Travelling to Mauritius with a baby was surprisingly very easy and I would do it again in a heart beat.

In September.October 2024 we had our honeymoon in Mauritius with our 13 month old toddler – who is very active and on the cusp of walking. I have to admit, we did worry that travelling to Mauritius with a baby would be stressful and not exactly the relaxing trip a honeymoon should be but we ended up having a wonderful trip with the perfect balance of relaxation and family time.

Why you should travel to Mauritius with your baby

The people are friendly and super welcoming to children – our son was spoilt rotten at every turn! His confidence and social skills have blossomed as a result.

There are direct overnight flights with Air Mauritius to and from the UK which works out perfectly for travelling with a baby as they sleep most of the way. Our flights to and from Mauritius with a baby were surprisingly easy.

The weather was warm and sunny but not too hot. Our family travelled to Mauritius in September/October and it was perfect. The breeze kept our baby cool but we were still able to swim in the pool, the sea and relax on a sun bed.

Whilst the waves in some places were too big to swim safely in the sea with a baby, we found plenty of beaches in Mauritius to be baby friendly as often the reef protected the beaches, creating safe (and warm) lagoons for our baby to enjoy swimming.

Whilst we ate in hotels which has cuisines from all over the world, the local food we did eat was not very spicy and so our toddler could also enjoy it.

And most importantly, we found Mauritius had several hotels which also offered childcare for babies that allowed us some down time that we desperately needed!

Where to stay in Mauritius with a baby?

Our one non-negotiable when we were searching for family friendly accommodation in Mauritius was that it had a baby club. These are surprisingly hard to come by in many places and most kids clubs start from age 3.

But we found that Mauritus offered a few hotels with baby clubs and we found two to stay at – Anahita golf and spa resort in the east and Heritage Awali in the South West.

Anahita Golf and Spa Resort – East Mauritius

The Anahita Golf and Spa Resort felt like real luxury. It helped that our 1 bedroom villa got upgraded to a 3 bedroom villa so we were spoilt with our own pool, huge living area and stunning garden. It was so nice for our baby to have his own room. There was a cot installed when we arrived and when we looked nervously at the pool, they quickly alleviated our safety worries by quickly erecting a fence to prevent our baby from taking an unauthorised swim!

The staff were so friendly and would bend over backwards for you – they knew our son by name and made a fuss of him every time they saw him. The food was some of the best I’ve had in hotels and one of the best things about Anahita is their private beach on Ile Aux Cerfs (otherwise known as Paradise island.) Whilst the public beach on Paradise Island is gorgeous, the private beach was something else. I’ve travelled to 49 countries and have seen a lot of beaches – this was by far the most beautiful!

Dinners were very easy with a baby. There were plenty high chairs, a large children’s food menu and there was always lots of baby friendly food at the buffet.

The baby club was SO good. Our son was starting nursery when we returned from our trip so we were nervous about putting him into baby club but we really didn’t need to be. He instantly warmed to the super friendly nursery staff and he was in his element with all the toys – especially the undercover outdoor area with an assortment of tunnels to crawl through. In fact after his first session at baby club, he kept pointing to go back!

Because our baby was so happy in the baby club, we built our confidence to start leaving him for longer and even enjoyed a few hours on Ile Aux Cerf enjoying tropical paradise without trying to stop our little one eating sand! We were able to ring the baby club from the restaurant there and if we needed to get back in a hurry, it was just a 15 minute boat ride direct to the hotel.

Anahita is a 5 star hotel and I believe at certain times of year, can be very expensive. We looked at the cost in February for the villa we were staying in and it would have been £12500!! But because we booked last minute and for the shoulder season, we got an amazing deal paying just a small fraction of that. So if you see a good deal, pounce on it!

Heritage Awali Golf and Spa Resort – South West Mauritius

Having explored the North-West and East from Anahita, we drove south to explore the wilder, outdoorsy parts of Mauritius.

Heritage Awali was just as amazing as Anahita though in a different way.

Where Anahita was all about peace and quiet and beautiful beaches, Heritage Awali offered a lot more activities and we enjoyed that it was all inclusive so we didn’t need to think twice before we ordered.

Heritage Awali is SUCH a baby friendly hotel. They even provided sterilisers and bottle warmers free of charge and gave us a cartons of cows milk from the restuarant to keep in our mini fridge.

Again the staff were all wonderful with him, making a fuss and remembering his name. One of the waitresses in the restaurant took a real shine to him and she frequently took him to see the resident cat giving my husband and I a bit of downtime!

We loved that there was a heated family-friendly pool which was warm like a bath and perfect for enjoying swims with our baby.

The baby club was also brilliant with fabulous staff! They even sent us photos, art work and a t shirt they made with our sons name on it! He instantly loved it there and it was lovely to hear that he hadn’t cried once! He was in his element and when we left him he was crawling around exploring and shouting ‘wow’ to anyone who would listen!

They had a peaceful area for naps, a fenced off shallow pool for swims, a sandpit, trampoline, swings and lots and lots of toys. They even had the cutest mini deckchairs! We were able to choose from both a kids food menu and a babies menu so if your little one is still on purrees, they are catered for too.

You are allowed to use the baby club with your baby if you want to as well. We spent a lot of time playing there as a family as he was free to crawl and enjoy himself risk free there!

Baby club ran from 8.30 am to 3.30 pm and was free of charge. Babysitting in the evening cost extra but was very affordable – it cost us around £75 for a package of 8 hours which we split over two evenings.

On the two occasions we got evening babysitting, we dropped him off at baby club so he could play freely. He had dinner delivered there and then after dinner, he was taken back to our room, given a bath and put to bed. The babysitter worked at baby club in the day so knew him well which made us feel very comfortable.

Again, since our little one loved baby club so much, we gained our confidence to start doing mini trips. The hotel organises so many activities – you will be spoilt for choice. We even managed a boat trip to swim with the dolphins. The trip was a private trip so we could return any time we needed to and we checked with the captain that there was phone signal (it was better than I get at home.)

The other trip we took that was organised by the hotel was to the nature reserve next door. Here we took a 4WD buggy tour which was a lot of fun and it was nice to do something together that we wouldn’t usually be able to do with our baby!

On another day, all three of us visited Chamarel Seven Coloured Earth and Chamarel Waterfall – entrance to the park was covered by our hotel. They will also organise a transfer but we had a hire car so headed there independently.

It was a lovely day trip with gorgeous scenery and our little one enjoyed seeing the tortoises there. There were a few steps so if you have a baby carrier I would recommend that over a stroller as the distances are short. We did take our travel stroller but it folds up tiny and is super light so it wasn’t a problem.

The other thing we absolutely LOVED about Heritage Awali was that it had the most amazing spa we have ever been to. Plus one massage each is included with your stay! Even children get a massage (if they are aged 3 or above!) We ended booking more treatments and we loved retreating to the spa when our baby was in baby club for some downtime. It was so tranquil and relaxing. Both times we went we had the heated pool to ourselves.

We booked the BOMA experience which was amazing but in retrospect, this might have been a good evening to use the babysitters. Whilst our toddler loved watching the fire show and musicians (the music is loud so I recommend taking baby ear defenders,) the food is served quite late and by the time it arrived, he was falling asleep in his high chair. We ended up having to take him back to the room early.

Would we travel to Mauritius with a baby again?

Yes, absolutley! In fact we are already thinking about a return trip taking our parents with us as our Dads are both avid golfers and both hotels had world class golf courses they would love. There is still so much we want to explore – including visiting the underwater waterfall and climbing Le Morne.

We both agreed we would do it the same way if we returned spending 5 days at Anahita (to get our fix of that stunning beach on Paradise island) and then 7+ nights at Heritage Awali (where there is more to do and see.)

If we could, I’d extend our time in the south by a bit longer – 12 nights didn’t feel quite long enough!

As someone with the travel bug, it’s rare I want to repeat a holiday as the world is so huge and we have so many other places to explore. But I would return to Mauritius with our baby in a heart beat.

Tips for visiting Mauritius with a baby

Take a night flight to mauritius

If you can, take a night flight to and from Mauritius. We found this worked really well as our baby slept for most of the flight. Keeping a toddler entertained on a long flight in the daytime might be a little more challenging.

Book a seat for your baby if they are older than about 8 months.

Babies under 2 years old can usually travel for free on their parents lap. We did long haul with our son when he was 6 months old and it was fine but this time around, with him being 13 months old and a lot more active, we decided to pay the extra to get him a seat. This meant that we could bring our flight approved car seat which was a total game changer.

Having somewhere for him to sit whilst we ate made flight meals so much easier. He wasn’t able to kick the seat in front and he was able to sleep independently. So if you can afford to get your baby a seat then we recommend it (unless they are younger than 8 months or so.)

Consider hiring a car

Hiring a car means you have the freedom and flexibility to take lots of day trips. We found day trips worked really well for naps times as our son was still needing 2 naps a day so he would usually nap on our way out and then on the return.

It was much easier to have our own car with his carseat already installed rather than worry about taxis. Also we noticed the taxi drivers were very fast/erratic and we felt much safer travelling in our own car. We’ve also been told that taxis are quite expensive.

If you don’t hire a car, invest in a Doona

A Doona is a car seat that converts to a stroller at the click of a button. We used this on another trip where we didn’t hire a car and it meant we never needed to worry about what to do with the car seat if we went somewhere in a taxi.

Stay somewhere with a baby club – especially if your baby is mobile

We were SO relieved that we booked somewhere with childcare. Our son is at that stage that he always wants to be on the go and is constantly wiggling to get down and explore. This was quite hard work around the pool and it would have been very difficult to relax if we hadn’t had access to the baby club.

There he was free to crawl to his heart’s delight and he was much happier than being told constantly ‘no we can’t crawl here!’

Having that time to ourselves was such a luxury on our honeymoon and he was genuinely so happy making new friends.

FAQ’s about travelling Mauritius with a baby

Book your family holiday to Mauritius

Below are the two hotels we recommend for staying in Mauritius with a baby. Both have baby clubs and are suitable for family trips!