Scuba Diving in Mauritius: Five First-Dive Packages From €93 to €150, Two Trips for Certified Divers, and Why Evidence Is Thin
6 min read
Scuba diving in Mauritius is sold as seven separate listings, and they are two different products. Five take people who have never dived, for one supervised dive of two to three hours. Two take only divers who already hold a certificate. Read which one you are before you read the price.
For a first dive: the East Belle Mare dive at €135 — 4.8 stars from 184 reviews, two hours, and by far the best-evidenced listing. The cheapest first dive: the beginner dive at Tamarin Bay at €93. If you are already certified: the north-coast dive at €72, but it has five reviews.
Five of the seven side by side
| Trip | Who it takes | Price | Duration | Rating · reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Belle Mare scuba dive | first-timers | €135 | 2 hours | 4.8 · 184 |
| Discover scuba diving in the north | first-timers | €97.50 | 3 hours | 4.7 · 25 |
| Beginner scuba dive at Tamarin Bay | first-timers | €93 | 3 hours | 4.6 · 26 |
| North-coast dive for certified divers | certified only | €72 | 2 to 5.5 hours | 5.0 · 5 |
| Tamarin exploration dive | qualified divers | €64 | 3 hours | 4.7 · 2 |
Two more first-dive listings are not linked here: a €135 trip in the north with Blue World Adventures (4.9 stars, 13 reviews) and a €150 “learn to dive” session at Blue Bay (4.8 stars, 3 reviews). Both are two-hour sessions, and both have too few reviews to rank.
A first dive is not a course
None of the first-dive packages makes you a diver. The Blue Bay page says it plainly: this is not a certification course but a quick introduction to what it takes to explore the underwater world. You learn the basic safety rules, practise the skills in shallow water, and then make one supervised dive with an instructor beside you.
The Belle Mare operator’s reply to a reviewer mentions “comprehensive training” as the next step, which is where a certificate comes from. That is a separate booking and separate days.
The East Belle Mare dive: the one with proof
At €135, 184 reviews and 4.8 stars, this is the listing with real evidence behind it, and the page also lets you choose a west-coast dive when you book. The listing itself says little about what the two hours consist of. One reviewer describes a first dive that went well for beginners, with a guide who looked after them both.
The honest limit is the page: no inclusions list, no stated age limit, nothing about medical conditions. Ask the operator for all three before you pay.
The Tamarin Bay dive: the cheapest, and the strictest page
€93 for three hours in a group of up to eight, which is the lowest price for a first dive. The page walks through the morning: medical forms, equipment briefing, a first session in a swimming pool, then the boat to the dive site and a short supervised exploration. The 26 reviews give it 4.5 stars.
The booking page is also the strictest. It lists children under 10 and people over 70 as not suitable, along with heart problems, respiratory issues, epilepsy, high blood pressure, kidney problems and recent surgery. Arrive 15 minutes early, skip the alcohol, and do not eat a heavy meal first.
The northern first dive: read the flight rule
The €97.50 north-coast dive runs three hours and has 25 reviews at 4.6 stars. A reviewer says they practised in shallow sea before going out to open water. Its page carries the most useful sentence on any of these listings: schedule your dive at least 24 hours before your flight, because the body holds extra nitrogen after diving and flying too soon can be dangerous. That is physiology, not a booking policy, and it means a first dive belongs at the start of the holiday, not on the last day.
Whether diving suits you at all, with your ears, lungs or medication, is a question for a doctor, not for a booking page.
Two trips for certified divers
The north-coast dive at €89 is a single dive with groups of at most five, from the coral sites of Trou aux Biches to Pereybere. The instructor checks your certification at the start, and the site is chosen on the day by sea conditions and diver level. If you have not dived in over a year, the page says to book the refresher option. The booking page lists divers without certification, children under 10, and people with epilepsy or heart problems as not suitable.
The Tamarin exploration dive at €64 is the cheapest dive of all, in groups of up to eight, with rays, green turtles and “possibly dolphins” if you are lucky. All its equipment is listed as included, and the sites are decided on the day.
Both have too few reviews to judge: five and two. At these prices that is a reason to write to the operator first, not a reason to avoid them.
Where the pages disagree
The Blue Bay booking page says anyone aged 10 or older in good health may take part, and also lists children under 7 as not suitable. Both cannot be the real rule. Ask for the age, not the page.
When diving is the wrong answer
If you want to see the reef but not breathe from a tank, snorkelling in the protected lagoon in the south is a different afternoon with its own rules, set out in Blue Bay and where you may swim. If you want to go under water without any licence at all, a submarine or an undersea walk is a lower-commitment way down; see the options compared.
Which one to book
For a first dive: the €135 East Belle Mare trip. It has by far the most reviews and the best rating. Ask about age and medical limits before you pay, because the page does not say.
See availability and prices for the East Belle Mare dive
For the lowest price: the €93 Tamarin Bay dive. For certified divers: the €72 north-coast dive, with the caution that five reviews are not a track record.
