Mauritius: which coast, and why rain decides more than wind

On Mauritius the coast is decided by rain more than by wind: on the met service's records, the west coast has fewer rainy days than the east in every month of the year, and from June to August four times fewer. The east has its window, and it is not the southern summer but September to November.

GuideThe west coast — Flic-en-Flac?Flic-en-Flac →

Rainy days by month, four sides of the island

Driest month on the whole island — October. Days with more than 1 mm of rain, long-term monthly average from the Mauritius Meteorological Services, one station for each side: Médine (west), Pamplemousses (north), Fuel (east), Plaisance (south-east, by the airport).

The west in its wettest month, February, has ten rainy days — as many as the east in its driest, November. Over a year the west gets about 780 mm of rain and the east about 1,960, two and a half times as much; the west has 7.2 to 8 hours of sunshine a day in every month, the east 6 to 7.3.

The usual advice says the east is windy in winter and the west calm. On wind speed that does not hold: from June to September the western station records an average of 15 to 17 km/h, the eastern one 11 to 12. The difference is direction. The south-east trade reaches the west after crossing the island and blows from land out to sea, so it raises no swell in the lagoon; on the east it blows off the ocean straight onto the shore. That is why the western lagoon stays flat even when it is windy, while on the east the same wind becomes waves.

When the east makes sense

A common recommendation is the east from November to April, because it is calm then. Calm it is — the average wind drops to 8 to 9.6 km/h — but these are also its wettest months: seventeen rainy days a month from January to April, and 334 mm in February. It is cyclone season too, which for Mauritius runs from November to mid-May; the strongest gusts at all four stations were recorded in December and February, between 221 and 256 km/h. The east's driest stretch is September to November, with 62 to 82 mm of rain a month.

The decision by month

• June–August: the west, Flic-en-Flac or Tamarin, no contest — the east and south-east have rain every other day.
• September–November: the only part of the year when the east is worth choosing; the north has more than eight hours of sun a day in October and November.
• January–April: the west is still the driest, but cyclone season applies to the whole island.

GuideThe north up close — Grand Baie?Grand Baie →

Day tripsDolphins, Chamarel and Black River — what fits from the west:Day trips from Flic-en-Flac →