Mauritius is located just off the southeast coast of Africa, 900km east of Madagascar. Surrounded by the warm Indian Ocean, the island is 2040km2 in size and forms part of the Mascarene Islands, with La Réunion to the southwest and Rodrigues to the northeast.
Mauritius enjoys a mild tropical maritime climate throughout the year. The country has two seasons: a warm humid summer extending from November to April and a relatively cool dry winter from June to September. The month of October and May are commonly known as the transition months.
The Republic of Mauritius is made up a numbers of other islands which include Mauritius Island, Rodrigues, Agaléga and Saint Brandon. The islands are spread over a vast area of the Indian Ocean.
Mauritius is a volcanic island most well-known for palm beaches and lagoons with coral reefs surrounding much of the coast.
Sugarcane and tea plantations are the main agricultural film locations. Textile factories are the main industrial locations.
The first Hollywood feature film produced in Mauritius in 2019 was “ Serenity”. Mauritius is used extensively as a film location for Bollywood.
Film locations are divided into the following regions – Black River, Flacq, Grand Port, Moka, Pamplemousses, Plaines-Wilhems, Port-Louis, Rivière du Rempart, Savanne, the autonomous region of Rodrigues, and the dependencies of Agaléga and Saint Brandon.
These offer run-down French colonial architecture that makes for interesting backdrops , the Port Luis Central Market, Citadelle, Government House, Blue Penny Museum, Le Pouce mountain, Pieter Both mountain, and Champ de Mars horse-racing track. Pamplemousses Botanic Garden is famous for its long pond of giant water lilies and then there are many beautiful forests, national parks, tree-lined avenues, mountains, waterfalls and rivers. Locations of particular interest include the Black River Gorges National Park, Casela Nature Park, and Chamarel Seven Colored Earth. Chameral Falls, Rochester Falls, and Tamarind Falls are beautiful film locations. L’Aventure du Sucre is a former sugar factory.
The coast has some beautiful beaches as well as private islands such as Iles des Deux Cocos and Île aux Cerfs. Mauritius offers some great underwater photography options, particularly on the more protected west coast. Tamarin Bay has good surf breaks. Flic-en-Flac beach has excellent sunset photography options.
The local film location scouts can elaborate on many other choice film locations. Mauritius is truly an island paradise!