Grand Baie, Mauritius: a boat-filled bay with a 24-hour clinic up the road

The expat scene: The north coast around Grand Baie is where many of the island's foreign residents and visitors end up, so you won't be the only new arrival in town. That cuts both ways. You'll find people to ask and businesses used to foreigners, but you'll also pay for the address: a one-bedroom in Quatre Bornes, up on the central plateau, runs about $380 a month against $600 near the center here.

Healthcare: C-Care Grand Baie, at Mont Choisy Smart City, has a 24-hour emergency department, an operating theater, day-care procedures, and X-ray, ultrasound and CT scans. It's served the north since 2014. For bigger specialist work, people head to the private hospitals in the middle of the island, such as C-Care Wellkin in Moka. The State Department rates care at major hospitals and private clinics as adequate, and notes that most providers, ambulances included, expect payment in rupees before treatment. Medicare doesn't cover you abroad, so arrive with international coverage. If you dive, know that the island's decompression chamber is at Victoria Hospital in Quatre Bornes, not on the coast.

Remote work: Home internet runs about $30 a month. Regus's Grand Bay Central, in the Coeur de Ville complex, sells coworking day passes and private offices by the day. The harder part is the clock. Mauritius doesn't change its clocks, so it's eight hours ahead of Eastern during U.S. daylight saving time and nine hours ahead in winter. A 9 a.m. New York meeting lands at 5 or 6 p.m. here, and a West Coast morning call runs into your evening.

LGBTQ expats: In October 2023, the Supreme Court of Mauritius struck down Section 250 of the Penal Code, a colonial-era law against sodomy, as discriminatory and unconstitutional. Same-sex relations are now legal. Attitudes can lag behind the courts: the State Department's country page, last revised in 2018, warned that LGBTQ people may face discrimination and harassment from families, neighbors and police. If you're moving with a same-sex partner, confirm with the Economic Development Board how your relationship will be treated for family permits before you apply.

Black Americans: Mauritius has a large Creole community, many of them descended from enslaved people brought from East Africa and Madagascar to work the sugar estates before slavery ended in 1835. Mauritius hasn't counted ethnicity in its census since 1972, so there are no official figures on how big each community is. We couldn't find reporting on how Black American expats specifically experience daily life here, so talk to a few people who've made the move before you commit.

Limited mobility: Grand Baie being flat and at sea level helps. The bigger problem is access to buildings and transport: the State Department says access to transportation, lodging and public buildings is limited across Mauritius. Ask about elevators, entrances and bathroom layouts before you sign a lease, and don't count on buses.

Retirement: Grand Baie works well for retirees who want a social life and a hospital nearby. A single-person budget of about $1,300 a month sits comfortably under the $2,000 a month the Retired Non-Citizen permit asks people 50 and over to transfer in, so the permit money can cover daily life. See our Mauritius retirement permit guide, the full guide to moving to Mauritius, and our retirement visa hub.