Half Board or All-Inclusive in Mauritius: What Saves You Money

For most Indian couples, half board or full board is better value than all-inclusive in Mauritius. All-inclusive earns its extra money mainly when you both drink most evenings. Mauritius isn't the Maldives, where the resort is often the only place to eat. The main island has villages, beach shacks and proper restaurants within a short drive of most resorts, so paying for a plan built around a wider bar is a different call here.

Half board, full board and all-inclusive in Mauritius: what each plan gets you

The codes mean roughly the same thing at every resort, but the details that matter sit in the fine print, not the label. The lists below come from resort pages and booking sites, and resorts change them, so check the current plan sheet for your dates.

Half board (HB) gets you breakfast and dinner at the resort. At the Outrigger Mauritius Beach Resort in Bel Ombre, that's breakfast at Mercado and dinner at Mercado or Edgewater, with the Plantation Club and Rouben's tapas available on reservation. Edgewater dinner needs a booking too, and a supplement may apply for some of these, so confirm before you book. At Long Beach in Belle Mare, half board covers breakfast at Le Marché and dinner at four of the resort's five restaurants: Le Marché, Tides, Chopsticks and Sapori. The fifth, Hasu, is a Japanese restaurant for guests aged 12 and over, and it charges a supplement on every meal plan, so you pay extra for it whichever plan you pick. At the Westin Turtle Bay on the north coast, half board is breakfast at Seasonal Tastes plus dinner there, at Mystique or at Kangan, the Indian restaurant. The listing names meals only, so treat every drink as an extra.

Full board (FB) adds lunch. SO Sofitel Mauritius in Bel Ombre sells full board with an all-inclusive upgrade, and its full board adds a two-course lunch to breakfast and dinner while still leaving out drinks. The Westin's full board works the same way: lunch at Mystique or the Beach Grill, and you're still paying for every glass.

If you're vegetarian or Jain, tell the resort when you book and ask if each half board restaurant keeps a vegetarian option every night. Edgewater at the Outrigger lists a wide vegan selection, and the Westin's half board includes Kangan, an Indian restaurant.

All-inclusive (AI) is where drinks and extras get folded in, and this is where resorts differ the most. The Outrigger's plan adds lunch and a selection of local beer, spirits, wine and soft drinks from about 10am to 11pm, with afternoon tea and snacks at selected times. The Westin's plan covers drinks from 11am to 11pm, adds a daily minibar refill and afternoon tea, and its listing names kayaks, sailing boats and snorkelling gear as complimentary, which helps if you've got kids or want to try watersports without paying per session. SO Sofitel's upgrade adds select spirits, house wine, select cocktails, soft drinks, mineral water and milkshakes from 10.30am to 11pm, plus daily snacks at the Takamaka pool restaurant and bar from 12pm to 5.30pm, and afternoon tea. Hours are indicative and can change by season.

Mauritius half board or all-inclusive: the sum for Indian couples

Work out what you'd use, not what the plan is worth on paper. Take a typical Indian couple: vegetarian or close to it, having a drink now and then rather than every evening, in Mauritius for four or five nights.

On half board, breakfast and dinner are sorted. Lunch is the one meal you pay for yourself, either at the resort or in town. The cheapest number I can source is a simple set lunch with a drink in Port Louis's business district, about MUR 334 per person, roughly Rs 675 at MUR 1 = Rs 2.02 (Wise rate, September 2026; Expat Mauritius prices, January 2026; all approximate). That is a city price, not a beach one. A mid-range meal with an Italian dish, wine and dessert is closer to MUR 1,188 per person, about Rs 2,400, and that figure includes the wine, so a non-drinking couple would pay less. For two people over five lunches, that puts lunch at roughly Rs 6,800 at the cheapest and up to about Rs 24,000, before any taxi fare.

Add the ride too. Lunch outside the gate usually means a taxi, so ask the resort what a return trip costs before you count on it.

Full board takes that decision off the table. You're not hunting for a lunch spot or reading menus on holiday, and for a first trip, or with kids along, that convenience can justify the price on its own. SO Sofitel's full board is the package here built this way, and it suits a couple who wants every meal handled.

All-inclusive adds the bar, the minibar and, at some resorts, watersports. If neither of you drinks much, you're paying for a benefit you'll barely touch. A soft drink, a coffee and an ice cream through the day have some value, but they don't close the gap with what a full bar and a long daily pour window are priced to cover.

If you do drink, the sum changes. Ask for half board and all-inclusive prices on the same room and dates, then set the gap against two things: lunch (about Rs 1,350 a day for two at the cheapest local prices, more at a resort) and the drinks you would honestly order each evening. If the gap is bigger than those two combined, stay on half board.

What all-inclusive usually leaves out

All-inclusive sounds total until you read the plan sheet. None of the four resorts above cover everything.

At the Outrigger, the Plantation Club and Edgewater's evening menu need a prior reservation, so a special dinner there isn't automatic. Ask if your rate adds a supplement. At the Westin, Fusion and Beach Grill dinners run on meal credits, and theme nights use credits even on all-inclusive, so a table there can cost extra. At SO Sofitel, the drinks are a defined list with snacks at two venues in a set window, so read the list before you assume a favourite label is on it. At Long Beach, Hasu sits outside every plan, half board included, so a sushi night is always an extra line on the bill.

Three things are usually outside an all-inclusive price at any of these resorts: excursions off the property (a catamaran trip, diving, a day out to Chamarel or the Black River Gorges), spa treatments, and anything on the wine list above the house pour. Budget for these separately no matter which plan you book.

The four resorts, side by side

Treat this table as a starting point, not a final quote. Which restaurants rotate into a plan, and if a resort sells all-inclusive for your dates, shifts with the season and the operator, so confirm the exact board basis before comparing it with anyone else's number.

The simple rule

Pick half board if you plan to eat out at least every other day, want the freedom to try local restaurants, and don't drink much. Pick full board if you want every meal handled and would rather not decide where to eat each afternoon, especially with kids along or on a short trip where time matters more than a few thousand rupees. Pick all-inclusive only if you know you'll use the bar, want the minibar stocked without asking, or would use the extras a plan bundles in, such as watersports at the Westin. If you don't drink and you're vegetarian, I'd skip all-inclusive almost every time and put that money toward a better room category or an extra night instead.

Which package fits which plan

If lunch out and a relaxed dinner rotation sound right for you, the Outrigger's half board plan is a solid pick on the south coast, with local restaurants a short drive away for the days you'd rather eat out.

On the north coast, the Westin's half board works if you're happy to take a taxi for lunch on some days, so ask the front desk what a return ride costs. You can price the all-inclusive upgrade for the same dates if the group wants the minibar and watersports.

If you'd rather not plan a single meal, SO Sofitel's full board package covers all three.

Here are the other Mauritius packages if you want to compare more resorts than these.

Before you book

Indian passport holders can enter Mauritius for a holiday without arranging a visa in advance. The visa guide for Indians has the current stay limit, documents and the online arrival form.

Flights aren't part of any of these resort plans. Fares swing a lot with season and how early you book, so check live return fares from your city and add them on top of the meal plan.

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Ask for two quotes on the same room and dates, one half board and one all-inclusive, and let the gap decide.

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