Mauritius with a baby or toddler

How long is the flight, and who flies direct?

About four hours from Johannesburg and five from Cape Town, non-stop. There's no non-stop flight from Durban, so you connect in Johannesburg. Mauritius is two hours ahead of South Africa, so your baby's routine barely moves.

The flights home take longer: about 4.5 hours to Johannesburg and about 6 hours to Cape Town.

Our advice:

• With a baby under a year, book Air Mauritius if you want a sky cot. It offers cots on all its international flights. Airlink has no bassinets at all.
• From Cape Town, the choice is Air Mauritius's overnight flight, with cots, or Airlink's daytime flight, without.

Infant rules on Air Mauritius, SAA and Airlink

All three treat children under two as infants who fly on a parent's lap. The differences are in cots, luggage allowances and how you book a seat for your baby.

Through security: Air Mauritius allows baby food, milk, formula, water and juice for babies under two, for use on the flight, and breast milk in amounts over 100 ml. Declare them at screening, and pack them where you can reach them.

Documents your baby needs

Your baby needs their own South African passport, and you should travel with the birth certificate.

The passport:

• Type: a minor's tourist passport, for children aged 15 or younger. It's valid for five years.
• How long: Home Affairs quotes 18 working days.
• Cost: R600 for a first passport (Home Affairs tariff, as listed on 9 November 2026).
• Who must be there: both parents and the child have to be present when you apply. If one parent can't be there, you need their consent affidavit.

At the airport in South Africa, Home Affairs asks for:

• Both parents travelling: the child's passport, and a copy of the birth certificate. You can skip the birth certificate if the passport shows the parents' details.
• One parent travelling: the passport and a copy of the birth certificate, plus:
  • a consent letter from the other parent, not older than six months;
  • a copy of the other parent's passport or ID;
  • the other parent's contact details.

Arriving in Mauritius:

• No visa: South Africans don't need one.
• What you need: a passport valid beyond your stay, a return ticket, and a confirmed hotel booking.
• Before you fly: fill in Mauritius's free online All-in-One Travel Form at safemauritius.govmu.org.

Health: vaccinations, mosquitoes and water

No special vaccinations are needed for Mauritius when you travel from South Africa. Mauritius asks for a yellow fever certificate only from travellers over one year old who arrive from a yellow fever area, and South Africa isn't one.

• Yellow fever: if your child has been in a yellow fever country recently, such as Kenya, check with the Mauritius Ministry of Health before you travel.
• Other vaccinations: Mauritius's Ministry of Health says hepatitis A and typhoid vaccinations aren't needed for a visit, and that the island has no rabies.
• Mosquitoes: dengue and chikungunya occur in Mauritius, spread by mosquitoes that bite during the day. Ask your clinic which repellent suits your child's age. Cover arms and legs, and use a net over the cot.
• Water: the Ministry of Health advises boiling drinking water. For bottles and formula, use boiled or bottled water. The free baby care rooms at Canonnier and Victoria, and the baby corners at Shandrani and Paradis, have a kettle, a steriliser and a water dispenser.
• Doctors: every Beachcomber resort has an infirmary and a doctor on call. Beachcomber puts the nearest clinic or hospital about 10 minutes from Royal Palm, Trou aux Biches, Canonnier and Mauricia, 30 minutes from Shandrani and Victoria, and an hour from Paradis and Dinarobin.

Sun and heat

Sun and heat are the main things to manage with a small child in Mauritius, all year.

Mauritius's Ministry of Health advises:

• stay in the shade, especially at midday;
• wear light, loose clothing and a hat;
• use a broad-spectrum sunscreen;
• drink at least two litres of water a day.

For a baby, that means:

• a sunshade on the pram;
• a UV swimsuit and a sun hat;
• keeping out of the midday sun;
• asking your clinic about sunscreen for babies under six months.

When to go: summer days on the coast run at 27°C to 31°C. The weather service expects summer 2026-2027 to be hotter than normal, with some days of about 36°C on the western coasts and humid spells with little wind from December to March. With a baby, we prefer the cooler months. From June to September the west coast averages 26°C to 27°C by day and stays dry. See the best time to visit Mauritius.

Which resorts suit babies and toddlers

For toddlers, Shandrani Beachcomber. It's ten minutes from the airport, has a free baby corner for under-2s and some of the cheapest babysitting in the group, and from three, children join its free Kids Club. For babies under two:

• Victoria, Canonnier and Mauricia each have a free baby care room, and Paradis a free baby corner.
• Dinarobin has a baby care corner at its Kids Club.
• Trou aux Biches offers free babysitting at its Kids Club on weekday afternoons, 13:00 to 16:00, for 1- and 2-year-olds.

Babysitting is per child, booked 24 hours ahead, with a two-hour minimum a day everywhere except Royal Palm. Where no start time is shown, Beachcomber doesn't give one.

What the free baby care rooms (Victoria, Canonnier, Mauricia) and baby corners (Shandrani, Paradis) have:

• a bottle warmer, a steriliser and a bottle brush;
• a changing table;
• a fridge and a water dispenser, and at all but Mauricia a kettle;
• a baby meal menu (at Paradis, baby food on request).

Dinarobin's baby care corner, at the Kids Club, has the same apart from the kettle and the baby menu. Trou aux Biches and Royal Palm provide baby care amenities on request. Every resort has cots and baby baths for the room (at Mauricia the bath is on request).

The Kids Clubs are free and take children from three. All open at 09:00: Royal Palm, Trou aux Biches, Paradis and Dinarobin close at 23:00, Shandrani and Victoria at 22:00, and Canonnier and Mauricia at 21:00, with a break for showers and cleaning, usually from 16:30 to 18:00. If you're on half board or all-inclusive, the team takes the children to the buffet for lunch and dinner; at Paradis they eat at the club, and at Royal Palm meals are ordered at the club. For all eight clubs side by side, see Beachcomber's Kids Clubs compared.

Honest downsides:

• Two-year-olds: Beachcomber's 2026-27 sheets no longer list Shandrani's Petit Club; the Kids Clubs start at 3. That leaves Trou aux Biches's free babysitting for 1- and 2-year-olds on weekday afternoons, 13:00 to 16:00, or paid babysitting, from €7 an hour (about R130) at Shandrani, Victoria and Canonnier to €12 (about R220) at Paradis, Dinarobin and Trou aux Biches.
• Shandrani in winter: it's on the south-east coast, which is breezier and gets more showers from June to September than the west. We still choose it for toddlers, for the 10-minute transfer and the free baby corner.
• Transfers: the other resorts are an hour or more from the airport, which is long with a baby who hates the car seat.

Cots, babysitting and the best rooms

Many Beachcomber room types list a baby aged 0 to 24 months on top of the adults and children, and we ask the hotel for a cot when we book. Our guide to Beachcomber's children's offers lists which rooms take a baby at each resort. Choose a ground-floor room if you'll use a pram: no stairs, and no balcony to watch.

Rooms by family:

• Two adults and a baby:

  • a Junior Suite at Victoria: ground floor, straight onto the beach;
  • a Standard Room at Canonnier.

  At Trou aux Biches, the Junior Suites (upstairs) and the plain Tropical Junior Suites (ground floor or mezzanine) take a baby too, but no older child.

• Two adults, a baby and an older child:

  • a Superior Room at Mauricia (2 adults, 1 child, 1 baby);
  • a Tropical Junior Suite Plus at Trou aux Biches, on the ground floor (2 adults, 1 child and a baby).

• Two adults and two small children: a Deluxe Room on the ground floor at Shandrani or Victoria. Everything is on one level.

• Bigger families:

  • Shandrani's Two-Bedroom Family Apartments, on the ground or first floor (2 adults and 3 children, plus a baby). The children's room has bunk beds and its own bathroom;
  • the two-bedroom family suites at Paradis and Dinarobin (2 adults and 3 children, plus a baby in all but Paradis's Luxury Family Suites).

• A caution: Shandrani's Tropical Rooms put the bath on a raised level, with shutters open to the bedroom. Lovely for a couple, less so with a baby who crawls.

Babysitting is available at every Beachcomber resort, at a charge, by babysitters contracted to the hotel. Many have worked with Beachcomber for years. Book 24 hours ahead; the rates, per child per hour, are in the table above. Trou aux Biches adds free weekday-afternoon babysitting at the Kids Club for 1- and 2-year-olds.

The transfer from the airport:

• Baby seats: standard shared transfers can't take baby or booster seats.
• Private transfer: if you need a seat, we book one for you, at an extra cost.
• Your own car seat: tell us if you're bringing one, so the vehicle is right.

What to pack, and what you can buy there

Pack what's hard to replace: your baby's formula and medicines, sun gear and, if you want one for the transfer, a car seat. Nappies and baby food are sold on the island. The baby care rooms and corners at Victoria, Canonnier, Mauricia, Shandrani, Paradis and Dinarobin help with bottles, and all but Dinarobin's with baby meals.

• Formula and medicines: bring enough for the whole trip, in case your brand isn't on the shelves.
• Sun gear: sun hat, UV swimsuit, swim nappies and a pram sunshade.
• Car seat: check it in. SAA and Airlink carry one free with the infant allowance; on Air Mauritius it counts towards your luggage allowance.
• Pram: a collapsible one, which you can use up to the boarding gate.
• Plug adaptor: hotels mostly have three-pin sockets (220 V), and some two-pin. Bring an adaptor for a bottle steriliser or a monitor.
• Warm layer: a light jersey for the evenings from June to October.
• Cabin bag:
  • SAA allows one free bag for the baby's bedding, nappies, bottles and food;
  • Air Mauritius lets you bring an infant carrying basket and baby food on board;
  • on Airlink, an infant on your lap has no cabin bag of their own.
• What you can buy there: nappies, wipes and baby food in the supermarkets, though not always the brands you know. Beachcomber's hotel shops sell nappies, swim nappies, sunscreen and beach toys.
• At the resort: the baby care rooms and corners have a bottle steriliser, and most a baby meal menu (baby food on request at Paradis). From three, on half board or all-inclusive, the Kids Club team takes children to lunch and dinner.

Related

• Shandrani Beachcomber Resort & Spa
• Trou aux Biches Beachcomber Golf Resort & Spa
• Victoria Beachcomber Resort & Spa
• Canonnier Beachcomber Golf Resort & Spa
• Mauricia Beachcomber Resort & Spa
• Paradis Beachcomber Golf Resort & Spa
• Dinarobin Beachcomber Golf Resort & Spa
• Mauritius holidays
• Beachcomber kids' clubs compared: every resort, from toddlers to teens
• Beachcomber children's offers 2026/27: what's free and what isn't
• The best time to visit Mauritius from South Africa
• How much does a Mauritius holiday cost from South Africa (2027)