How safe is Mauritius for travelers?

Crime

• Most crime is non-violent: burglary from tourist villas, theft of unattended bags.
• Petty theft is most common in Port Louis, Grand Baie and Flic en Flac.
• Sexual assaults on tourists have been reported.
• Avoid street and beach vendors, which is the FCDO's own phrasing.

The law that catches people

• Possessing or importing cigarette papers is illegal in Mauritius. They are treated as drug paraphernalia. Roll-ups are a perfectly ordinary thing to have in a bag at home and a criminal matter here.
• Cannabis and other drugs carry lengthy imprisonment and heavy fines.
• Police may ask for identification. Carry a copy of the passport page.

The sea

• Use permitted water sports operators, with life jackets aboard.
• The lagoon is calm and the open sea past the reef is not, which is the trap on a windward coast.

At sea, further out

• Piracy risk in the wider Indian Ocean extends up to 1,000 nautical miles from the Somali coast, which matters for sailors rather than for holidaymakers.