Mafate
The cirque of La Réunion that no road enters: a collapsed volcano walled in by cliffs, where the bread and groceries come in by helicopter and visitors come in on foot.
- Arrival
- Roland Garros · RUN
- To the cirque
- 21 km from RUN in a straight line
- Private jets
- RUN, with 24 hours’ prior permission
- Best time
- May to October
The city
Walk in, or fly over.
Mafate fills the hollow of a collapsed volcano in the mountains of La Réunion. Escaped slaves once hid here because the walls are so hard to cross, and there is still no road: trails drop in from Maïdo, Dos-d’Âne, the Col des Boeufs above Salazie, Taïbit on the Cilaos side and the bed of the Rivière des Galets. La Nouvelle, the largest of the îlets, has a school and runs on solar power.
The cirque lies within the inhabited core of the Réunion National Park, on the World Heritage list. Two days or more let you sleep in a gîte, which has to be booked ahead with its meals. Come between May and October, when the rain eases, and set off early: cloud tends to cover the peaks by about eleven.
- Maïdo The western rim at about 2,200 metres, where the view drops straight down into the cirque.
- La Nouvelle The largest îlet, with its school, its bakery and a grocer supplied mostly by helicopter.
- From the air A helicopter flight of about fifteen minutes over the ramparts, Gros Morne and the scattered îlets.
Arriving
From the airport to the rim.
Roland Garros, on the north coast, is only about twenty kilometres from the middle of Mafate as the crow flies. On the ground it is a drive round to a trailhead such as Maïdo or the Col des Boeufs, then a walk.
- Mauritius 40 min
- Seychelles 2 h 40
- Johannesburg 4 h 00
- Nairobi 4 h 10
- Geneva 11 h 50 long-range jet
When to go
May to October.
Figures from Mare à Vieille Place, at 870 metres just over the ridge in Salazie. From January to March each month brings 600 to 700 mm, and long hikes are off when heavy-rain warnings are out. Between May and October the totals drop to between 74 and 160 mm and afternoons stay around 20 to 23 °C, good walking weather.
- 26° J 604
- 26° F 697
- 26° M 599
- 25° A 194
- 23° M 160
- 21° J 108
- 20° J 93
- 20° A 104
- 21° S 74
- 23° O 75
- 24° N 100
- 26° D 245
Where to stay
Back down on the coast.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
-
LUX* Saint-Gilles A beach resort on the lagoon of L’Ermitage, with a 1,100 m² pool to come back to after the trail.
- Akoya Hôtel & Spa One hundred and four rooms and suites looking over the Trou d’Eau lagoon, and a spa of some 600 m² for tired legs.
- Blue Margouillat Seaview Hôtel A Relais & Châteaux house of fourteen rooms on the hillside above the sea at Saint-Leu.
-
Le Saint Alexis Hôtel & Spa Sixty rooms opening onto Boucan Canot beach, with a Sothys spa since 2009.
-
Hôtel Le Boucan Canot Creole buildings right at the water, on the same beach as the Saint Alexis.
- Ness by D-Océan Eighty-four rooms, fourteen of them suites, by the lagoon, with an infinity pool.
-
Radisson Hotel Saint-Denis On the Barachois seafront in the capital, seven kilometres from the airport, with a rooftop and 124 rooms and suites.
Where to dine
Dinner back on the coast.
No MICHELIN Guide covers La Réunion. One table belongs to the island’s Relais & Châteaux hotel; the other is described as gourmet by Île de La Réunion Tourisme.
- L’Eveil des Sens Relais & Châteaux Gourmet, island produce Blue Margouillat, Saint-Leu, about 18 km south-west
- L’Orangine Île de La Réunion Tourisme Gourmet LUX* Saint-Gilles, L’Ermitage
Elsewhere in Réunion
More reasons to come.
Flying to Mafate?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.