Snorkeling with Giant Turtles, The Red Church, Pamplemousses Garden & Port Louis

Disappointed.

My partner and I booked this and had a great time during the gardens, the guide was knowledgeable and engaging. However the rest of the tour felt rushed and not very well organised. We unfortunately ended up coming back early and not visiting some parts of the tour that was in the description. Was disappointed overall.

Swimming with Turtles

The swim with turtles was good managed to see one turtle and the crew were friendly. We visited the church at a quiet time which was very idyllic with the bay behind. The gardens were beautiful and we had a very informative guide showing us around where we also saw fruit bats flying.Port Louis was very busy and the market life was thriving with local produce and people. Our driver was very nice and explained about many sites and daily Mauritius life.

OK???

Group of 14 adults attended this trip. This trip was 1 of 3 trips we had done and was our least favourite The swimming with turtles, consisted of only 1 small Turtle 🐢 and was a little crowded due to other boats and tourists. I probably wouldn't recommend this trip. But would look to find a better Turtle excursion.

Fabulous tour very highly recommend

Keno was amazing communicative, helpful, well spoken, friendly and informative. We enjoyed the tour from start to finish and highly recommend this! The swimming with turtles was amazing and so was all the other parts of the tour. We saw a beautiful Tamil temple as an extra bonus stop. The botanical gardens were so beautiful and a must see!!!! Beautiful tour!

Wonderful full days tour highly recommend

This tour was amazing! From start to finish. Our driver/guide Keni was great; informative, friendly, punctual, helpful. Swimming with the turtles was wonderful. The botanical gardens a must see too! We even got a quick visit to a beautiful Tamil temple stunning! Very happy thank you.

Would definitely recommend

A really great experience and a fab way to see lots of things if you are short on time. Our driver was great- chatty and knowledgeable and very patient with us at each of the sites. The beaches we visited were particularly beautiful. I would definitely recommend this tour - especially if you are short on time visiting Mauritius. Only taking away a star as we didn’t see any turtles- not the tour’s fault but it was the main reason we booked so feel a bit disappointed. Otherwise 10/10!

Turtle experience and tour.

First of all, credit to my driver, Luv. He was extremely helpful, informative and flexible. I didn’t feel rushed and he was on-hand when needed. I started with a trip to the red church, which is a great photo opportunity. A brief stop at Baby Baie beach for a wander along the sand, before heading off to meet the boat for the turtle encounter. Swimming with the turtle is an experience I won’t forget. I got really close to it, respecting the wildlife guidelines explained to us by the captain. From the ocean to the Botanical gardens next. I could quite easily have spent more time in this stunning place. I made the mistake of not hiring a guide, which were very well priced at Rs75. My highlight was seeing the giant tortoises. A stop for lunch at an amazing seafood restaurant was followed by a trip to the citadel/fort of Port Louis. To be honest, the fort could have been better presented. It is an amazing structure, but the lack of information boards or guides left me a little disappointed. As I’m very interested in history and having more info to hand would have made the visit a lot more worthwhile. Then on to Port Louis centre to visit the aquarium and a bit of a mooch around the shops. The aquarium is well worth a visit, albeit a little on the pricey side at Rs1200. Some amazing phot ops here though. The nearby shopping centre was very pretty and certainly worth a window shop. There is a mixture of high-end retailers, food & drink outlets and gift shops. All of which are very expensive. My driver Luv was waiting immediately outside when I had finished my strole around and he took me back to the hotel. By this point I must admit, I was pretty worn out and there may have been a nap involved on the journey back 😂 Total excursion time was around 8 hours. All in all, excellent value for money and I made sure to tip my driver for his efforts.

Enjoyable

Very enjoyable trip, we particularly liked Pamplemousses but snorkeling with turtles was not great. The snorkeling equipment provided was not fit for purpose and the boat had seen better days. Unfortunately I did not get to see any turtles which can't be helped but they did offer for us to come back the next day free of charge. Our driver San was brilliant he really gave an insight into what life is like on the island and was super friendly and chatty.

Great trip

We had a great day, our guide Aslim was fantastic, nothing too much trouble. Swimming with the turtles was amazing.

Not so nice experience

The trip was a bust . No turtles. We were not very satisfied. The driver was friendly and very knowledgeable and helpful, but we should have done something differently

Poor turtles!

Do not snorkle with sea turtles! It is forbidden! A poor turtle gets fed so that around 20 tourists can roam around with arms and legs all over. The information about how to snorkle and behave is non-existing. They didn't even bring snorkle equipment for people, even if the description said so. Would never have done it if I knew it was like this! Otherwise we had a lovely day with a very good guide (Manoj). Can recommend him, but not the snorkeling.

Tour left us with mixed feelings, but turtles were fantastic

Some parts of the tour were great, and some we were not impressed by. Good: - Swim with turtles was fantastic and without doubt the highligt of the trip. The boat personnel were nice. - Driver was friendly and his flexibilty was good. He stopped at Caudan waterfront on our request. Not so great: - Driver had poor english skills so he didn’t talk or explain alot unlike other tours we went on. - The driver planned lunch for quite late (2pm) without asking us, and he stopped at a tourist trap/scam restaurant. It was ridiculously overpriced compared to the quality of both service and food. Food was the worst and also most expensive we had at our whole Mauritius trip. Unfortunately this made us feel we were being somewhat exploited. The restaurants name was Camaron Rouge. Would it not have been for the turtles, the tour would not have been worth the money.

A good introduction to Mauritius

A great tour around North Mauritius. Definitely the highlight of the tour was the snorkeling with sea turtles, an amazing experience 😄 You also receive a personal taxi driver who carries you to all the destinations (its only you and people you booked with). Our driver was very knowledgeable and great to talk with !

Fabulous.

Excellent informative and friendly taxi driver. Very helpful boat crew even did some videos of turtles for us. Could have had more time at shopping mall as 20 minutes was not enough. Gardens were fabulous and would recommended a guide as we didn’t have one and think we should have as gardens are massive .

Illegal tour since 2022

we love seeing animals in the wild ,but watching turtles being scared by lots of people them was not what we wished . then next day we found that it has been illegal to swim like this with turtles in Mauritius like this since 2022 as with swimming with whales was banned some time back .we are shocked illegal tours are on viator . If you are ok with treating animals like this then book if not then do not book and help stop this trade . Did not put pics as seeing a stressed turtle is not great

great fun and wonderfully scarey

was a lot of fun and a little scarey (in a good way)... The guide was great, friendly and informative, the church was interesting and had some great pictures. The turtles were bigger than expected and scared me in a good way... and were amazing to see! The Botanical gardens were amazing as we had a guide and he knew everything and was very friendly, and finally the capital, Port Louis was nice, though much more modern than I had expected :o

Snorkeling with the turtles

Snorkeling with the turtles was a fantastic experience we reallyenjoyedit. We didn't really get to see much of port Louis as was only given half hour, so by the time we got across the road and into the market we only had time for a quick walk up and down a couple of rows before heading back to the car.

Surprises all day

Such a surprise day, I've booked this last minute when in Mauritius. I haven't realised we have a private driver, Dave, for the whole day. We had to text directly him after we booked the day for the location pickup, he was punctual and very discreet. He was accompanying us when we asked him to do so, and giving us a really good guide for the attractions when we asked him. The driver was very polite and kind, friendly, and always asked us how much time we wanted to spend at each location, waiting for us outside, so when we finished we just jumped in his car and went to the next place. We first visited Tea factory, then Port Louis, then he drove us to L'Ocean seafood restaurant (definitely try the crab soup, it's amazing) then we headed to swim with turtles - we've seen so many of them, then we've been taken to the Botanical garden. It was well over 5pm when we got home, and noticed then that the driver didn't need any map, all the routes were in his head. The Red Church is a Catholic Church in the middle of a beautiful beach so definitely visit it. The day was an absolute pleasure, thank you 😊

Swimming with a turtle is a must for Mauritius

Swimming with a giant turtle was probably the highlight of my trip to Mauritius. Was genuine concerns about if we’d get a chance to as they didn’t appear in the morning due to the tide. However, Kesaven who was our guide/driver for the day worked hard to keep up to date & even when at the end of the day it looked like they weren’t going to appear, he took us to meet the person who runs that part of the day so we could come back if needs be on another day with no additional cost to do it. But, our luck came in as whilst we were having that chat they spotted a giant turtle. So we rushed into the boat & went out, for what was an amazing experience. There was only 1 but frankly that didn’t matter. This was much better than “chasing” dolphins as we were in a small group actually swimming with the turtle. The rest of the day was great. Visiting the tea exporter/factory was great, the guide there was super friendly & knowledgable. Pamplemousses Botanical Garden was great, but that was because for the small cost of 75RPS per person (around £2) you can get a guided tour. Frankly don’t think I’d have appreciated it without them & again they were so friendly but importantly knowledgable. The Red Church is also amazing & there was a wedding at the time so we kept a little further back, but that was fine as the views out to sea were unreal. Port Louis was probably the only drawback in that I’d have happily have gone after a quick look around the quay & market. Would recommend.

Great snorkelling

Swam with a turtle but the fish were amazing moray eels and Parrot fish. Only the two of us on the boat.

Snorkeling

The snorkling was great! We saw a turtle and a lot of different fish. We did not have much time in Port Louis. So would recomend to skip red Church and Pamplemousses Garden. We had a super driver!

Incredible experience!

What an incredible experience! Snorkelling with the turtles was just amazing! We highly recommend this tour to anyone. As soon as the boat arrived in the lagoon we were greeted by a turtle and for the whole 90 minutes we were there we were swimming with them. Along with countless tropical fish among the corals. You get so close to the turtles, they are not shy. They swim all around you. The rest of the tour was also just excellent. Top marks. Our driver guide, San, was lovely and took us to great places and was very informative. The transportation was very comfortable. Its a long tour though! Overall, absolutely fantastic and we recommend booking this!

Great experience!

Our driver, Asleem, gave us a lot of explanations about mauritian life and answered all of our questions. He took us to a place to shop spices at a fair price, proposed another stop to an activity that was not specified in the tour(rum tasting) . The snorkeling with the turtles was amazing, they even touch us. The Pamplemousses Garden is nice, but I recommend to take a guide(MUR75/person) from the entrance because there are a lot of information that you can’t find by yourself. (Ask for “Radio Pakistan” - Ibrahim - he is very funny and has a lot of information to share).

Not worth it at all!

Not much. Basically you pay a taxi to drive you around. Port Louis was interesting. Encounter with the turtles is a rip off. We had to pay our entrance fee for the botanical park, which should be included as the trip was already expensive. The taxi driver was driving very dangerously, always on the phone, texting while driving above speed limit in the rain! I would not recommend this trip, if you want to visit the island book a taxi and make your itinerary!!!

Swimming with the turtles

The experience of the trip was amazing ..The driver was very informative and helpful ..I my self would of preferred a bit longer in port Lois instead of going to the tea factory, but the whole experience was amazing and swimming with the turtles a dream come true ..

Amazing 🤩

Dear All, This was such an amazing experience. We saw 2 gigantic turtle 🐢 with an eel swimming with them!! We went straight into the sea and swam with them. I touched the neck of the turtle and her shell. Was not aware not allowed - it felt so overwhelmed- don’t think of the price, it’s fully worth it. This memory will stay forever with you.

Great experience

Great experience the tours itself we generally found in Mauritius are different to elsewhere in the world in that you’re essentially just paying a taxi driver to escort you for the day. We probably could have engaged our driver a little more to try to stay longer in a few of the places but we enjoyed the day overall and the snorkelling was great to experience a wide variety of marine life not just the turtles.

Nice to see the Turtles But ....

We are a family of 10. 6 adults and 4 children. Seeing the turtles was amazing but for half of us we was are not very confident in the water. The boat we was on only had one life jacket and they did NOT have snorkelling gear for us all. Well they had two. So half of our party stayed on the boat and watched the others swimming with the turtles. As for our driver he was very patient, He didn't seem to speak much English though. we was stuck in such a lot of traffic which seemed not to be going anywhere and by the time we eventually got to the waterfront the shops was closed. Which was a shame Before the waterfront the driver did take us to a restaurant for lunch which he recommended. we would not go back there, it was a lot of money for what we had. My family was not impressed!!

Great Places to go and see, pity about the driver

The Snorkelling with turtles, Red Church and Pampelmousses botanical gardens were superb. Unfortunately this trip was let down by or driver. First thing he done was take us to one of his friends shops, he said "go in you don't have to buy and I get gift at the end of the month". This happened again after swimming with turtles and he "said I take you to another friends shop", I said no more shops. His driving was dangerous trying to overtake on a blind bend and having to slam the brakes on to avoid a head on collision, and we counted on 8 occasions he was driving whilst on his mobile phone. Before our final visit to Port Louis after being told not to take us to any more of his friends shops, he took us to his friends Tea shop, I said we don't drink tea, but he still lead us inside. Would recommend this trip but not with this driver. We were glad to get back in one piece. Hence he did not get a tip.

The swimming with turtles...

The swimming with turtles was a once in a lifetime opportunity and would highly recommend to anyone considering as they were so close and swam all around us. Only real negative I have which is quite an important one at this moment in time was that our taxi driver picked us up late meaning we were late to the swim with turtles part of the trip. On arrival we had to change from the speedboat to the glass bottom boat and was each given a recently used snorkel set to use that hadn’t been sanitized. The girls who had recently used the same one recommended us to wash it in the sea as there was no more available and we would have missed the experience altogether. Very bad and could have ruined our experience completely.

Good experience

We had a good experience, our guide was friendly and the visiting sites were beautiful. Overall we would recommend this trip.

Snorkling with the...

Snorkling with the turtles was great and tasting the tea but the rest was ok. Port Louis in my opinion isnt a nice place.

Good

Boat guy was super nice and driver was constantly checking in with us, overall good exp just long for me

No turtles but otherwise OK

The tour went smoothly, it took over nine hours including the transfer (from and to La Gaulette) for what we have not been charged extra. First we visited the waterfront in Port Louis, then the citadelle (Port Adelaide) then the tea factory (which was more of a tourist trap since at the end of the visit you were expected to buy a veeery expensive tea) then botanic garden (which was definitely a highlight - we spent an hour there but one could easily be three hours inside, it is so beautiful). The last sightseeing stop was the Red Church. Afterwards we headed for the Biches beach (no pan intended ;)) to board a small motor boat and see the turtles. Unfortunately the turtles were there in the forenoon that day (but in the afternoon the previous day - they do not have a fixed schedule ;) and the skipper had to guess the best time to meet them the next day with no guarantee of course). Instead we were offered another try free of charge the next day (which we had to decline due to organisational reasons) and if not - a snorkel and dolphins watching in a glass bottom boat (this one was a success - we saw dolphins and did snorkeling in a nice place; you have to keep in mind though that a large part of the reef is dead due to bleaching events in the last twenty years). At the end we had to skip the lunch due to longer activities at the beach which was not a problem. Overall the tour was OK, our taxi driver was a very nice man and could speak English feeding us from time to time with some insiders knowledge about living in Mauritius. The support from Bonjour Mauritius was quick to responde and helpful, they do not however have and phone number on their web site which is a bit irritating.

San made it special

Seeing the wonderful turtles 😊 Glorious day and really enjoyed all the stops along the way. Thank you San the temple, church and botanical gardens were all very beautiful. Everything worked well and seamless.

Turtles and Northern Mauritius

This is an ambitious programme attempting to cover a lot in one day from a resort in the South of Mauritius. Due to the tides the order of the programme had to be changed with the snorkelling in the middle of the day. Consequently the initial time in Port Louis was somewhat rushed and several sights were missed out. The turtle snorkelling was amazing and Pamplemousse Botanical Garden lovely. Jay our driver was competent especially when the driving conditions were challenging. He did however appear grumpy at times and impatient with us.

Great trip

Great trip, Rocky, our driver was awesome ! North of this island is beautiful and it was awesome to swim with sea turtles.

WORST EXPERIENCE EVER!!!!

WORST EXPERIENCE EVER! We have booked many tours through TripAdvisor/Viator and have never had a worse experience. Before booking this tour, we read all of the reviews which were mostly positive so we booked with confidence that our tour would be enjoyable and worthwhile. Apparently, if you have Asleem you’ll have a good experience. If you have the taxi driver that picked us up you’ll have a terrible day (no clue as to his name because we had no idea whether he was speaking English, French, or Hindi and could not understand a word the entire day). All we know is that he drove a blue taxi with license plate No. 7382 CZ 14 (Camp Ithier Flacq 39639\C). The taxi reeked an unbearable stench the entire day. The tour was to commence at 10 a.m. We received an email stating that our driver would be picking us up at 8:00am with no explanation why. We wrongly presumed that because we were located at the Hilton in Flic en Flac that perhaps it took longer to get to the snorkeling spot where we had to meet others on a boat. But nope. He showed up with a handwritten small note with our names. We confirmed our identity and asked where we were going. We could not understand his response despite asking for clarification several times. Nevertheless, we jumped in the back seat of the taxi without a clue as to where we were headed. Shortly before 9 a.m. he pulled into a parking lot and again said something we could not understand. He just kept yelling “Port Louis” and pointing to buildings. We finally surmised after several attempts at communication that we were being dropped off for an hour at Port Louis to fend for ourselves and to meet him back at the parking lot in an hour. No tour of Port Louis or the markets as others have reported. In fact, because we had arrived so early, nothing was even open! We wandered about on our own and then eventually found a security guard who directed us to a spot where we could at least grab a cup of coffee. We returned to the parking lot an hour later, he was there and we climbed in. This time we used Google translator to decipher that we were headed to Pamplemousses Garden. We spent an hour or so walking on our own (don’t get a park tour guide - didn’t seem worth it at all). After, we were dropped off for lunch at a place the taxi driver selected (we had no say on where we went). The place was ok, but it seemed like it was owned by his relatives. After lunch, we headed out to snorkel with the turtles. That was the best part of the day, even though we arrived 20 minutes early and had to wait around for the boat. If you are used to Mexico or the Caribbean and snorkeling equipment that is kept it sanitizing buckets don’t expect that! We climbed on the boat and when it was time to snorkel, were told to just pick up the snorkels and masks that had been left on the seat by the previous group. Really? Snorkel mouthpieces are always washed and sanitized in between trips. But nope. Really? Especially during Covid??!! But we wanted to do something fun so we washed them out in the water ourselves as did the others. We met a couple with a toddler on the boat who also booked with Bonjour Mauritius. We told them about our experience thus far that day. Theirs was totally different. Their driver (Asleem) gave them a tour of the markets and spoke English. Their experience was nothing like ours (so obviously the tour company does not offer consistency or vet their driver/guides). They have submitted a review with a different spin, so it all comes down to which driver you get. We lost out. After snorkeling, we went to the red church. No explanation of what we were seeing. The drive back was horrendous and knuckle-biting. We screamed out many times as we were propelled forward. We are not religious persons, but found ourselves praying we’d make it back to the Hilton alive. Not exaggerating. Stay away from this tour and Bonjour Mauritius, or at the very least be very specific that you do not want the taxi we have identified.

Amazing trip

Amazing trip making wonderful memories! Driver Asleem was brilliant, he kept in touch the days before and gave a wonderful experience. Thanks again

Turtles were the highlight!

Pick up details were a little mixed. Our tickets said departure at 10am but our guide turned up at 9am. Not an issue but could have been clearer! Turtle watching was great, snorkeling site is less than 100m offshore so no worries about seasickness. The tour mentioned a glass bottom boat experience, however this did not happen. Botanical Gardens and the tour was enjoyable and interesting! Definitely worth getting a guide on arrival for the extra €s Port Louis was nice with a mixture of history and modern waterfront areas. However it was very busy so very different to rest of Mauritius Our driver Keshevan (unsure on spelling!) was great. Answered any questions and had good information when asked questions. Allowed us to choose how long we wanted at each place etc Overall, turtles were a definite highlight and the botanical gardens were good.

Honeymoon with a 2yr old. Experiencing Mauritius and creating memories

Fantastic driver/guide picked us up Asleem. Totally on it and was a true gent guiding myself, wife and nearly 2yr old around for the day. Nothing was too much trouble. Sea turtles were obviously the highlight, but seeing the bustling port Louis markets and marina was another true taste of Mauritius life.

Turtle Snorkel

Guide Nadeem was excellent. Had a great time snorkelling with 4 turtles, also some eels and. Triggerfish to see. Recommend getting a guide at botanical gardens - made it much more interesting.

A must do!

Amszing trip!!!!! We net our driver in the morning (San) who was friendly and very knowledgeable about his home country. We travelled to the beach for the turtles and met a lovely skipper who took us out. The water is not overly deep so you get very VERY close to the turtles which is so amazing. There can be wuite a few boats but the turtles dont seem bothered about people and just go about their own business. After this we got changed in the toilets which were quite nice and travelled to Pamplemousse Gardens. Be careful of guides offering you a tour around. You don't need it to make the most of your trip and it will slow you down massively. We ditched our guide and did a walk around ourself. We then travelled to Port Louis where San took us to so many places: the first prison with amazing 360 views of Port Louis, the harbour, the markets, a museum dedicated to immigration to Mauritius.

Fantastic Snorkeling

The snorkeling with the turtles was an unbelievable event, I will never forget, thanks. The water was very warm and clear. And the trip to Port Louis is a must seen.

Skip the turtle(s)

Our guide/driver Nadeem with Bonjour Mauritius was amazing. Skip the turtle(s) as the site is over crowded with too many boats and tourists who do not respect the turtle. The boat drivers care little for the safety of the passengers and turtles. You can walk from shore if you really want to swim with the turtle

Ni mal ni bien, regular

La excursión no estuvo mal del todo, pero no estuvimos 45 min con las tortugas, fueron solo 20 min, te llevan a comer a un restaurante para el típico turista que te cobran el plato (más barato) a 20€ y es un plato que tiene arroz y un pernil de pollo, vamos nada del otro mundo, me parece que esa fue la peor parte de la excursión ya que es bastante caro. Lo del Port luis que estás 3h caminando por sus calles y en sus mercados es mentira, no te llevan al centro de Port luis, te llevan a un centro comercial diseñado para turistas donde los precios son caros también.

Catch you scumbags running away!

Lamentable! You're a scumbag, a tourist stalker who thinks you're a wallet. Duration of the excursion 10H of which 7H transport?!!! 45 minutes visit to Port Louis instead of the 2H scheduled... a restaurant catches tourists (ocean restaurant) on which the driver receives financial compensation, which was confirmed to us by the waiter himself. A driver, a private individual who replaced the supposedly sick, inexperienced driver who is afraid to drive... imagine the night since he brought us back at 6:45 pm... and still receives compensation on the number of hours spent. You can see why he made this nightmare last. Run away! To see turtles, it's free to swim 50m from the beach! A SHAME

Beautiful

Beautiful discovery a very beautiful site for an immersion that leaves magnificent memories A memorable experience

Experiencia incompleta

Reservé esta actividad para ver las tortugas ( sí que las vimos,estuvo genial,lo recomiendo 100%) y ver el jardín de Pamplemousses. Entiendo que son muchas cosas para ese día y no de tiempo a todo,pero el guía debe preguntar cuales son las preferencias de los clientes. A nosotros nos llevó en Port Louis a un centro comercial como los de Europa, que para nada era lo que queríamos, nos dejó allí una hora ,después nos llevó a ver la iglesia de tejado rojo y a comer a un restaurante carisimo, nos cobraron 180 euros ( 9100 rp) a 5 personas.Nosotros nunca vamos a esos restaurantes,en Mauricio los hay mucho más económicos.Tardaron mucho en servirnos y cuanto terminamos el guía nos dice que se ha terminado el tiempo...sin visitar el jardín botánico. Le dijimos varias veces que queríamos ir a ver el jardín, no tenía que habernos llevado a ese centro comercial. No nos dijo cuando entramos a comer el tiempo que nos quedaba para finalizar el servio de taxi. Ha sido una experiencia agridulce.

I won't do it again.

In my opinion this is not an activity to do. There was only one turtle and all the tourists on it. The organizers bait the turtle with food. No distance from the animal...