Mauritius trip – Stan Keusch – Vincent Poelman// Strapless Kitesurfing

Trip in Mauritius

One Eye, Manawa…Stan Keusch visited Mauritius kite spots. Here’s the report.

I’m Stan Keusch, from Switzerland and I started with Kitesurfing in 2011. After two years doing some Freestyle/Wakestyle on atwintip, I ripped my anterior cruciate ligament and tear my miniscus on the last day of my five week trip in Brazil. After surgery and six month of recovery I came back on water. Since my knee injury I focused more on Strapless-Freestyle and Waveriding.

In November 2013 I headed off to Mauritius. I want to go to Mauritius, because I heard about varioussailing conditions : wave spots but also flat water. The water and the air temparature are warm and the Wind statistics are over 70% in november. So it’s the perfect spot when you want to escape the european winter.

In Mauritius the most popular Spots are in the south.

Le Morne

When there is south or south-east wind le morn ist he best spot. There is also a thermal wind whitch reinforce the south-east wind. When there is a forecast of 9kn south-east you have at least 15kn wind. Wind from the east and north don’t reach le morn.

There are four reefbreaks: Smallreef, Manawa, Chameaux and One Eye.

• Smallreef is maybe 600m away from the Beach. The wind is sideshore. Most of the time between 1.5-3m high.

Perfect for beginner or those who want to learn some new tricks in the waves.

But there are always a lot of windsurfers but they are friendly.

• Manawa is about 2km from the Beach. This Wave can get between 2-7m and is not that fast. And the same Wind direction like Smallreef. The Water is at least 2m deep. You have always be care. But when you have some trouble there it could be dangerous. Beacause there is a strong current how will drift you in the open ocean.

• Chameaux is a nice, clean and fast Wave but it’s super shallow, thats the reason why this Wave is not that popular.

• One Eye is a World Cup Wavespot. Super clean, very fast and can get up to 5m. What makes this Wave very dangerous ist he shallow water. The water ist between 0.5-1m deep. Only ride this wave when you are a expert. As specialy strapless it’s very difficult to ride this super fast wave. Wind her is side-off.

• When you want to do more flat water freesyle or cuising you just can ride in front of the Le Morne beach or go 800m upwind to the Kite lagoon. The Spot at the Le Morne Beach is amazing. Blue water, steady wind and small choppy waves to do some nice Straplesstricks

• The Kitelagoon doesn’t worth to go. Because the Wind is onshore, water is dirty, a lot of schools with learners and crowded.

• By East winds, try Bel Ombre. It’ only 20minutes from Le Morne by Car. This spot works good, eastwind and reinforced by the thermal wind. It’s a huge flatwater area.

All in all the south of Mauritius is an amazing Kitesurf spot specialy for waveriding. You can have a lot of different Wind conditions so that you can ride from 6m to 14m in 1m swell at the min. Take care to the strong current, shallow reefs, sea urchin.

Some tips :

When it’s not windy, many activities to do : SUP, tourism at the capital City Port Louis, jumping from waterfalls.

You need a car in Mauritius to visit and to folow the Wind on the best spot exposure. No direct and unique access to the spots  from the appartment you can rent.

About the cost :

A nice appartment with a Pick-Up Car cost between 50-60€ per day. Food prices in supermarkets and restaurants are equivalent to european prices.

Here’s a little video with Stan Keusch  :

Spinout Sportshop spinoutshop.ch
Cabrinha Kites cabrinhakites.com
NP Surf npsurf.com

Another footage to document this trip sent by Vincent Poelman Kiting, windsurfing and on a SUP. “A dream in Mauritius, paradise is, wind, waves and family, just happiness …”

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