Getting from Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport to the city

Where you have landed

• SSR International is in the south-east of the island, by Mahebourg, and the resorts are spread around the whole coast. There is no short transfer here except to Mahebourg and Blue Bay.
• Crossing the island east to west is about 45 km and roughly 1 hour 15 minutes. That is the honest ceiling on a transfer time, and it is longer than the map suggests.

The bus, and the hour it stops

• Buses come about every 15 minutes, in two grades: ordinary, and express with air conditioning.
• Town services run 05:30 to 20:00. Rural services run 06:30 to 18:30.
• The airport is on the rural side of that split. Most long-haul flights land in the evening, after the last one.
• Fares are paid to the conductor in rupees.

The light rail is not an option

• Metro Express runs Port Louis to Curepipe through the central corridor and no further. It does not reach the airport, Mahebourg or any coast.
• It runs on a prepaid MECard from the station machines, which is useful later in the trip and irrelevant on arrival.

Taxis and transfers

• Agree the fare before the journey starts. That is the official advice and it applies at the rank.
• There is no Uber in Mauritius. Yugo books a taxi at a fixed price, which removes the haggling.
• The hotel transfer is usually the right answer for a night arrival, even at a premium, because you are an hour from most of the coast.

Two things to do inside the terminal

• The tourist SIM counters are here. Mauritius Telecom hands over its 30 day unlimited tourist SIM at the Telecom Shop, or its eSIM at the digital kiosk.
• Have the All in One form's QR code printed. It covers immigration, customs and health in one submission, and without it you fill in a disembarkation card by hand.