5 goods reasons for not choosing Mauritius

1 - Crazy road trafic and town pollution (those damn diesel buses exhausting black smoke are terrible). That and the "let's park in the middle of the road because it's illegal to park on the pavement / sidewalk - when there is one).

2 - Bad infrastructure (crappy roads, water & power cuts, shabby internet)

3 - Everything takes forever to do if you don't live in town because of the traffic - and you probably don't want to live in town - so everytime you need some admin done kiss your day goodbye.

4 -Politics isn't based on ideology but on ethnicity / religion which is a drag.

5 - Radicalist and reactionary society, where things like homosexuality still illegal.

Disclaimer : for these 5 reasons I can give 50 reasons why I love Mauritius, including but not limited to my beautiful wife and children, comfortable and relaxed lifestyle, leisure and sport activities. Not every country is perfect, and Mauritius is no exception to the rule.

[Moderated: off topic]

I think the problems you pointed at are just usual tiny problems of every countries and the first one was hilarious   
I think you must have added the 50 reasons why you like mauritius to balance all that.

Your first 5 reasons are definitely applicable to many of the countries I have lived and worked in over the last 40+ years. 

Please do give us at least 5 of the 50 good reasons for living in Mauritius 

Hi..it does not seems to me the paradise i thought it is!!!!!
Difficultes in everywere!! Problems to bring my dog...treats animal with bad vision!! It does not seem very civil place to live in!!

Funny enough, I live in Thailand on a tourist island that is much smaller than Mauritius and receives 7 times the number of tourists annually.  All of the complaints and reasons not to live in Mauritius could well have been about where I am now. I was also looking at Panama and the forum there could well have been the complaints of Thailand or Mauritius.  Let's face it, these smaller countries trying to get to first world status have a long way to go to get there, but sometimes that's the interesting part about living there.

Thailand "510000"  ,mauritius "2040" thats why its islands even if being smaller will have more tourists. Come on, seems like you're all looking for a minor stuff just to make mauritius look like a hell finally.
So if the status of paradise is bothering you because its not....why come....Im sure there are other people that will appreciate mauritius just the way it is.

iielisaii wrote:

Thailand "510000"  ,mauritius "2040" thats why its islands even if being smaller will have more tourists. Come on, seems like you're all looking for a minor stuff just to make mauritius look like a hell finally.
So if the status of paradise is bothering you because its not....why come....Im sure there are other people that will appreciate mauritius just the way it is.

I think you missed my point which is, the complaints in this thread could be about anywhere in the world. I have seen these exact same complaints in my local Phuket forum as well as in the Panama forum were I was considering looking into as a place to live.  Everywhere has it's faults.

I don't know of the OP's experience but am a Nigerian and came to study at Mauritius and it was a beautiful one year experience, often I still wake up and thinking am in Vacoas, My experience in Mauritius was beautiful, I met beautiful people and my best friend Pooja who helped me alot in Mauritius by telling me where to get food that i might like, also met Good Mauritians friend (Kavish and Anish), my two bros, with whom we stayed up all night because of complex assignment at school and celebrated. visited places and I got the opportunity to work in Mauritius as a Programmer, although it didn't work out due to personal reason of having to come back home, If I could re-live my Mauritius experience I would, and surely am going to be back to visit my good friends when the time is right. Maurice is a beautiful island. Also What i miss the most................. Green Island and Phoenix Beer 

Good for Holiday

but its a suicide for settling

I did my master from Australia and came to stay with Husband .

Reason for not getting job : only English speaking , I AM FOREIGNER

already have locals ....

WHAT(moderated) does that mean???!!!

Is it an equal opportunities land? do you know when you'll get a job contract, or a task for your company to work on, or simple things to do in mauritius?

Well every country or island has there own difficulties some will call Mauritius paradise n some hell.. example see what dojoVader and others said... Am from Mauritius i stayed 2 yrs in Dubai before working for Emirates Flight i love my island even if its hard sometimes.. This is called life!!!

Its about your expectations; if you expect everything to be like a western developed country then think again,
customer service ( apart from hotels and some restaurants) leaves a lot to be desired. However if you "go with the flow" a bit more you tend not to get so stressed out.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

Hi Julie
At last, some truth about a place. My reason for not telling my "real story" on a place is the shocking replies I read when someone has told it - as they see it- it's scarey. Not exactly death-threats but I wouldn't like to meet them on the street. More like a personal vendetta.

So blogs really are just for the sunny side of life. Who for them, the good far out-ways the bad. But I would really like to know about the bad. Then I can make a choice if that's a concern or not. Is it possible for you to police the rhetoric that follows a negative blog?

I have lived in many countries but never blog about them...because I would tell my truth/opinion and do not wish to receive "hate mail", would you?

Cheers GV.

still we mauritians are the best among the world countries . ponder upon it . no war , only peace .if  u have money then u are a boss . but still people here are always smiling compared to other countries.

@mrkevslayer - You put it so well that I don't have anything to add. All those who are complaining have not been "forced" to come and live in such a "disastrous" country.

Love the country and the people, however here is what frustrates me most about Mauritius;
No Fresh Milk, just that awful crap in cardboard boxes.
Lunatic driving, causing far too many road deaths each year.
Dogs barking all night long.
Awful internet.
Bad milk
Immigration/Residency laws that seem to change each week. Even the Passport Office gave me wrong information, because there own staff don't know the latest laws.
Guinness only in cans, not on draught ;-)
Awful milk.
Over development
Did I mention the terrible milk??

Apart from that, best country I've ever been to ( my wife is Mauritian ) and I genuinely love the placeapart from the milk.
I will buy my own cow when I retire there :-)

lol - You can take the milk off your list now! Mia milk - fresh pasteurised milk now available in major supermarkets!

I was very surprised on my recent visit how poor the infrastructure was.  The country has no major expenditire on armed forces or security and, I understand, receives handsome EU grants.  Despite this the GDP at about $25 billion is very low.
I do agree with some of the replies that unless one travels outside the tourist beach areas you cannot gauge the island.  From my perspective its pretty poor and underdeveloped.  The roads are appaling and dangerous. Few pavements, wild dogs everywhere and don't drive at night !  there are few street lights and people walking in the road. Vehichles stop in front of you for no reason or just to say "hello" to a passing friend !  There are many accidents.
There must be a problem with armed attacks on banks etc as I saw armed guards everywhere.
I ws nearly ripped off by overcharging my my local frien's son when trying to rent a car.  They have absolutely no scupples and treat foreigners as "cash cows" !
As for the so called capital PORT LOUIS it is really a third world eye opener!  A dump of a city where you can easy fall into a deep crater just walking along a street in the center.  It is very chaotic and uninteresting.
Air Mauritis can be considered almost bandits when you want to change your return ticket. They are greedy, sullen and without feeling.
Before I visited I read it was a paradise food.  I wqs so disappointed. The Chinese was the worst I had experiences despite being patronised by locals.  The Indian was "so so" and just acceptable.
I could not find a local restaurant.
Sorry being so negative .  One last reason for not choosing MU is  the village of Goodlands.

1,  The nice tropical weather
2,   The cheap price of bread and beer
3,   The lovely beaches and sea for swimming
4,   Beautiful sunsets
5,  lots of good cheap rum

I don't think you have ventured out much while over there.  Agree there are some some places which are not to a European standard but hey even in Europe you have dumps.  As for food, you must have been to some really dodgy places to eat.  You haven't tasted the authentic Mauritian cuisine including Chinese, Indian, Creole.  I suggest you get out of the little shell and get out a bit more when travelling.

I have lived here for 20 years and during that time I have seen significant development : motorways, shopping centers, cinemas showing 'version originale', more restaurants , more bars and clubs ,satellite TV, concerts, more choice of imported food...Crikey there is  even 'Waitrose' produce available, but also no Hellman's Mayonnaise!

Enough with the negativity! No place is perfect. We are expats. We have left our home countries for many reasons : in search of a better life,  using an expertise and knowledge that may give one a premium leading to more opportunity, more money, more satisfaction. Whatever the reason one moved here for there is a simple answer for those that seemingly loath the place...b****r off!

Taxis' are ridiculously expensive here.

veritat wrote:

I was very surprised on my recent visit how poor the infrastructure was.  The country has no major expenditire on armed forces or security and, I understand, receives handsome EU grants.  Despite this the GDP at about $25 billion is very low.
I do agree with some of the replies that unless one travels outside the tourist beach areas you cannot gauge the island.  From my perspective its pretty poor and underdeveloped.  The roads are appaling and dangerous. Few pavements, wild dogs everywhere and don't drive at night !  there are few street lights and people walking in the road. Vehichles stop in front of you for no reason or just to say "hello" to a passing friend !  There are many accidents.
There must be a problem with armed attacks on banks etc as I saw armed guards everywhere.
I ws nearly ripped off by overcharging my my local frien's son when trying to rent a car.  They have absolutely no scupples and treat foreigners as "cash cows" !
As for the so called capital PORT LOUIS it is really a third world eye opener!  A dump of a city where you can easy fall into a deep crater just walking along a street in the center.  It is very chaotic and uninteresting.
Air Mauritis can be considered almost bandits when you want to change your return ticket. They are greedy, sullen and without feeling.
Before I visited I read it was a paradise food.  I wqs so disappointed. The Chinese was the worst I had experiences despite being patronised by locals.  The Indian was "so so" and just acceptable.
I could not find a local restaurant.
Sorry being so negative .  One last reason for not choosing MU is  the village of Goodlands.

Reading your rants, I guess you must not have travelled a lot in your lifetime - not even in your European countries .

Why the heck should the island have "  major expenditire on armed forces or security "?  To feed the greed of the MIC ?
Ever been to the African continent to in Asia far from the tourist areas.
How was the security for you in Durban?

I like the fact that every time I visit I discover something new. I've been 13 times since my first visit in 1993 and I'm still discovering new parts of the island . I did a 90 mile cycle ride on my most recent trip and loved every mile , I saw new sights that I hadn't previously discovered ... inland Mauritius is as beautiful as the coast . I also love the chaos of the larger towns and P Louis.

Anyone heard about this story? I was personally appalled. I am Swiss myself and find this terrifying for expats.

http://defimedia.info/mauritius-institu … revocation

Read a considerable amount of comments and have to say I agree with all the negative issues listed. I'm married to a Mauritius and life is a perhaps a little easier as he knows how to get results. That said I  feel sometimes that Mauritius wants to be on par with Europe but has neither the infrastructure,  or willingness to change its third world mentality. I find this very sad. A beautiful country spoiled by its own people.

All resident permits can be revoked at a moments notice but fortunately it is a rare occurrence.In a recent case involving an expat  pilot of Air Mauritius the annulment of his permits and order for extradition was overturned by the court within hours of the order to leave being issued. Mauritius has laws and an independent judiciary. I am not aware of the case you mention however clearly with a Mauritian body that may have ' political ramifications ' one needs to be careful.

I believe you should reside in the north...

basic amenities are cheap in mauritius such as water, telephone and electricity bills unless your landlord is overcharging you!"

Okay so I have most of the threads here which was posted in 2012.
Can anyone inform me if there has been any positive changes to the issues laid out above? Especially with the school system and internet charges and connection.

Definitely getting better... Power cuts have been less frequent over the past couple of years, and Internet is a million times better since M.T. made Fiber available to where I live... they prioritize 100Mbps deployments though so if you wanna be connected quickly then you have to take their biggest offer but since I use it for work I don't mind so much.

Hi everyone,
I see this post is 2012 and now we are 2019. What I would like to add is all the below reasons given for choosing not to live in Mauritius ARE STILL SAME. I just came back from Canada to live a bit again in Mauritius but what the hell, nothing has changed, the only changes are people are very materialistic, big cars, big houses, very chic outfits, but there is no change in mentality.. All the reasons mentioned in this article are all same after six years...

Very unfortunate though.

Avonmore Irish Full Fat Milk and Kerrygold butter what else do you need

Laughed at the Hellmans Mayo mention. Been there. Can confirm not available in all my searches :-)

Roads are getting better

Internet is better than we got in Australia or other countries.

Dogs are a problem they need to sort out. 

To others, its a small Island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. If you want to live in a city in Europe go there, stop moaning. Dont expect it here. 

Some things good, some things bad same as any country. Nobody has forced us to live here. Respect the locals its their country.

Where is this milk available that you mention ?

Hi , i agree with all the comments made. cannot trust anybody, like they say in uk people will rob you blind, even when you try to make friends they only use you to see what they can get out of you. No regulations about anything.

Are u still in Mauritius  or you've moved on
2012 it's been quite a while

So in a nutshell, their customer service is...French.

peterg123 wrote:

So in a nutshell, their customer service is...French.

Shhh, the forum is run by a French chap

2019 nothing have changed at this stage
Very frustrating