South-west Mauritius, Indian Ocean
Chamarel
The honest guide to Chamarel: the Seven Coloured Earths and waterfall above Mauritius's south-west coast — what the combined ticket actually costs, how long you really need, and how to pair it with the Black River Gorges in a single half-day.
In short
Chamarel at a glance
Chamarel is a small village in the forested uplands behind Mauritius's south-west coast, about a 20-minute drive up the hairpins from the beach at Le Morne. It exists on the tourist map for one ticketed site: the Seven Coloured Earths geopark, a field of bare, undulating dunes where iron and aluminium oxides have weathered the volcanic clay into stripes of red, ochre, violet and blue. The same ₨600 (about £9.40) combined ticket also covers the Chamarel Waterfall a couple of minutes' drive on — at roughly 95 metres it's the island's tallest single drop, viewed from a roadside platform. It's an honestly short visit — most people are done in 60 to 90 minutes — so the area only really earns a half-day when you bolt on the Rhumerie de Chamarel rum distillery, the Ebony Forest reserve, or a forest walk in the neighbouring Black River Gorges National Park.
Chamarel is the upland village every Mauritius excursion list sends you to and few of them are honest about the timings. The draw is the Seven Coloured Earths: a small field of bare, undulating dunes where weathered volcanic clay has separated into stripes of red, ochre, violet and blue, with the 95-metre Chamarel Waterfall thrown in on the same ₨600 (about £9.40) ticket. Both are genuinely striking, and the geopark is mercifully easy — a one-way loop you drive round rather than a hike, fine with kids or dodgy knees. The catch the tour blurb skips is the clock: you will photograph the lot in 60 to 90 minutes, so anyone who builds a whole day around it ends up back at the car wondering what’s next.
What makes the trip up worth the hairpins is the south-west around it, not the dunes alone. From Le Morne it’s a 20-minute climb, and once you’re up here the Rhumerie de Chamarel does a rum tour and tasting for about £6.25, the Ebony Forest reserve runs a buggy-and-skywalk through endemic forest, and the free Black River Gorges National Park sits right next door with the island’s best inland walks and the Gorges and Alexandra Falls viewpoints costing nothing. Treat the coloured earths as the anchor of a half-day that strings two or three of those together and Chamarel earns its place. Treat it as a destination in its own right and it won’t repay the drive.
The route
Chamarel is a half-day on the way to or from the south-west coast, not a base — almost no one stays the night up here. This skeleton assumes you are based at Le Morne, Flic en Flac or further north and come up for a morning. Drive times are from the Le Morne peninsula, the closest beach coast, which is the reason Chamarel pairs so neatly with a south-west stay.
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Morning
Seven Coloured Earths and the waterfall
Drive up from the coast — about 20 minutes of hairpins from Le Morne, or 35–40 minutes from Flic en Flac. Pay the ₨600 (£9.40) combined ticket at the gate, drive the one-way loop round the coloured dunes (10–15 minutes plus photos, and look for the giant tortoise enclosure), then carry on to the Chamarel Waterfall platform a couple of minutes on for the 95-metre drop. The whole ticketed visit is genuinely 60–90 minutes.
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Midday
Rum, ebony or a gorge walk
To make the trip up worthwhile, add one paid stop. The Rhumerie de Chamarel runs distillery tours with a tasting (~₨400 / £6.25) and a well-regarded lunch at L'Alchimiste. Or take the Ebony Forest Reserve's electric-buggy-and-skywalk tour for endemic forest and a Le Morne viewpoint (~₨1,000–1,600 / £16–25). Or skip the paid sites entirely and walk in the Black River Gorges National Park, which is free.
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Afternoon
Black River Gorges viewpoints on the way down
Heading back, the B103 mountain road passes the free Gorges and Alexandra Falls viewpoints — pull in for the panorama over the forest to the south coast. For more than a photo stop, the Black River Peak trail (the island's highest point, 828m) is a 2–3 hour return hike from the Petrin entrance. Carry water and reef-free walking shoes; signal is patchy up here, so download offline maps before you set off.
Where to base yourself
Pick one or two bases rather than moving every night.
Le Morne peninsula (20 minutes' drive)
£££ premiumThe nearest beach base to Chamarel: a string of five-star resorts under the UNESCO mountain, with the kitesurf lagoon below. Stay here for the scenery and the short hop up to the coloured earths, but it's all-inclusive territory with little village life around it.
Best for: Couples and kitesurfers who want the south-west sights on the doorstep
La Gaulette & Case Noyale (10–15 minutes' drive)
££ mid-rangeThe small coastal villages at the foot of the Chamarel road. Guesthouses, self-catering apartments and a few Creole restaurants make this the budget south-west base, with the geopark, Le Morne and the gorges all within 20 minutes.
Best for: Independent travellers and self-caterers on a budget
Flic en Flac (35–40 minutes' drive)
££ mid-rangeThe island's best-stocked west-coast resort town — a long calm-lagoon beach, supermarkets, dive shops and plenty of restaurants. Far enough that Chamarel is a half-day trip rather than next door, but the most practical single base if you want one well-equipped spot and day-trips both north and south.
Best for: First-timers who want one easy, well-stocked base
Getting around Chamarel
There's no bus that takes you round the Chamarel sights and no train anywhere on the island, so you need a car or a driver. A hire car is the easiest option — it's cheap by UK standards (~£25–40/day), you drive on the left like home, and the run up from Le Morne is a scenic 20-minute climb on the B9 and B103. Mind the hairpins and the occasional aggressive overtake. If you'd rather not drive, a fixed-price taxi from the south-west coast costs roughly ₨2,500–4,000 (~£39–63) for a half-day that takes in the coloured earths, the waterfall and a gorge viewpoint, with waiting time included — agree the price before you set off, never metered. Organised half-day tours from the resort coasts run about ₨1,500–2,500pp (~£23–39) plus the ₨600 entry. The local bus does run between Baie du Cap, Case Noyale and Chamarel village, but it's slow, infrequent and stops short of the geopark gate, so it's a curiosity rather than a way to actually see the sites.
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