and it costs more than twice the six-hour catamaran.

Price first, because the spread is wider than it looks. The six-hour catamaran is $54 and the speedboat day is $141 — the speedboat costs more than twice as much for one extra hour. Between those two sit three seven-hour catamaran days at $55, $68 and $78.

Now the evidence. The six-hour boat carries 1,387 reviews at 4.3. The seven-hour days carry 923 reviews at 4.6, 1,138 reviews at 4.7 and 839 reviews at 4.7. The speedboat carries 456 reviews at 4.8. Read those together and a pattern shows up that the prices hide: the cheapest listing has the most reviews and the lowest score of the five, and the most expensive has the highest score on the fewest reviews.

That is not a reason to avoid either, only to know what you are buying. A rating built on 1,387 reviews is a measured thing; one built on 456 is a smaller sample.

Verdict. For most people the seven-hour catamaran at $55 is the right catamaran tour Mauritius booking on this page: it is one dollar above the cheapest, an hour longer, and it holds 923 reviews at 4.6. If you want the largest body of evidence behind your booking, take the six-hour day at $54 with 1,387 reviews at 4.3. If a sailing boat is not the point and you would rather cover the lagoon, the lighthouse and the reef wrecks at speed, the speedboat at $141 with 456 reviews at 4.8 is a different day wearing the same destination. All five list Free cancellation.