Things to do near Lion Mountain

Everything near the trailhead at a glance

Distances are from the trailhead behind the police station in Vieux Grand Port. Where only a straight-line figure is available from the sources, the table says so; road distances around the bay are longer. Times are what most visitors give each place, not minimums.

Mahébourg, the market and the waterfront

Mahébourg is the town across the bay and the place to eat, shop and catch a bus. The market runs daily and roughly doubles on Monday, when stalls of textiles, produce and snacks spread into the streets. The waterfront runs along the lagoon to Pointe des Régates, where the Grand Port battle memorial of 1899 looks across the water to Lion Mountain and to the reef passage where the fight of August 1810 took place.

Across the century-old Cavendish Bridge, the Rault biscuit works has made manioc biscuits since about 1870 and offers a short tour with a tasting, and below the bridge is La Board, the public washing place. The Mahébourg guide has the whole town in one page, with a table of what to see.

Two museums, one of them closed

The Frederik Hendrik Museum at Vieux Grand Port is the one you can walk into. It stands on the site of the Dutch fort of 1638, with the excavated ruins in its grounds, a few hundred metres from the trailhead. Admission is free and it is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 09:00 to 16:00, Wednesday 11:00 to 16:00 and Sunday 09:00 to 12:00, closed on public holidays.

The Mahébourg Naval Museum, officially the National History Museum, holds the Battle of Grand Port collection in the Château Gheude, a house of about 1772. It has been closed for renovation since 15 December 2025 with no reopening date announced. Until it reopens, the memorial on the waterfront and the view from the lion’s head are the ways to take in the battle, and the museum page on this site has the collection and the normal hours for when it does.

Blue Bay, the lagoon and Île aux Aigrettes

Blue Bay Marine Park, south of Mahébourg, is 353 ha of protected lagoon with a free public beach, a reef with 38 recorded coral species and about 72 fish species, and glass-bottom boats working from the sand. It is the natural swim after the hike and about ten minutes from the airport, which also makes it the last stop before a flight.

Île aux Aigrettes is the restored coral islet in the lagoon, a nature reserve since 1965 and home to pink pigeons, Mauritius fodies, Telfair’s skinks and Aldabra giant tortoises. The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation runs guided visits of 1.5 to 2 hours from Pointe Jérôme, booked in advance. It is the afternoon that pairs best with the mountain, because from the summit you have just looked down on it.

• A catamaran day from Mahébourg is bookable through Andeor at https://www.andeor.travel/tour/blue-safari-mahebourg-catamaran.
• Snorkelling in the Grand Port lagoon is bookable through Andeor at https://www.andeor.travel/excursion/snorkeling-grand-port-lagoon-salty-vibes.
• Île aux Aigrettes visits are booked only through the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation; there is no independent landing.

Vallée de Ferney

The Vallée de Ferney is the conservation valley on the northern side of the mountain, reached by a signposted turn-off about 2 km south of Vieux Grand Port. It protects a conservation zone of roughly 100 to 200 ha inside an estate of about 3,100 ha, where invasive plants have been cleared by hand and more than 30,000 endemic trees planted. Mauritius kestrels nest in the valley and are fed daily at noon; arrive by 11:30 if you want to see it.

The valley is open seven days a week, with activities from 08:30 to 14:00 and the reception open until 17:00. Four routes run from an easy 5 km with about 75 m of climb to a technical 18 km with about 970 m. There is an entrance fee, charged at different rates for residents and visitors, and one hiker reported the car park locked at 16:00, so do not leave a car there into the late afternoon. The Ferney page on this site has the detail.

Pointe du Diable and the coast road north

North of Vieux Grand Port the coast road runs past Bois des Amourettes and Bambous Virieux towards Grand Sable, with the lion behind you and the lagoon beside you. The road at Bois des Amourettes is one of the two classic places to see the mountain in profile, the other being the Mahébourg waterfront.

At Pointe du Diable, about 7 km from the village, a French coastal battery has been restored, with fortifications and cannons along about 250 m of shore beside the main road, and the ruins of Second World War installations nearby. Its construction date and original guns are not established in the sources we have, and the story that the point was named for compasses misbehaving is unverified. It is a short stop rather than a destination.

Diving inside and outside the reef

The lagoon and the reef off Grand Port have a set of named dive sites. Inside the lagoon, Trou Moutou is a shallow dive at 6 to 10 m, Anemone Garden lies at 12 to 18 m, and the wreck of HMS Sirius, lost in the battle of 1810, lies broken on sand down to about 25 m with cannons, anchor chain and timbers; it is treated as an advanced dive. Outside the reef are Lobster Cave, Tunnel, Purple Cave, Pointe Wahoo, La Passe, Roche Zozo and Colorado, a drop-off from 20 to 40 m.

Dive centres on this coast organise these sites; we name none and quote no prices. Ask your dive centre about going up a mountain after a dive. Lion Mountain is low, but that is their question to answer, not ours.

Further south, Le Souffleur and Gris Gris

If you have a car and a spare half day, the south coast is a longer drive from Mahébourg. Le Souffleur is a blowhole on the cliffs reached through the Savannah sugar estate at L’Escalier, where the gate is open from 06:00 to 18:00. In rough seas it spouts up to about 20 m, and there is a natural land bridge nearby. In calm weather it does very little, so pick a day with swell.

Gris Gris, near Souillac, is a public beach where the ocean arrives at the cliffs unbroken, and La Roche qui Pleure, the weeping rock, is about 600 m east of the beach. Treat both as places to watch the sea rather than swim in it.