thanks for sharing mr mitton , looks equally fun and beautiful. was this recent , our winter?

Two weeks ago

where did you stay?

Did you rent gear or take your own?

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Alex_sc said..
where did you stay?

I was there about a month ago .. I stayed at St Regis and Lux Le Morne and rented gear at the ION centre in front of Riu Creole hotel ... my thoughts ..

St Regis is the most luxurious option .. ask for a room far away down near the private villa .. then you are a 2 min walk to One Eye or 10 min walk to the ION centre. Balcony views of One Eye action.

Lux Le Morne is a 20 min walk to the ION centre .. I ended up catching a taxi a few times to get more time on water (amongst other family activities). Not ideal.

Riu Creole is in front of the ION centre near the pool.

When I go back, I would stay at either:
a) St Regis subject to budget
b) AirBnB with car rental to reduce cost

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philn said..
Did you rent gear or take your own?

For the first trip, I was happy I rented at the ION centre .. works out to about $50/hr .. although they're pretty generous with calculating the time.

When I go back, I would take my own gear and accept risk of damage and extra freight costs .. although maybe not worth the hassle if you're only going for a week or so.

Rented. Would take my own next time... $90 per day with guaranteed selected board and boom.

If taking your own, how many liters over your weight in kg would you take, and is a 5.3 enough, or better to take a 5.5 and a 5.0 (for a heavy weight)?

Good news - Mauritius airlines has an overt windsurf gear policy. I would take same as my weight in board and 5.3, 4.7 and 4.2. You can always hire a piece for the hours needed if there is a gap..

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gmitton said..

That was more inspiring than any pro team video. So is that arial still shot early on a channel that you sail in? Looks awesome.

Thx -it is an Ariel shot of same channel...

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gmitton said..
Rented. Would take my own next time... $90 per day with guaranteed selected board and boom.

Thanks for sharing this great video, looks like you had lots of fun. I see some weed at your video, how bad is it, do they have weed fins considering shallow lagoon as well?

Me and my friend are going there this November and i was checking their (ion club) rental prices. Their price list shows 435? for 13/14 days, which is about 36$ per day. This is pre-booked prices, they say its 15-20% more expensive on site, still half of what you say if you add 10$/day insurance. November is olso their peak season btw.

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Sea Lotus said..

gmitton said..
Rented. Would take my own next time... $90 per day with guaranteed selected board and boom.

Thanks for sharing this great video, looks like you had lots of fun. I see some weed at your video, how bad is it, do they have weed fins considering shallow lagoon as well?

Me and my friend are going there this November and i was checking their (ion club) rental prices. Their price list shows 435? for 13/14 days, which is about 36$ per day. This is pre-booked prices, they say its 15-20% more expensive on site, still half of what you say if you add 10$/day insurance. November is olso their peak season btw.

There was a lot of weed at little reef. It wasn't so good there. I was talking in Aussie dollars. Is cheaper the longer you hire for...

Just got reply from Ion Club, all hotels are full :(
Any suggestions about where to stay near (walking distance if possible) ws rental area?

Those flying fish moment was epic :)

If RIU is full that is the main one next to Club ION hire centre.
Next hotel within 10-15min walk is St Regis
Then the LUX and Paradise but your starting to get to 20min+ walk.
I normally stay RIU but one year I got an Airbnb in La Gaulette and hired a scooter to get between. Obviously you could rent car instead of scooter. The road between La Gaulette and ION centre is pretty straight and easy. They will deliver vehicle to you accommodation.

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shaggy696 said..
If RIU is full that is the main one next to Club ION hire centre.
Next hotel within 10-15min walk is St Regis
Then the LUX and Paradise but your starting to get to 20min+ walk.
I normally stay RIU but one year I got an Airbnb in La Gaulette and hired a scooter to get between. Obviously you could rent car instead of scooter. The road between La Gaulette and ION centre is pretty straight and easy. They will deliver vehicle to you accommodation.

Thanks Shaggy. They asked if we wanted to check La Gaulette but i wanted to get some opinions before replying them. Looks like a nice place as well, i hope there are free shuttles to ion club.

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Sea Lotus said..

shaggy696 said..
If RIU is full that is the main one next to Club ION hire centre.
Next hotel within 10-15min walk is St Regis
Then the LUX and Paradise but your starting to get to 20min+ walk.
I normally stay RIU but one year I got an Airbnb in La Gaulette and hired a scooter to get between. Obviously you could rent car instead of scooter. The road between La Gaulette and ION centre is pretty straight and easy. They will deliver vehicle to you accommodation.

Thanks Shaggy. They asked if we wanted to check La Gaulette but i wanted to get some opinions before replying them. Looks like a nice place as well, i hope there are free shuttles to ion club.

Last week I was there if you go in la Gaulette you will need to rent a car, La Gaulette to Ion Club 7Km. This year I find a lot of Aussi guys from Melburne. Top.

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Manawa said..
Last week I was there if you go in la Gaulette you will need to rent a car, La Gaulette to Ion Club 7Km. This year I find a lot of Aussi guys from Melburne. Top.

Thanks for the info, looks like we will book from there and rent a car. Not many choices left for accommodation though, looks like it will be very crowded. But thats great if most are Aussies, they are my favorite :) I am even considering to move there (Vic area) if things continue to go backwards here.

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shaggy696 said..
If RIU is full that is the main one next to Club ION hire centre.
Next hotel within 10-15min walk is St Regis
Then the LUX and Paradise but your starting to get to 20min+ walk.
I normally stay RIU but one year I got an Airbnb in La Gaulette and hired a scooter to get between. Obviously you could rent car instead of scooter. The road between La Gaulette and ION centre is pretty straight and easy. They will deliver vehicle to you accommodation.

My wife and I stayed at the Lux. The Lux had complementary bikes. The ride to Ion was 5 minutes.

I rented gear off Ion but if I go again I'll take a couple of smaller sails (3.6 - 4.2) with my own mast and boom. The smaller sizes were really hard to get and I was often struggling with gear too big when it was windy. Very frustrating. I'm small so for most that would translate to 4.2 - 4.8 maybe.

Short review after my trip between 7th and 20th November:
We stayed at a very nice double room villa in La Gualette, next to sea with a great view, 55?/per night was a bargain imo. 15min drive to Le Morne.
You need to walk about 10mins from kiters beach to Ion club which opens at 9am till 16:30.
Weather was partly cloudy 25-30C, water is warm, shorties or lycra.
We were unlucky to have only 25% (4/12days) wind out despite the 60-70% wind statistics. But after 4pm wind usually picked up and we had no chance to windsurf because of very early closing time. Olso wind direction has great impact on spots, so bringing your own equipment is definitely worth if you plan to stay more than 10 days.
Car rent prices are a little steap (25-30?/day for a small car) but you can bargain for better price if you stay long.
Food and market prices are similar to Europe. You can get VAT back when you leave if you shop over a certain amount(big shops).
Almost all locals speak good English, they are very friendly, polite and have a chilled lifestyle. Safety is not an issue at all.
Many activities to do when there is no wind. You need to paddle quite a lot to go to surf waves or you can rent a boat for 20?/person. Diving must be spectacular. Many hiking areas with waterfalls and great landscapes.
Definitely coming back next year with my own equipment, highly recommended.