Up and down Mauritius' eastern coast

One of the biggest potentials of the east coast of Mauritius is, without a doubt, the possibility to go up and downwind along the beautiful lagoons, protected by the reef (which you can sometimes pass to play with the waves), exploring every corner, with beautiful vulcanic mountains in the background.
Olive's GPS tracks from 4 different sessions give a good idea of the distance of coast we managed to explore... Since we where staying in a nice villa in Trou d'Eau Douce, with a beach on the backyard (just check the first photo below - yes, you can see stars, since it was taken at 23h30 with a 25 seconds shutter speed), there was an exploration we repeated a couple of times: going upwind to Ile aux Cerfs, a beautiful island not far but with a lot of ground to cover around it (Olive and Chris pushed it all the way south to Pointe du Diable, the Devil's Tip).

(check Marguerite's video for an idea of what our backyard looked like...)

Besides going up and down and all-around Maude and Julien's spot, we took advantage of their guidance to go downwind (which, with the dominant southeasterly winds, means north) from Palmar Beach to Poste Lafayette. We didn't have to insist much to get them to leave their kiteschool for a couple of hours and come with us!

But, by far, the best downwind we did (and, probably, the best session of all the trip) was from Roches Noires to Anse La Raie, all the way in the north (check my GPS track), passing by Amber island. Again, our friends Maude and Julien showed their skills as guides and organizers to rent a bus to get everyone to the starting point (we where 18, with a couple of their friends joining our group, so imagine the amount of gear!) and then come get us at the finishing line.

It all started near a small private peninsula...

And from then on it was all about fun!

With Maude and Julien leading the way, we passed through beautiful reef, mangrove, small beaches, the wild uninhabited Amber island and a very cool wave spot near the end, finishing off with big smiles at the bay in Anse la Raie (click to enlarge the panoramic).

(thanks to Olive for the last 4 photos)

I just want to leave a special thought to Rudy and Nathan that, due to kite problems, had to abandon  us early on in the downwind... I'm sure that, since both live in Mauritius, they'll soon have the opportunity to try it again!

Paradise riding - Kitesurf Sessions 99 to 105

August is a great month to be in Mauritius... The wind is quite consistent and, since it's winter here, the weather is not too warm or too humid (but enough to be in "beach wear" all day long) and the number of tourists is very reasonable. With 11 days of kite out of thirteen (and that was only because we decided to do some sight seeing too), we can say the statistics have been kind to us...

 

We've been mostly kiting around Maude and Julien's spot, in Palmar Beach. They run a school, Kitesurf Paradise, on a beautiful lagoon protected by the coral reef, perfect for flat water fun and for beginners looking for a nice place to get into the sport.

As with any big group of friends kiting together for days in a row, we've been pumping each other to improve our riding and try new tricks. For me, it was the kiteloops! No more fear to rotate the kite and a lot of fun when I get the power boost and land at a nice speed...

With everybody staying from at least 10 days to a month in Mauritius (three weeks for me), it was easy to start to lose track of time and completely escape from daily routine. The days are organised in a very relaxed spirit and the pace is set by the wind.