Mauritius Full-Day Exploration: Ebony Forest, Dormant Volcano, and Multicolored Sand

44 Ratings

Trou aux Cerfs

Save

View Gallery (25)

Embark on an 8-hour private tour of Mauritius, exploring the Ebony Forest, a dormant volcano, and the mesmerizing multicolored sand at Seven Colored Earth. Visit Hindu temples, waterfalls, and panoramic viewpoints for a truly immersive experience.

Duration: 8 hours

Cancellation: 24 hours

learn more

Highlights

Trou aux Cerfs - Begin your 8 hours southwest private tour with a hotel pick-up anywhere in Mauritius. You will meet & be greeted by our certified guide and after boarding to your comfortable vehicle, then set off for your first stop.
You’ll be heading to Trou Aux Cerfs which is one of the famous natural tourist attractions in Mauritius. The…

What's Included

Private transportation in a fully air-conditioned vehicle
Services of a certified private guide/driver
Entrance to key attractions: Ebony Forest Nature Reserve and Seven Colored Earth
3-course lunch with vegetarian, non-vegetarian, and Halal options
Beverages during lunch (non-alcoholic)
Jeep Safari at the Ebony Forest Nature Reserve
-…

What's Not Included

Gratuities (Optional)

Additional Information

Embark on an 8-hour private exploration of Mauritius’ southwestern region, featuring a stopover at the beautifully lush, dormant volcano, Trou Aux Cerfs—a popular attraction. Follow this with a visit to the Mare Aux Vacoas reservoir, offering a panoramic view of the surrounding lake.
Next, visit the Grand Bassin to appreciate the Hindu Temple and the…

Location

Trou aux Cerfs

Curepipe,

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

3.8

(44 Ratings)

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Jennifer

Feb 9, 2025

A great day exploring the beautiful south. - Fantastic day exploring. Our driver and tour guide, Sahil, was great - friendly and knowledgeable with lots of interesting facts to share. We had a really wonderful time exploring Ebony Forest and we would love to return.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Jack_e

May 19, 2024

Great trip - We enjoyed our journey. Saw quite a bit of the island. Lunch was good. Our driver/guide was good and gave us information about the island.

Review provided by Viator

Deniserp2489qp

Nov 25, 2023

A great day to Chamarel - We expected much of this trip and we were not disappointed. We liked most the well guided ebony forest tour with the view towards the Morne Brabant. Lunch was good. Many thanks also to our pleasant and skillfull driver!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Reetoorazk

Oct 23, 2023

Excellent journey with Freshverde Holidays - I highly recommend Freshverde Holidays. I had the best trip ever with my friends. The guide was very entertaining. We enjoyed all sightseeing and zero difficulty faced. In addition to that the team was so so supportive, they explain everything clearly. They made our days memorable. Thanks a lot keep it up.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Leonr1138

Dec 30, 2022

Exotic South trip - We did the Exotic South day trip with Daren Ramsami, including visits to the dormant volcano in Curepipe, the majestic statues of Bandhi matha, Shivji and the surrounding temples, viewing of the reservoir at Mare aux Vacaos, Alexandra falls viewing point, very satisfying lunch at Resto Saveur Tropical, Guided tour of the Ebony Forest, stunning viewing point at Sublime, Seven coloured sands and the waterfall at the end. Daren was patient, friendly, knowledgeable and a great driver. He shared his knowledge of the island with us and was an excellent companion throughout the day. I would highly recommend Daren as a driver.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Eva_b

Aug 23, 2024

Ebony Forest - This was a tour we were most looking forward too, however the weather was so terrible for the first part of trip the views were very much hindered by the rain and mist. Our driver though, looked after us with umbrellas to keep us dry, to try and make the best of the moments. The reservoir was much larger than we imagined. From there we went to see the impressive statue of Lord Shiva the Temple and the sacred lake. This was a beautiful place though the weather was at its worst so our views were spoilt and our time here was rushed to get out of the rain. The Black River Gorge was next however our views again were spoilt by the mist, but we could see the waterfall so our driver explained what was behind the mist. The Alexandra Falls were fantastic to see and we managed to get a few photographs before the rain worsened again. The Chamarel Seven Coloured Earth was next and with all the rainfall the colours were not very vibrant, you could see slight colour changes in the Earth but it was not very clear. Lunch was next at a local restaurant which was nice. After lunch there was a break in the weather which meant we had a wonderful end to the day in the Ebony Forest. The jeep safari was very enjoyable enabling us to travel more easily especially as the ascent was very steep. Our guide through the forest was very knowledgeable and he also pointing out wildlife on the way such as spiders, Giant Tortoises and Fruit Bats.There are sections of the jeep ride where you get out and walk along metal walkways with steps and a section of stone stairs to climb back up to get to the jeep. This is not too difficult to do, however if you have any mobility problems ascending the stone stairs may be an issue as the steps can be a little uneven and large. Overall the Ebony Forest was our best part of this trip but this was mainly because of the unfortunate weather on the day.

Review provided by Viator

Ross_h

Jul 11, 2023

Great day out - We had a great day out. Our driver manu was very friendly and helpful. We saw all the sites…. Some through the mist as the weather was a little mixed on the day but we made the most of it. The sun came out for our 4x4 tour of the ebony forest. Staff were very passionate about their work. Luckily we saw the seven colours in the afternoon as it dried up enough to show the soil colours. I’d recommend walking all around so you get to see the brilliant colours. They don’t show from some angles. All in all a very good day out. One suggestion to improve is to offer a choice of restaurant for lunch. We ate at a local place which was fine (interesting!) but then as we drove off after lunch, passed a fantastic mountain top restaurant with panoramic views. We’d of happily paid extra to add that to our experience.

Review provided by Viator

Becky_k

Jan 23, 2025

Just OK - We enjoyed the sites - Mauritius is a beautiful county. Our favorite was the Ebony Forest. A park guide rides with you on the jeep and he gave us a lot of interesting information during the walking portion. But our “guide” for the day was really just a driver. Other than Grand Bassin, he didn’t leave the vehicle at the stops and instead just pointed us in the direction to go. Another problem we had was communication with the tour company before the tour. We weren’t contacted by the company before the tour so we contacted them through Viator several days before the tour to inform them that we would not have cell service once we debarked the cruise ship and to ask exactly where to meet the tour guide. The response was a generic “the tour guide will be there” type of response. Once we got off the cruise ship there were a large number of tour guides holding signs with customer names just outside the ship. We waited for quite a while thinking the guide was just late. Eventually my son decided to walk outside the port to check and found our guide there. Later when we got wifi access I could see that the driver had tried multiple times to contact us, so not only did the tour company not give us the needed info on where he would be (outside the port) but they also didn’t notify him that we wouldn’t have connectivity. While we enjoyed our day, I don’t recommend this company.

Review provided by Viator

Ildef0ns0e

Feb 14, 2025

Total disappointment - We've been my wife and Me 8 days in Mauritius Island. I'm gonna be very honest. The island is very green, but it is very chaotic, the driving is appalling, they do not respect, at all, the most elementary traffic rules. We decided to rent a vehicle and don't do it. I was 8 days with stress, because of the permanent attention to the road, they are very narrow and appear by surprise, abandoned dogs, motorcycles with several people mounted, cars without lights. Fatal. As for commuting, they are eternal, due to the poor condition of the roads, you have to add twice as much as normal. Comment that most of the sites we visited were free, but there are always the rogues and scoundrels who want to take you for a fool and steal some rupees, beware of these, you always have to demand a ticket. A lot of rubbish on the roads, the recycling theme, sounds Chinese, all lying on the floor and waste everywhere. You have to carry GPS, since the roads are nowhere marked, only the M1 and M2, the main one that crosses the island. It is not expensive, there is maximum luxury, but with a budget of €2,500/couple, you can be in a correct hotel and eat decently, I add the plane ticket, as it is low season in Mauritius. In terms of weather, we were afraid that no cyclone would appear on the island, it is very frequent in January and February, but climate change affects them and a lot, since it only rained heavily 1 day and even a couple of hours, the rest sun and 32 degrees. The beaches are beautiful, no crowds and those that are private even better. In short, we will not return has already been seen and we have been disappointed quite a lot, it is far from a paradise destination. They need to get better.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Michaelru6058wr

Oct 17, 2023

Disappointing Tour Experience - I had high hopes for this tour based on the reviews and the website’s description, but I was left quite disappointed. The guide seemed uninterested and often provided misinformation. We felt rushed at several points and missed out on key attractions. Additionally, the group size was much larger than promised, which made it hard to hear and interact with the guide. I’d suggest looking elsewhere for a more fulfilling and accurate tour experience.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Check Availability

From $143

up to 15 guests

2 Adult