Paddling in Mauritius.

G`day all,

I am heading down to Mauritius for a weeks break away from Dubai in early Oct. Is there any way I can hire or borrow a ski whilst I am there. I am hoping there are still a few ski`s available that are left over from the race in Mauritius earlier this year.

Any info or advice on who I could contact would be greatly appreciated.

If anyone wants to reply off the forum my email address is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Thanks in advance

Give Dominic Henry a shout. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

He should have skis or know where you can get one. Ask him about dolphin viewing trips too - I had one of the most brilliant experiences of my life swimming about 6 inches away from wild dolphins at Black River...

Thanks Rob, I`ll drop Dominic a line.

The dolphin trip sounds like a must do as well, thanks for the tip.

Anyone planning on heading to Mauritius for a holiday and wanting to do some paddling at the same time, make sure you contact Dominic on the email address that Rob provided above.

At the moment Dominic only has a glass Epic V10 Sport to hire, but he is looking at adding more ski`s in the future. Whilst I would have preferred to paddle a lighter faster ski the Sport was still great fun on a downwind.

With a bit of advance notice if you are there over a weekend he might also be able to help plan a downwind paddle with a few local paddlers as well. I managed to fit in a couple of paddles with their local group which was good fun, I did not manage to get in a downwind with them but it was still nice to meet and paddle with some locals in the lagoon.

I did 3 down winds by myself which were fantastic, nice big ocean swells and at least 15-25kts of wind each day, the only problem is coming in through the channel at Le Morne, the first time you do this is quite worrying to say the least. It does not matter how much time you spend on the beach looking out at the channel thinking you have it in your head, doing it the first time from the ocean side by yourself is an eye opener. If you could do it with some locals or someone who has done it before it would be strongly advisable. The size of the waves breaking around you on the reef and the strong currents in the channel are not to be underestimated. After doing it the first time and having your visual references of the landmarks in place it gets much easier.

Make sure you swim with the dolphins as well, it is a fantastic experience to be swimming within a meter of a large group of wild dolphins, well worth the money.

I did 3 down winds by myself which were fantastic

Forgive me for sounding a note of caution - but that downwind run is for highly experienced paddlers only... there are virtually NO rescue facilities, strong currents, massive breakers on the reef.

And they've lost a number kite surfers because of the currents through Le Morne... guys fall in, can't get back on their boards, get swept out to sea and bye, bye.

When we were there a couple of paddlers tried to go around Le Morne to come in at a gap just to the north. The currents were so strong, they could not make progress and had to turn around and come in at Le Morne. Then one of them came off and there was quite a bit of drama to rescue him and his ski.

So - one of the best downwinds in the world but... you need to be really, really careful!

Rob your note of caution is justified, the first 2 days I was there the conditions were to big for me to consider, and channel was closed on the first day. Dominic did stress the dangers if the conditions we not right.

I spoke to the water sports staff at the Indian resort where I was staying which is directly in front of the channel. They do offer a rescue service from the channel (mainly for the wind and kite surfers) if they are flying the green flag on the beach which they were on all days I paddled through the channel. On my last run through the channel I tried to help rescue a kite surfer who had lost his board and was stuck in the middle of the channel, I tried to tow him but had no chance pulling him and his kite, but the extra bouncy of the ski offered some help for him and I was able to wave for some help on the beach and the rescue boat was able to come and get him about 5 minutes later.

My advice to anyone not familiar with the area is to speak with the staff at the water sports facilities at the Indian resort, they will be able to offer advice on the conditions and let you know if the channel is open or closed or safe to be in and if there is a rescue service available. My main worry was that the channel may close whilst I was doing a down wind and I would not be able to get back in but they assured me that they direction of the swell and not the wind conditions are what determine if the channel is open or closed, if the swell comes from the SE it is OK but if the swell comes from the SW it will close the channel. The days I paddled down wind the swell was coming from the SE and with the wind coming from the same direction the conditions were perfect and made for a great down wind as long as you stayed out to sea far enough away from the breakers on the reef. Make sure you take your own leash, PFD etc, these are essential for paddling outside of the lagoon.

The conditions this time of year are also a lot milder than they were in the winter when the race was held with storm conditions earlier this year.

Col - all that big water in Dubai no doubt gave you all the preparation you need for Mauritius!!

Yes mate as you know, the 12 inch swell that rolls in past the Palm coupled with the 7kts of hot wind that churn up the water in the afternoon and sometimes give us a bit of a down wind are fantastic preparation.

Hi

I have just moved to Tamarin Mauritius and bought my first ski I did not know about dominic, but managed to get a kayak centre dorado from a guy that imports them here. Its a nice ski for a beginner like me.

I will not be up for that le morne paddle anytime soon - Col, you obviously know what you doing....definitely not for anyone but advanced paddlers.

There is is some nice, tamer paddling in tamarin, flic en flac, black river and many other parts of the island. I am in the fortunate position to be able to paddle most mornings from tamarin beach and will often run into dolphin which is a real treat. If the swell is up and the left break is working, there can be some nice rides on the way in - just watch that reef....it gets shallow quickly!

Anyone coming this way, feel free to drop me a line. I'll be glad to show you around, go for a paddle and have a beer

cheers
paul

Paul, what is your email address? Eddie

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