Luxury Car Hire in Mauritius: Drive Yourself or Take a Chauffeur?

Should you drive a premium car yourself, or let a chauffeur drive?

Drive yourself if the trip is about exploring: with your own car, a morning on the beach, lunch in the hills and dinner on another coast fit into one day. A chauffeur or taxi covers the airport run and evenings out without a hire desk, a deposit or a drive home in the dark.

Alexandra Richards, who has written several editions of Bradt's Mauritius guide, hired a car to explore the island with her young children. In her Selamta account of that trip, the compact island and its improved roads are what let the family travel independently.^{Source [1]}

The Government of Canada describes some of them as narrow, uneven and poorly lit, and many as bordered by deep ditches without guardrails.^{Source [2]} In a wide car, the tight edges and ditches are where you will need the most care.

What resorts arrange instead

Some resorts make the driven option part of the stay. LUX* Le Morne says airport transfers can be arranged with its luxury-car service, a taxi or a private transfer, and that its luxury-car and taxi services make exploring the island easy.^{Source [3]}

Other resorts advertise transfers. Royal Palm Beachcomber in Grand Baie lists limousine and helicopter transfers among its amenities,^{Source [4]} the concierge at LUX* Grand Gaube books airport transfers by limousine or local taxi,^{Source [5]} and Maradiva, on Wolmar Beach near Flic en Flac, offers chauffeur drive or taxi through its concierge.^{Source [6]}

You can also book a full-day chauffeur or a VIP luxury airport transfer away from your resort.^{Source [7]} A day with a driver gives you the scenery without the left-hand traffic, and it combines well with a hire car on the days you want the wheel.

Where you stay decides how much you drive

Your resort area sets the length of every outing. From the airport, Bel Ombre on the south coast is about 40 km by road and Grand Baie in the north about 70 km.^{Source [8]}

On the east coast, Constance Belle Mare Plage gives its own distance from the airport as approximately 60 km and names private car hire, taxis and hotel-arranged transfers as the ways to get there.^{Source [9]} For a car on that side of the island, look at car hire in Trou d'Eau Douce.

Each of the other areas has its own pick-up page: car hire in Grand Baie and Grand Gaube car hire for the north, Flic en Flac car hire for the west, car hire in Bel Ombre for the south and car hire in Mahebourg next to the airport.

According to Autalo's daily price check of 108 rental offers at Mauritius Airport on 26 October 2026, a 7-day rental starts at $31.43 per day, and a typical car costs about $50.50 per day. 99% of these offers are automatic and 88% need no deposit.

Airport desk or delivery to your hotel?

Collecting at the airport is the simplest start: the terminal directory lists the car-rental booths on Level 0.^{Source [10]} Car hire at Mauritius airport shows what is on offer there today, across every class of car.

Delivery is the other route: some car rental companies bring the car to your hotel.^{Source [7]} Any delivery fee depends on the offer, and the hand-over point is the one on your booking confirmation, so make sure it names your resort.

Before a hand-over at the resort, ask the front desk where an outside car can wait and whether it may stay in the car park.

What to settle before you accept a premium or open-top car

Settle four things before you sign: the excess, what the damage waiver leaves out, the car's condition and the fuel deal. Until the car is back, you are liable for loss and the full cost of any damage, and a waiver only reduces that to the excess on your agreement, as the British rental trade body BVRLA puts it.^{Source [11]}

In the UK that excess is usually held as a deposit on your credit card.^{Source [11]} In Mauritius the deposit and the way it is taken are set offer by offer, and some offers take none: car hire with no deposit in Mauritius lists them.

The roof, the tyres and the tarmac

On a convertible, the roof is the first exclusion to ask about. BVRLA names roof, windscreen and tyre damage as possible exclusions from a waiver,^{Source [11]} and damage caused by driving off road as another.^{Source [12]} An excess waiver usually cuts the excess to zero, though occasionally only to a lower amount; ask which one you are buying.

The off-road clause decides what a short cut costs you. If the contract excludes off-road damage, any unsealed track to a beach or a viewpoint is driven at your own risk.

1. How much is the excess, and is it blocked on a card, paid in cash or not taken at all?
2. Does the waiver exclude the roof, the windscreen or the tyres?
3. Is damage on unsealed or off-road tracks covered?
4. Is the model you booked confirmed, or only its class?
5. Does the cover include roadside assistance, and which number do you call?
6. Is every driver named on the agreement?

The roadside question carries extra weight here. Canada advises asking about cover for roadside assistance when you rent a vehicle, and says emergency and roadside assistance there is limited.^{Source [2]} Save the desk's breakdown number in your phone before you drive off.

Walk round the car with the agent

Inspect the car inside and out before you drive away. Make sure every chip, dent and scratch is on the pre-inspection report, and photograph or film any damage before you leave the parking area.^{Source [11]} Include the wheels, and on an open-top car work the roof once at the desk so you know its controls.

Cars on offer at Mauritius Airport today

Prices checked 26 October 2026

Nissan March

2022 · Automatic · 5 seats

No depositUnlimited km

$31.43per day · $220 for 7 days

See conditions →

Renault Kwid

2020 · Automatic · 5 seats

No depositFree cancellationUnlimited km

$31.43per day · $220 for 7 days

See conditions →

Kia Picanto GT Line

2021 · Automatic · 5 seats

No depositUnlimited km

$33.67per day · $236 for 7 days

See conditions →

See all 108 offers at Mauritius Airport →

What the roads are like in a big or low car

You drive on the left, as in the UK, on everything from motorway to narrow village lanes. The UK Foreign Office warns that some roads are narrow and have no pavements, that accidents are common, and that motorbikes are slow and often ride without headlights at night.^{Source [13]}

Plan any road you have not driven for daylight, and keep the evenings for routes you already know.

Fixed speed cameras include those at Pamplemousses on the road north and at Tamarin and Bambous in the west.^{Source [15]} The fines, the alcohol limit and the licence rules are set out in the guide to driving in Mauritius.

The drive up to Chamarel

Cars can enter the Chamarel Geopark, along with minibuses, taxis, scooters, motorcycles and bicycles; 60-seat coaches cannot, because of the size of the road and its topography.^{Source [16]} The village is about 16 km by road from Bel Ombre and about 45 km from the airport.^{Source [8]}

Past the entrance, the Geopark itself is another 3 km on. There are two parking spots, one near the Chamarel Waterfall viewpoint and one at the Seven Coloured Earth Geopark, and the entrance ticket does not include waterfall hiking.^{Source [16]}

What to leave for another day

Some highlights are reached by boat or on foot. Île aux Cerfs is a boat ride from Pointe Maurice, where the shuttle runs every 30 minutes from 9.30am until 6pm and a golf shuttle every 20 minutes. The Ile aux Cerfs Leisure Island website carries the current times.^{Source [17]}

Black River Gorges National Park is explored on its trails, which lead to all parts of the park, with Petrin and Plaine Champagne among the trailheads.^{Source [18]} Give the gorges a day on foot of their own instead of squeezing them into a scenic drive.

When is the weather right for an open roof?

October is the month for a roof-down drive: it is the driest month of the year^{Source [19]} and the last one before the cyclone season, which usually runs from November to May.^{Source [13]} September is the next choice, and the best time to visit Mauritius guide gives a verdict for every month.

In the weather service's figures the west is the dry side: Medine, its station for the west, has the lowest rain of the five regional stations in every month of the 1971–2000 normals.^{Source [20]} Flic en Flac is on the same coast.

Summer brings heat and rain together. January and February are the warmest months, with an average day maximum of 29.2 °C,^{Source [21]} and February and March are the wettest.^{Source [19]}

Parking, fuel and the ride home after dinner

Resort parking terms differ, so ask the property when you book. Royal Palm Beachcomber lists free parking among its amenities,^{Source [4]} and LUX* Grand Gaube says on-site parking is available for hotel guests and visitors.^{Source [5]}

In towns, traffic wardens issue parking notices. The fine is Rs 600 if you pay within seven days and Rs 1,000 after that.^{Source [23]}

Which fuel to ask for

At the pump you will see two names: Mogas for petrol and Gas Oil for diesel. The Petroleum Pricing Committee sets the retail price, and the State Trading Corporation publishes it.^{Source [24]} Ask the desk which of the two your car takes before you leave.

Dinner on another coast

Take a taxi for an evening with wine. The alcohol limit is 20 mg per 100 ml of blood.^{Source [15]}

Since 29 September 2026 a first drink-driving conviction carries a fine of Rs 200,000 to Rs 500,000.^{Source [25]}

Most taxis have no meter, so agree the fare before you set off and use registered taxis.^{Source [2]} There is no Uber, but apps such as Yugo book a taxi at a fixed price for the trip.^{Source [7]}