What Is Le Chamarel, Mauritius?
Le Chamarel is a small village in the Black River district of southwest Mauritius, set at elevation in the Chamarel plateau. It is best known for the Seven Coloured Earths, a geological formation where volcanic soil settles into distinct bands of red, brown, violet, green, blue, purple, and yellow, and for the Chamarel Waterfall, which drops roughly 100 metres into a forested gorge. The village sits at around 300 metres above sea level, giving it a cooler, greener character than the coastal lowlands and a clear view toward the Indian Ocean on clear days.
For visitors, Le Chamarel is a half-day or full-day excursion from the coastal resorts of the west and south. For those considering a longer stay or relocation to Mauritius, it represents the quieter, inland side of island life, a counterpoint to the beach-facing developments that most newcomers encounter first.
The Seven Coloured Earths: What to Expect
The Seven Coloured Earths sit within a protected geopark near the village centre. The coloured dunes are the result of basaltic lava cooling at different temperatures, producing iron and aluminium oxides that give each layer its distinct hue. The area covers roughly 7,500 square metres and the colours are most vivid in direct sunlight during the dry season (May to November).
A viewing platform provides the clearest perspective across the dunes. The site is enclosed and ticketed, which keeps foot traffic from eroding the formations. Most visitors combine the earths with the nearby Chamarel Waterfall, accessible via a short trail within the same geopark complex.
The Chamarel Rum Distillery, Rhumerie de Chamarel, is a short drive from the geopark and produces single-estate agricole rum from sugarcane grown on-site. The distillery offers guided tours and tastings and is one of the more substantive experiences the village provides beyond its geology.
Le Chamarel as a Base: Staying vs. Day-Tripping
Most visitors to Le Chamarel arrive from resorts along the west coast, Flic en Flac, La Preneuse, or further south toward Bel Ombre, and spend three to five hours in the area before returning to the coast. A smaller number stay overnight at one of the boutique properties set in the plateau, which offer a markedly different experience: cooler evenings, birdsong rather than beach noise, and proximity to the Black River Gorges National Park, Mauritius's largest protected forest reserve.
The national park borders the Chamarel plateau to the north and east. Its trail network covers dense endemic forest and is home to several bird species found nowhere else, including the Mauritius kestrel and the echo parakeet. Hikers with a full day can combine the gorges with a descent toward the coast at Rivière Noire (Black River), one of the island's main game-fishing towns.
Relocating to Mauritius: What Le Chamarel Tells You About the Island
For internationally mobile professionals and families evaluating Mauritius as a place to live, Le Chamarel is a useful reference point. It demonstrates that the island has geographic and cultural depth beyond its coastline, that there are cooler, quieter, more rural areas within easy reach of Port Louis (roughly 30 kilometres by road) and the main commercial centres.
Mauritius has developed a structured framework for attracting foreign residents and workers. The Premium Visa, the Occupation Permit, and the Permanent Residence Permit each serve different profiles, short-stay remote workers, employed professionals, and investors respectively. The island's economic base spans financial services, tourism, ICT, and a growing life sciences sector.
Job Opportunities in Mauritius
Job opportunities in Mauritius are concentrated in a handful of sectors. Financial services, including banking, insurance, and fund administration, account for a significant share of professional employment, particularly in Ebène (the island's dedicated business park south of Port Louis) and the capital itself. The ICT and BPO sector has expanded steadily, driven by government investment in digital infrastructure and a multilingual workforce comfortable in English and French.
Career opportunities in Mauritius for foreign nationals typically require an Occupation Permit, issued by the Economic Development Board. The permit covers three categories: professional (employed), business (self-employed), and investor. Processing times and minimum salary thresholds apply to each category, and the EDB maintains updated guidance on its official portal.
Jobs in Mauritius are advertised through local platforms including MyJob.mu, the primary aggregator for mauritius job opportunities across sectors. Hospitality, engineering, finance, and technology roles appear most frequently. Multinational firms with regional headquarters on the island, particularly in financial services, recruit both locally and internationally.
Banking in Mauritius: MCB and Internet Banking
For anyone relocating to or spending extended time in Mauritius, banking access is a practical priority. The Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) is the island's largest bank by assets and one of the most established financial institutions in the Indian Ocean region. MCB operates a full internet banking platform, MCB Internet Banking, which allows personal and business account holders to manage transfers, pay bills, access statements, and conduct foreign currency transactions online.
Internet banking in Mauritius, particularly through MCB, is well-developed by regional standards. The MCB Juice mobile application extends the same functionality to smartphones and is widely used across the island. Non-residents opening accounts in Mauritius, often a requirement for Occupation Permit holders, typically begin with MCB or one of the other licensed banks (SBM, AfrAsia, Absa Mauritius) and access internet banking from the point of account activation.
For those managing finances across multiple jurisdictions, MCB also operates a Global Banking division oriented toward international clients, with services designed for non-resident account holders and investors.
Practical Information for Visiting Le Chamarel
Getting there: Le Chamarel is approximately 50 kilometres from Port Louis and 25 kilometres from Flic en Flac. The road through the Chamarel plateau is narrow and winding in sections; a car or guided tour is the practical choice. Taxis and tour operators from the west coast resorts run regular half-day and full-day excursions.
Best time to visit: The dry season (May to November) offers the clearest skies and most vivid soil colours. The wet season (December to April) brings heavier rainfall and occasional cyclone risk, but the waterfall runs higher and the forest is deeper green.
Entry to the geopark: Ticketed. The fee covers both the Seven Coloured Earths and the Chamarel Waterfall. Check current pricing at the site entrance, as it is adjusted periodically.
Food and drink: The Chamarel plateau has a small number of restaurants, several with views toward the coast. The Rhumerie de Chamarel operates a restaurant on-site. For a wider choice, the coastal towns of Rivière Noire and Tamarin are within 20 minutes by car.
Why Le Chamarel Matters Beyond the Postcard
Le Chamarel is not simply a tick-box attraction. It is a point of access to the island's interior, its geology, its endemic ecology, its agricultural history in sugarcane and rum, and a quiet argument for looking beyond the coast when planning time in Mauritius. Whether you are here for a week or weighing up a longer move, the plateau offers a version of the island that most visitors miss entirely.
The south is different: wilder, less visited, and worth every kilometre of the drive. Le Chamarel sits at the edge of that argument, elevated, composed, and more layered than it first appears.