Golf guide • Mauritius • Eastern Mauritius

Golf in Flacq: four courses between lagoon and cane fields in Mauritius

Flacq, the large district on the east coast of Mauritius, brings together four eighteen-hole courses less than half an hour from one another: Bernhard Langer's Ile aux Cerfs Golf Club on an island in the lagoon, Ernie Els's Anahita, and the Legend and the Links at Constance Belle Mare Plage. Golfers come for this lagoon golf, for the long beaches and for a coast that has stayed close to local life. The best periods are April to June and September to November.

Plan this tripUpdated 11 October 2026

Flacq takes its name from the Dutch word vlak, "flat": it is the largest district in Mauritius, a plain of sugar cane sloping gently down to the sea, fringed with fishing villages. The Dutch settled here from the middle of the 17th century, and their ships came to take on water at Trou d'Eau Douce, where a freshwater spring meets the sea. Today, the coast from Belle Mare to Grande Rivière Sud-Est is lined with pale sandy beaches, casuarinas and a lagoon sheltered by the coral reef.

It is also a coast for golfers. Four championship courses follow one another: two at Belle Mare, laid out around the same resort, Anahita on the former Beau Champ sugar estate, and Ile aux Cerfs, reached by boat. Each has its own character, from the wild island to fairways lined with basalt walls, and you can play a different one every day without ever travelling more than half an hour, car or boat included.

The trip follows the rhythm of the trade wind, which cools the east coast for much of the year. An early start, lunch with your feet in the sand, the afternoon on the lagoon or in the villages. Centre de Flacq, the district town, keeps the bustle of a market town, while Trou d'Eau Douce remains above all a fishing harbour, from which the boats leave for Ile aux Cerfs.

The courses

Fairway lined by a basalt wall and a stream, between sugar cane fields and volcanic peaks, the lagoon in the distance

Ile aux Cerfs Golf Club

Architect: Bernhard Langer
Opened 2003
18 holes
Par 72

Opened in 2003 and designed by Bernhard Langer, Ile aux Cerfs Golf Club covers 38 hectares of a private island in the lagoon, off Trou d'Eau Douce. It can only be reached by the club shuttle, included in the green fee, or by helicopter. The course winds between mangroves, volcanic rocks, tidal pools and white sand beaches on the land of a former plantation, and the sea breeze changes the game from one hour to the next. At more than 7,100 yards from the Langer tees, it remains playable from forward tees, but above all it rewards accuracy.

Signature hole. The 11th, a 618-yard par 5 named "Round the Bend", plays towards the sea with the mountains of the mainland as a backdrop; the club has made it its signature hole.

Official website

Anahita Golf Club

Architect: Ernie Els
Opened 2008
18 holes
Par 72

Designed by Ernie Els and opened in 2008, Anahita lies on the former Beau Champ sugar estate, about ten minutes by boat from Ile aux Cerfs. The layout plays as two loops of nine holes, with generous fairways, dry-stone walls inherited from the plantations and a stream crossing the course. Six holes run along the ocean, and the last three follow the rocky shore. It hosted the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in 2016 and 2018. A complete course that stretches good players to their limits while staying accessible thanks to its six sets of tees.

Signature hole. The 17th, "Turquoise Lagoon", is a short par 3 played facing the lagoon, just before a par-5 18th that finishes in front of the ruins of the old sugar mill.

Official website

Constance Belle Mare Plage, The Legend

Architect: Hugh Baiocchi; Rodney Wright (2016)
Opened 1994
18 holes
Par 72

The Legend is the older of the two courses at Constance Belle Mare Plage: Hugh Baiocchi designed it in 1994, and Rodney Wright revised it in 2016, remodelling five holes and adding water hazards. At around 6,600 yards, it hosted the final of the European Senior Tour for more than ten years. It is a course of strategy rather than power, where the approach to each green is set up from the tee.

Signature hole. The 17th, a par 3, plays across a small cove of Bras Requin bay to a delicate green ringed with bunkers.

Constance Belle Mare Plage, The Links

Architect: Rodney Wright; Peter Alliss
Opened 2002
18 holes

The second eighteen at Belle Mare Plage, the Links was opened in 2002 by Rodney Wright and Peter Alliss. Shorter than its neighbour, at around 6,500 yards from the back tees, it is considered the more accessible of the two, which makes it a good course for a loosening-up round or a family game. Water comes into play on six holes; the short par 4s at the 4th and 17th tempt bold players, and the 18th, a dogleg right, asks you to carry a stretch of water to reach the green.

Where to stay

Constance Belle Mare Plage

Constance Belle Mare Plage stretches along Belle Mare beach, north of Trou d'Eau Douce, and has its own two eighteen-hole courses, the Legend and the Links. It is the logical address for a golf-focused stay: you alternate between the two layouts without getting back in the car. Warm up on the Links and keep the Legend for an early tee time: its 5th, a par 4, is the hardest hole.

SALT of Palmar

At Palmar, on the Belle Mare coast, SALT of Palmar is an adults-only boutique hotel in bold colours, with a lobby designed by Camille Walala and a riad-inspired courtyard. Ask for a Bang on Beach room, a few steps from the sand, and book one of the ten seats at Tek Tek, chef Shiva's Creole table, closed on Sundays. The Belle Mare courses are close by.

Otentic

At Deux Frères, on the banks of the Grande Rivière Sud-Est, the eco-lodge founded by Julien puts its guests up in safari-style canvas tents, each with a terrace and a private bathroom built from salvaged materials. You eat village cooking, help yourself at the bar of infused rums, and paddle a kayak up the river to the waterfall. No air conditioning, but fans and mosquito nets; Anahita is a few minutes away.

Thatched bungalows and an infinity pool on a white sand beach shaded by casuarinas and coconut palms

Where to dine

Chez Tino

On the first floor of a house on the coast road at Trou d'Eau Douce, Chez Tino has fed the village and visitors to Ile aux Cerfs for decades. Take a table on the small terrace above the fishermen's bay and order the octopus salmi, lobster in Creole sauce or seafood vindaye, served with rice, dholl and chutneys. Ask which fish came in that morning. Closed on Tuesdays and on Sunday evenings.

Il Forno

The Anahita clubhouse restaurant occupies a building in Mauritian style with a panoramic view over the course. Mostly Italian cooking, fresh pasta, pizzas and large salads: the ideal table after a round, open for lunch and dinner. Have lunch facing the fairways; in the evening, live bands and DJs play there regularly, a way to stretch the night without leaving the estate.

La Flibuste

On the club's private beach, in the south-east of Ile aux Cerfs, La Flibuste is the golf club's seafood grill, with sunloungers, parasols and personalised beach service. It is reserved for golfers, which keeps it quiet when the rest of the island fills up. Book the table when you book your tee time, then lunch after a morning round, before a swim and the boat back.

Beyond golf

Ile aux Cerfs and the Grande Rivière Sud-Est waterfall

From Trou d'Eau Douce, boats shuttle across to Ile aux Cerfs, whose northern half is given over to the beach, swimming and restaurants with your feet in the sand. Daily trips also go to the mouth of the Grande Rivière Sud-Est, the longest river in Mauritius, where a waterfall drops between steep ravines: the most popular outing on the coast after the island itself.

Sagar Shiv Mandir at Poste de Flacq

North of Belle Mare, the Hindu temple of Sagar Shiv Mandir occupies the islet of Goyave de Chine, surrounded by the lagoon and the mangroves of Poste de Flacq. Built in 2007 and dominated by a large statue of Shiva, it draws worshippers and visitors alike and shows how deeply Hinduism shapes Mauritian life. Come in the late afternoon, when the low light catches the statue and the lagoon.

Fishing villages and sugar country

Flacq is still cane country: the district's economy rests on sugar growing and coastal tourism. At Trou d'Eau Douce, the old Victoria sugar mill and the Maho lime kiln recall that history, and fishing still supports a good part of the village. A walk through the village, then on to Centre de Flacq, gives you the pulse of a coast less staged than the west.

White and blue wooden fishing boats moored in a turquoise lagoon, in front of a beach lined with casuarinas

When to go

Mauritius can be played all year round, but the shoulder seasons are the most pleasant: from April to June and from September to November, the heat stays gentle and the courses are in good condition. In the depths of the southern winter, in July and August, it is cooler, and the east coast, exposed to the trade wind, is then windier and wetter than the west. From December to March, heat and humidity rise, and cyclones, possible from January to March, can disrupt a few days of a stay.

Getting there

Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (MRU), at Plaine Magnien in the south-east of the island, has direct flights to Paris with Air France, Air Mauritius and Corsair, and to other European cities. Allow about an hour by road to the hotels at Belle Mare and Trou d'Eau Douce. A car with driver or a hire car remains the simplest way to move from one course to another.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best golf course on the east coast of Mauritius?

Bernhard Langer's Ile aux Cerfs Golf Club is the most spectacular, on an island in the lagoon reached by boat. Ernie Els's Anahita, the more complete test, is among the highest-ranked courses on the island.

How many golf courses are there around Flacq?

Four eighteen-hole courses: Ile aux Cerfs, Anahita, and the Legend and the Links at Constance Belle Mare Plage. All are less than half an hour from one another, including the boat for Ile aux Cerfs.

How do you get to the Ile aux Cerfs golf course?

Only by the club shuttle, which leaves from its private jetty every twenty minutes and is included in the green fee, or by helicopter. The first tee times are at 7.30 am.

When is the best time to play golf in Mauritius?

From April to June and from September to November: gentle heat and courses in good condition. From January to March it is hot and humid, and cyclones can occur.

How long is the transfer from the airport to Flacq?

About an hour by road from the international airport at Plaine Magnien to the hotels at Belle Mare or Trou d'Eau Douce.

Tailor-made

Your golf trip: Flacq

Tee times, suites, transfers and tables: your concierge replies within 24 hours with a proposal shaped around you.

Hillside fairway lined with golden grasses and cane fields, running down to a turquoise lagoon and the reef line

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