Chamarel 7 Coloured Earth Geopark

Our trip to Mauritius just had to include a visit to the Chamarel 7 coloured earth geopark. Not only can you see the famous multicoloured sands, but you can also see the famous waterfall and surrounding landscapes. Within the park there is also the ebony forest tour, which I have written a separate post for.

This post is designed to help you plan your journey to this special site. I’m going to also let you know what we did so that you have a rough itinerary.

I also want to make sure that you set your expectations in the right place. Tourist brochures definitely photoshop the sands to make them look brighter.

Getting to the Chamarel 7 Coloured Earth Geopark

The geopark is located in the south of the island. If you are staying in one of the many hotels down there, a transfer or taxi should not take too long. From there, you can pay admission and walk from the waterfall to the coloured earths.

Entrance to both the 7 coloured earths and the waterfall costs 550MUR, which is roughly £10 per person. I definitely think that this is well worth it and, for what you get, it is really cheap.

As we booked our honeymoon through Kuoni, this was part of the Plant a Love Tree tour. Whilst it is a really cringey title (and you can get more details here), I would recommend this as an option. The tour is carried out by Mautourco and our guide, Joel, was beyond incredible. Looking at the Mautourco website, whilst there isn’t this same option, there is a Wild South tour which basically covers everything we did, except for the ebony forest.

Our tour cost £200 and included:

A personal guide and driver (Joel, who also took us off-piste to take nice photos)
Black River Gorge viewpoint
Ebony Forest tour, with a tree-planting experience
Chamarel admission

If you arranged all of these options separately, it would cost less. However,if you are in the north of the island (like us), a transfer probably will end up costing you the same amount of money as our tour.

Our guide made it come alive and helped us understand the country that much more. If you are lucky enough to get Joel, you will know what I mean.

The Waterfall Viewpoint

The waterfall in Chamarel is iconic. It is the largest waterfall in Mauritius and plunges into a large basin in the middle of a forest. I thought that it looked just like Jurassic Park, made even more epic by the large, white tropic birds gliding above the basin.

There are two main viewpoints that you need to know about. Firstly, is the one by the car park. I think that you get decent views here, but you can’t really get the best angle on the waterfall. It is less busy here though (surprisingly), so you don’t need to push and wrestle with all the other tourists.

The second viewpoint is up some stairs into the forest. When you get to the carpark by the waterfall, you should notice some wooden steps. If you go up them and stick to the side of the waterfall, you will eventually get to another viewpoint. This is a wooden structure that gives you an immense view of the falls.

Sadly, just off of the wooden viewpoint, is a trail that has been made by tourists wanting to get closer to the basin. If I am honest, the view is basically the same and I also disagree with people damaging the national park for Instagram. Don’t be that person, stick to the route.

7 Coloured Earth

Arguably the main attraction is the multicoloured earth that has congregated in a valley. This looks like sand, but is actually fine basalt that has been ground down. Due to the different chemical processes and charges (I am paraphrasing my Science teacher husband here), the colours separate and form the spectacle.

In my Kuoni brochure, it looked vibrant. When you get there, whilst incredible, you don’t get the same colours as you are expecting. I would also add that, unless you literally climb over the fences (don’t do that), it is really challenging to get a good photo. I had to include it in my top 10 instagrammable spots post, but you’ll need to get creative.

You should find a cafe here, as well as a few other touristy spots. There is a Giant Tortoise Park, which is always fun. If you want to see these magnificent animals in their natural habitat, go to Ile aux Aigrettes where they roam the island. You can also find a souvenir shop, a cafe and apparently a restaurant too, though we did not see the latter.

Final Thoughts

If you are in the country of Mauritius, the Chamarel 7 coloured earth biopark is a must. You have lots of different options, including standard admission to the more expensive Kuoni tour we did. If it were me, I would not change what we did as we had an incredible day out. However, £200 is definitely on the more pricey side and if you are staying in the south and just want to see the falls and the earth, try and get a transfer. If you are in the north, definitely arrange a tour through Mautourco or your holiday company.

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