Tips
Mauritius in February: weather, rain by coast and snorkeling
- Flic en Flac, west coast
- 27 degrees on average (DWD)
- rain only briefly
- one boat trip was cancelled
In short Take the boat tours as early in your holiday as you can – what tips a tour over in February is the wind.
Translated from the German original.
While snorkeling I estimated visibility, water temperature and depth, just as I experienced them on the days I was there. On dives the dive computer measured depth and duration, and values with a named source show what is usual there, not how it was for me.
On Mauritius, February, together with March, is the wettest month of the year. We noticed little of it: in the evening you could walk through Flic en Flac to dinner in light summer clothes, the weather was summery and never too hot. On the boat tour at nine in the morning, the trip to the wreck in the southeast, the air was not yet warm and the water was cold, and we were freezing after the first snorkel.
My advice for this month still hangs on a single point. Take the boat tours as early in the vacation as possible, and on the days when the weather is good. What tips a tour over is the wind: it makes the sea choppy, and you notice that on the boat just as much as while snorkeling.
It rained, too. But only briefly, never a whole day, and it changed nothing about our plans.
Once during that week the wind got in our way. A boat tour to Flat Island turned back before it arrived. Too much wind, waves too high. We were only told once we were underway. Everyone on board was annoyed, many talked to the captain, and it stayed that way: back to the beach, where the operator gave every guest their money back in cash.
Of our four outings, that was the only one that did not take place.
At a glance
| Is February worth it? | For us yes: warm days; one morning at the water was still cold; one boat tour was canceled |
| Our trip | January 30 to February 5, 2026, Flic en Flac on the west coast |
| Weather while we were there | fine every day; rain only brief, never a whole day |
| Water | 27 °C in the February average (German Weather Service, Plaisance station in the southeast); on one morning the water was still cold |
| Visibility | 15 to 20 m in the lagoon, considerably farther out on the boat tours (my own estimate) |
| Lagoon | shallow enough to stand in, no real current — only the movement of the waves |
| Rain in February | 182 mm in the west (Mauritius Meteorological Services, average 1971–2000) |
| Sunshine in the west | 7.4 hours a day (Mauritius Meteorological Services, 1971–2000) |
| Driest coast | the west: 182 mm, against 334 mm in the east |
| What was canceled | one of four outings, because of wind and waves |
| Cyclone season | November to mid-May (Mauritius Meteorological Services: November 1 – May 15) |
Contents
- At a glance
- What is the weather like in Mauritius in February?
- Do boat tours get canceled in February?
- Which side of Mauritius is driest in February?
- What is snorkeling in Mauritius like in February?
- Do you need mosquito repellent in Mauritius?
- Are there cyclones in Mauritius in February?
- My conclusion
- Frequently asked questions
- Where these figures come from
- Further reading
What is the weather like in Mauritius in February?
Pack for high summer. Mauritius lies in the southern hemisphere, February is the warmest time of the year there, and during the day the thermometer climbs to around 29 °C on average.
When it comes to rain, the numbers sound worse than our week was. For us it fell in short showers, and not on a single day did we plan differently because of it. For the west, the weather service gives 7.4 hours of sunshine a day, averaged over thirty years.
On February 1 we were on the boat, in sunshine and almost without wind. Even on that calm day it got bumpier on the way back, with light waves.
Do boat tours get canceled in February?
One can be canceled, and for us exactly one was. The wind decides. Whether the sea plays along sometimes only shows once you are underway.
If the weather is good, book the tour right away. It can change at any time, and then you have nothing at all. Most tours set off in the morning and are back at midday or in the early afternoon, and the rest of the day belongs to the beach.
Look closely at what a tour actually offers. One of our four outings only went just beyond the reef edge and straight back to the beach again. For me that is not a boat tour. The other two that did take place went farther out and lasted considerably longer.
Our tour on February 1 went as planned. What that day was like is in the day report from Crystal Rock. We had booked it on the promenade, at a small tour operator on our way to the beach.
Which side of Mauritius is driest in February?
By the numbers, the west — that is where the least rain falls in February. It is also where we stayed. For the other coasts, the tables of the Mauritius Meteorological Services do the talking, averaged over the years 1971 to 2000:
| Region | Rain in February | Sunshine a day |
|---|---|---|
| West | 182 mm | 7.4 hrs |
| North | 240 mm | 7.7 hrs |
| South | 267 mm | 7.1 hrs |
| East | 334 mm | 6.6 hrs |
| Highland in the center | 400 mm | 6.9 hrs |
So in February the east gets almost twice as much rain as the west. The most sunshine is in the north. What that feels like on a beach there, I do not know. The wettest place is the highland in the middle of the island. That is why the average across the whole island, at 322 millimeters, is higher than on most coasts.
Flic en Flac lies in the west. In front of the beach stretches a shallow lagoon that we reached on foot. You could stand in it, and there was no real current — what you felt was the movement of the waves. What lives in it is described in more detail by our beach article on Flic en Flac. For the lagoon we needed no boat and no booking.
What is snorkeling in Mauritius like in February?
Go into the lagoon on calm days, and take the boat for clear water. In the lagoon I estimated visibility at 15 to 20 meters. More was not possible, because the waves stirred up the sediment on the bottom. Out on the boat tours we could see considerably farther.
On average the water is 27 °C in February, as warm as from January to April; it only gets cooler from May on (German Weather Service, Plaisance station).
We were rather disappointed by the snorkeling at our own beach, because we saw only few colorful fish there. Out on the water it was different. At the coral stop of the boat tour, clear water lay above the bottom, the fish were finally colorful, and some species we had never come across at the hotel beach. We enjoyed that half hour all the more.
No matter which reef: hands off the corals, and keep your distance. They need decades to grow and break in a second. Anyone who props themselves up cuts themselves on their edges, and some of them sting.
Do you need mosquito repellent in Mauritius?
Mosquito protection, by day as much as by night. Dengue fever occurs on Mauritius all year round, and since the beginning of 2026 the Federal Foreign Office has been reporting rising numbers of chikungunya fever. Both are transmitted by mosquitoes that are active during the day, so the only thing that helps is to protect yourself in the daytime just as in the evening: repellent, long clothing, a net at night.
Are there cyclones in Mauritius in February?
February falls within the cyclone season, which runs from November to mid-May. On a long-term average, ten named storms form in the southwest of the Indian Ocean per season, and not every one of them comes close to Mauritius. If one does, the island’s weather service warns in four classes, from a good two days’ lead time through to the gusts themselves. What to do then is stated in each of the bulletins. The Federal Foreign Office names flooding, landslides and disruption to travel as possible consequences.
None of them hit us. We did not hear anything about a warning during our week. Anyone flying in February should check the weather service bulletins before departure and on the spot.
My conclusion
Yes, February is worth it.
I only know Mauritius in this month, though. So I cannot say whether another one suits better or worse — and the weather service figures do not answer that either, because they say nothing about how a single week turns out.
What I would do differently next time: plan more boat tours for snorkeling. In the lagoon in front of the hotel we were disappointed, out at the reef we were not.
Frequently asked questions
Is Mauritius worth it in February? For us yes. One of four outings was canceled, otherwise everything went as planned — and in this month the sea averages 27 °C, as much as in the rest of the southern summer.
Can you travel to Mauritius in February? We did. The month falls within the cyclone season, which you should keep an eye on — during our week we noticed nothing of it.
What is the weather like in Mauritius in February? High summer in the southern hemisphere, around 29 °C during the day on average. February, together with March, is the wettest month, but for us the rain came in short showers.
What is the water temperature in Mauritius in February? On average 27 °C, as the German Weather Service gives it for February (Plaisance station in the southeast of the island). On one morning the water was still cold for us.
How much rain falls in Mauritius in February? On average 322 millimeters across the whole island including the highland. That makes February, together with March, the wettest month of the year. In the west considerably less falls than in the east.
Which coast is drier in February? By the weather service’s figures the west, with 182 millimeters of rain in February. In the east it is 334. We stayed on the west coast; in the southeast we were only there for a day trip.
Do you have to expect a cyclone in February? Yes, the month falls within the cyclone season, and the island’s weather service warns in four classes. We did not hear anything about a warning during our week. For us it was not a cyclone but wind that prevented a tour.
Where these figures come from
We experienced the week from January 30 to February 5, 2026 in Flic en Flac. The remaining figures come from these sources:
- Cyclone season, warning classes and the ten storms on average: Mauritius Meteorological Services, technical note on the cyclone season
- Summer, wettest months and daily maximum temperatures: Mauritius Meteorological Services, climate of the island
- Rain across the whole island (322 mm, average 1991–2020 — the regional tables above, by contrast, average 1971 to 2000): Mauritius Meteorological Services, rainfall by month
- Rain and sunshine by region, 1971–2000: weather service tables for West, North, South, East and Centre
- Water temperature: climate table of the German Weather Service for Plaisance
- Possible consequences of cyclones as well as dengue, chikungunya and mosquito protection: Federal Foreign Office on Mauritius, as of September 30, 2026
All pages as of September 29, 2026, Federal Foreign Office September 30, 2026.
Further reading
- Mauritius destination page: the whole year at a glance, month by month
- Flic en Flac from the beach: what lives in the lagoon out to the wall
- Crystal Rock: our day on the boat, when the sea played along, with dolphins we heard underwater
- Turtle Point: the turtle in the same week and the 2022 ban