Canoeing in Mauritius: Scenic and Adventurous | Scenic and Adventurous
Is that the season for abseiling? It sure is on Mauritius!
The winter is mild on Mauritius and when I stayed there, we even had around 25 degrees Celsius. But have you thought of Mauritius of being an adventure destination? I for sure haven’t and I was surprised when I saw ‘canoeing’ on my itinerary.
So I was very excited to see what this is all about…
It was early in the morning and the sun was shining warm, even on a winter day on Mauritius. So I decided to choose the ‘adventure shorts’ and headed to the 7 Cascades in the centre of the island.
I’ve expected the 7 Cascades in the mountains, but no, you’ll find them nicely embedded in a canyon. The guide was already waiting when I arrived and I just needed to jump into the wetsuit, adjust the helmet and make sure the harness fitted well.
Ready to jump off rocks into pools, we started walking to the first mission.
45 meter abseiling, just next to the water fall! Yay!
That’s the way to get the day started!
45 meter abseiling, just next to the water fall in Mauritius; canoeing
If you never have done abseiling, this is for sure not an easy task!
Leaning back into ‘nothing’ and having a 45 meter drop and hard stones beneath you, is for sure not easy. I have done abseiling a few times already and still had that mix of being excited and nervous.
Even being a bit more experienced, it’s always very important to listen carefully to the instructions. Each abseil destination is different and it’s good to know what to expect and what to look out for.
So there I was, standing, leaning back and going for this first step down. Great! I can still do it! Two, three more little jumps and I’ve reached the edge. There was no more wall to stand against. Next was a ‘free fall’ all the way down to the ground. Now it was to decide how to enjoy these next 30 meters!
Slow, easy and enjoying every second?
I opened the hand with which I held the rope and let it go for a second and swoooooz…. I was 2 meters lower. I easily hold the rope again with my hand and stopped myself of smashing all the way to the ground. OK, this would not happen anyway, as there is always someone securing you and who would make sure that you are safe at all times.
These little ‘falls’ are exciting and being in the air, not touching the rocks with your feet, you feel the full weight on the rope and how elastic the rope itself is. Bounce…bounce… which reminded me a bit of bungee jumping, followed by another swoooooz.
It only took a few seconds and the 45 meters are no longer beneath, but above me. Well done and lots of fun!
Just after a short hike we reached the next waterfall and this time there is no need to use a rope.
Now it was time for a 9 meter jump into the fresh water!
That didn’t look too high, at least not until I was standing right at the ‘take-off’ point. I was going for a dive, head first. Sounds easy, especially wearing a helmet, right? But it’s impressive how much speed you get by only jumping 9 meters down. Nope, the smash didn’t seem inviting. So I’ve decided to chicken out and go for the easier jump, feet first.
The water was refreshing and I dived far deeper than I thought. So yes, to chicken out was a good choice. And it was so much fun, that I climbed up right away again and went for a second jump. Feet first it was and even more fun the second time.
The excitement was there, but also the scenery!
The 7 Cascades lies nicely in a canyon and is worth to visit, even if you are not into canyoning! There is a view point, where you can see up the canyon. But you can as well give it a hike. There are small paths which lead you all the way down, so that there is no need to abseil or jump from cliffs, if you don’t want to.
But I would recommend to get into that wetsuit and have that extra fun!
Scenic and Adventurous:
At the 7 Cascades you go for the big jumps and abseiling parts right away. If you survived these, the rest is easy. We still had a second jump of 6 meters and time passed so quickly that we then enjoyed a sandwich lunch, next to another 40 meter drop! Above you’ll find a photo where @VelvetEscape is low lying at the edge and looking down. This picture does no justice to the actual height.
It was a bit sad, that we ran out of time and couldn’t go any further.
Next time I’ll do the full day tour!
Fact box:
We did the tour with Otelair. We had two guides with us and lunch was included. They offer different tours:
2/7 Seven Cascades Falls:
Difficulty: Technical level 1 – Physical level 2
Details: 2 waterfalls of 45 and 10 meters. 2 abseils of 25 and 10 meters. Optional jump of 6 meters. Hiking on the banks and in the river, swimming in the river and ponds, 50 % of the time in the water. Not essential to be a swimmer*. 15 inutes of steep slope on the way back. Group of 2 – 12 people.
Price: around € 53 per person
5/7 Seven Cascades Falls:
Difficulty: Technical level 3 – Physical level 2
Details: 4 waterfalls of 45, 13, 55, and 15 meters and 5 abseils of 25, 6, 30, 25 and 13 meters. On the 55 and 15 meters waterfalls, abseil compulsory whereas on the 45 and 13 meters waterfalls, you can abseil or hike. Jumps of 6 to 9 meters in the ponds. Hiking on the banks and in the river, swimming in the river and ponds. 30 minutes of steep slope on the way back. Group of 2 – 12 people.
Price: around € 63 per person
7/7 Seven Cascades Falls:
Difficulty: Technical level 3 – Physical level 3
Details: 7 waterfalls of 45, 13, 55, 15,40,8 and 13 metres. 10 rappels of 25,6,30,23,13,5,10,25,8 and 13 meters. Jumps of 5 to 16 meters in the ponds. Hiking on the banks and in the river, swimming in the river and ponds. 40 minutes of steep slope on the way back. Group of 2 – 8 people.
Price: around € 70 per person
“500 pieds” (3 waterfalls):
Difficulty: Technical level 3 – Physical level 3
Details: 3 abseils of 50, 30 and 70 metres. 40 minutes hike to enter the canyon. 2 hours steep slope on the way back in the wild forest. Group of 2 – 8 people.
Price: around € 70 per person
Eau Bleue:
Difficulty: Technical level 2 – Physical level 2
Details: Also called the botanical canyon. Waterfalls of 8 and 16 meters. Jumps from 1 to 5 meters high into clear translucent ponds. Hiking on pathways and in the river. Swimming in the river and ponds. 80 % of the time in the water. 2 minutes of steep slope on the way back. Group of 2 – 8 people.
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