Getting There

There are several daily flights from Europe, Africa and from the neighbouring countries. To and from Europe, there is a trend to consolidate on the major cities of western Europe. Most flights are operated by national companies, namely Air Mauritius, with special agreements with the European National airlines. With the actual determination to further develop the tourism industry, private airlines are landing in Mauritius as from 2006, some more regularly than others.

Asia is regularly served but only via Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong.

There are also regular flights from Perth Australia but like for some private companies it is difficult for us to be specific as regards to service to and from other Australian cities as service seems to be depending on the airlines' moods.

From the American continent, the best connections are via European airports for North America and via South Africa for South American countries.

Making Mauritius: Tips for a stress-free vacation to Mauritius

Visas

S/No	Country	Requirement
1	Afghanistan	Visa required prior to travel.
2	Albania	Visa for sixty days on arrival
3	Algeria	Visa for two weeks on arrival
4	Andorra	Visa for sixty days on arrival
5	Angola	No visa required
6	Antigua and Barbuda	No visa required
7	Argentina	No visa required
8	Armenia	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
9	Australia	No visa required.
10	Austria	No visa required.
11	Azerbaijan	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
12	Bahamas	No visa required.
13	Bahrain	No visa required.
14	Bangladesh	Visa required prior to travel.
15	Barbados	No visa required.
16	Belarus	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
17	Belgium	No visa required.
18	Belize	No visa required.
19	Benin	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
20	Bhutan	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
21	Bolivia	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
22	Bosnia & Herzegovina	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
23	Botswana	No visa required.
24	Brazil	No visa required.
25	Brunei Darussalam	No visa required.
26	Bulgaria	No visa required.
27	Burkina Faso	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
28	Burundi	No visa required.
29	Cambodia	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
30	Cameroun	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
31	Canada	No visa required.
32	Cape Verde	No visa required.
33	Chile	No visa required.
34	China	No visa required.
35	Colombia	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
36	Comoros	Visa for two weeks on arrival.
37	Congo (Brazzaville)	No visa required
38	Central African Rep.	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
39	Democratic Rep. of Congo	No visa required
40	Costa Rica	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
41	Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
42	Croatia	No visa required
43	Cuba	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
44	Cyprus	No visa required.
45	Czech Republic (ex Czechoslovakia)	No visa required.
46	Denmark	No visa required
47	Djibouti	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
48	Dominica	No visa required.
49	Dominican Republic	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
50	Ecuador	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
51	Egypt	No visa required
52	El Salvador	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
53	Equatorial Guinea	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
54	Eritrea	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
55	Estonia Republic	No visa required.
56	Ethiopia	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
57	Fiji	No visa required.
58	Finland	No visa required.
59	France	No visa required.
60	Gabon	No visa required.
61	Gambia	No visa required.
62	Georgia	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
63	Germany	No visa required.
64	Ghana	No visa required.
65	Greece	No visa required.
66	Grenada	No visa required.
67	Guinea / Guinea Bissau	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
68	Guatemala	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
69	Guyana	No visa required.
70	Haiti	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
71	Honduras	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
72	Hong Kong	No visa required
73	Hungary	No visa required.
74	Iceland	No visa required.
75	India	No visa required.
76	Indonesia	Visa required prior to travel.
77	Iran	Visa required prior to travel.
78	Iraq	Visa required prior to travel.
79	Ireland	No visa required.
80	Israel	No visa required.
81	Italy	No visa required.
82	Jamaica	No visa required.
83	Japan	No visa required.
84	Jordan	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
85	Kazakhstan	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
86	Kenya	No visa required.
87	Kiribati	No visa required.
88	Korea (South Republic)	No visa required.
89	Korea (North)	Visa required prior to travel.
90	Kuwait	No visa required.
91	Kyrgyzstan Rep.	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
92	Laos	Visa required prior to travel.
93	Latvia	No visa required.
94	Lesotho	No visa required.
95	Lebanon	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
96	Liberia	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
97	Libya	Visa required prior to travel.
98	Liechtenstein	No visa required.
99	Lithuania	No visa required.
100	Luxemburg	No visa required.
101	Macau SAR	No visa required.
102	Macedonia (ex Yugoslav Rep.)	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
103	Madagascar	Visa for two weeks on arrival.
104	Malawi	No visa required.
105	Malaysia	No visa required.
106	Maldives	No visa required.
107	Mali	Visa required prior to travel.
108	Malta	No visa required.
109	Mauritania	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
110	Marshall Island	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
111	Mexico	No visa required.
112	Micronesia	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
113	Moldova	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
114	Monaco	No visa required.
115	Mongolia	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
116	Morocco	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
117	Mozambique	No visa required
118	Myanmar (Burma)	Visa for two weeks  on arrival
119	Namibia	No visa required
120	Nauru	No visa required.
121	Nepal	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
122	Netherlands	No visa required.
123	New Zealand	No visa required.
124	Nicaragua	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
125	Niger	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
126	Nigeria	Visa for two weeks on arrival.
127	Norway	No visa required.
128	Oman	No visa required.
129	Pakistan	Visa required prior to travel.
130	Palau	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
131	Palestinian State	Visa required prior to travel.
132	Panama	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
133	Papua New Guinea	No visa required.
134	Paraguay	No visa required.
135	Peru	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
136	Philippines	Visa required prior to travel.
137	Poland	No visa required.
138	Portugal	No visa required.
139	Qatar	No visa required.
140	Reunion Island	No visa required.
141	Romania	No visa required.
142	Rwanda	No visa required.
143	Russian Federation (Russia)	No visa required.
144	Saharawi Republic	Visa required prior to travel.
145	Samoa (Western)	No visa required.
146	San Marino	No visa required.
147	Sao Tome & Principe	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
148	Saudi Arabia	No visa required.
149	Senegal	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
150	Seychelles	No visa required.
151	Sierra Leone	No visa required.
152	Singapore	No visa required.
153	Slovenia	No visa required.
154	Slovakia	No visa required.
155	Solomon Islands	No visa required.
156	Somalia	Visa required prior to travel.
157	South Africa	No visa required.
158	Spain	No visa required.
159	St Kitts  and Nevis	No visa required.
160	St Lucia	No visa required.
161	St Vincent & Grenadines	No visa required.
162	Suriname	No visa required.
163	Sri Lanka	Visa required prior to travel.
164	Sudan	Visa required prior to travel.
165	South Sudan	Visa required prior to travel.
166	Syria	Visa required prior to travel.
167	Swaziland	No visa required
168	Sweden	No visa required.
169	Switzerland	No visa required.
170	Tajikistan	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
171	Taiwan	Visa required prior to travel.
172	Tanzania	No visa required.
173	Tchad	No visa required.
174	Thailand	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
175	Timor Leste	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
176	Togo	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
177	Tonga	No visa required.
178	Trinidad & Tobago	No visa required.
179	Tunisia	No visa required.
180	Turkey	No visa required.
181	Turkmenistan	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
182	Tuvalu	No visa required.
183	Uganda	No visa required.
184	Ukraine	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
185	United Arab Emirates	No visa required.
186	United Kingdom	No visa required.
187	United States of America	No visa required.
188	Uzbekistan	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
189	Uruguay	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
190	Vanuatu	No visa required.
191	Vatican	No visa required.
192	Venezuela	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
193	Vietnam	Visa required prior to travel.
194	Yemen	Visa required prior to travel.
195	Yugoslavia (Serbia & Montenegro)	Visa for sixty days on arrival.
196	Zambia	No visa required.
197	Zimbabwe	No visa required.

In addition, visas are NOT REQUIRED for those transiting in Mauritius as long as the transit time does not exceed 72 hours.

Those holding passports from countries that are not listed above should take counsel with a travel agency or contact the Mauritian consulate or embassy in their country. In some case, visas need to be obtained prior to departure, in other cases, visas can be delivered on arrival. In any case, all passports must have a minimum validity of 6 months after scheduled date of departure.

Money

Most international currencies are accepted at Mauritian counters but the Mauritian Rupee cannot be traded in any country except occasionally in South Africa and India. Indicative bank rates are proposed in the grid below; rates in hotels are generally higher.

Visa and Mastercard credit cards are accepted almost everywhere, while Diners Club and American Express are accepted in hotels and only in some other places. Automatic tellers are available and in good working condition in almost every village.

Indicative Exchange Rates are as follows:

Exchange Rates			BUYING			SELLING
CURRENCY	CODE	UNITS	TT	TC / DD	NOTES	TT	TC / DD	NOTES
Australian Dollar	AUD	1	31.34	31.03	30.93	32.98	32.98	30.93
Canadian Dollar	CAD	1	30.17	29.79	29.64	31.78	31.78	29.64
Danish Kroner	DKK	1	5.13	5.10	4.98	5.42	5.42	4.98
Euro	EUR	1	38.455	37.965	37.744	40.375	40.375	37.744
Hong Kong Dollar	HKD	1	3.88	3.86	3.84	4.08	4.08	3.84
Indian Rupee	INR	1	0.55	0.55	N.D.	0.58	0.58	N.D.
New Zealand Dollar	NZD	1	24.51	24.38	24.00	25.79	25.79	24.00
Norwegian Krone	NOK	1	5.23	5.19	5.11	5.52	5.52	5.11
Saudi Arabian Riyal	SAR	1	8.05	8.02	7.96	8.67	8.67	7.96
Singapore Dollar	SGD	1	24.60	24.50	24.39	26.04	26.04	24.39
South African Rand	ZAR	1	3.37	3.33	3.30	3.58	3.58	3.30
Swedish Kronor	SEK	1	4.42	4.39	4.32	4.68	4.68	4.32
Swiss Franc	CHF	1	31.895	31.618	31.411	33.531	33.531	31.411
UAE Dirham	AED	1	8.17	8.14	7.57	8.61	8.61	7.57
British Pound Sterling	GBP	1	47.772	47.273	47.073	50.171	50.171	47.073
US Dollar	USD	1	30.087	30.024	29.977	31.600	31.600	29.977

Health

There are no severe transmissible viruses such as TB or Malarya in Mauritius except for certain rare cases picked up on some frequent travellers. No vaccination is required. The health services are very efficient and closely monitor the arrivals and departures.

The Chikungunya virus has spread out in early 2006, to an extent which is still unknown as official figures differ widely from the rumours. It is certain that the extent was large, causing a sharp drop in tourist arrivals in March and April 2006. As the virus is vectored by a specific type of mosquito, the outbreak gets naturally reduced during the winter (drier) months of May to November. A vast fumigation campaign has been initialised and is being carried out regularly during the winter months, with the aim to completely eradicate the virus.

Mauritians consume tap water and skinless fresh fruits every day, as they are safe. This does not mean that they do not cause diseases, mainly the runs or the "turista" to those who are not yet immune.

For a more comfortable stay, drink only mineral water and accept ice only while in hotels and restaurants treating tap water. Streets are often the best deals and the tastiest. However, they are not always hygienic and often cause diseases. (See "Food & Cuisine.")

Conditions in public hospitals are appalling when compared to European standards but the emergency services are doing fine. The private clinics are generally of good level.

Customs

Customs and immigration is very strict in Mauritius. For an unknown reason, while everything is done abroad to attract tourists, it takes several minutes for an immigration officer to check a passport leaving the impression that visitors are not welcome. It is probably worth mentioning that the case is worse for Mauritian citizens coming back home.

Plants and parts of plants have to be declared at customs and some of them might be forbidden. Sugar cane is one of them. Parts of animals are often prohibited and live animals are subject to a quarantine. It is therefore not worth taking your dog to Mauritius as you will be back home already when it will come out of quarantine.

Drugs are totally prohibited and drug traffickers are liable to maximum imprisonment. Getting caught with cannabis (even for personal consumption) or any other illegal substances may be a serious matter and will surely take you to jail. Although the law provides for possibilities of fast-track trials for visitors, the risk of spending a too long time in jail is high.

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Update January 2013