temperature and climate

Well if you need heating then you probably need to see a doctor as well.

No AC?  Sorry but without that then this 'lifetime under cloud' Celt is heading home.

My temps here in Florida are 80 daytime and 60 at night for now, hotter in the summer and colder in the winter, but 80/70 seems perfect to me. I was wondering if people use heaters or AC in Mauritius.

Phil_in_France,
So you use AC? I assumed being tropical you didn't need heat but I don't like AC. I like to have the windows open. What do you think?

I should explain.

Brought up in Wales, more famous for its rain then anything else. Then, prior to coming to Mauritius, 14 years in the French Alps where -15 is not unusual. Summers are nice though but rarely hot.

I have real difficulty dealing with the heat here and I dont have the skin type that deals well with sunlight (Good place to hide Asprin as a friend put it).

So the AC in the bedroom is a must for me. Gets turned on an hour before bedtime and cools enough for me to get to sleep.

You'll have to explain the aspirin joke. I never get jokes.  I have trouble understanding my teenage son too. So I'm a northern european type too and don't take heat as well as when I was younger but 80 is comfortable to me, so is 70. 90 is not but I've had to adjust to the continental weather of the U.S. and AC is widely used here especially in Florida. I'd like to live somewhere I can leave the windows open year 'round. I just don't like to be closed in. So, tell me, do the locals use AC? Or maybe I should come and feel for myself. Thanks for the info. I do have other things to ask but will read through the posts first.

hey time1
i don't have AC (don't like them either), just fans and windows/doors open - and it works fine for me!
there are a lot of mosquitoes, so that can be a problem, but mosquito nets around the beds help and a fan blowing over you tends to keep them away...actually i don't even use a net most nights - just the fan!

when do you arrive?

Thanks purplepixie. I was going to ask about mosquitoes, we have them here but after mosquito control fogs the neighborhood they're gone until a couple weeks after the next rain. It's been very dry here since December though.
I've noticed an 8 hour difference in our time. I just got up. It's almost 8am. 4pm your time I think. I'm afraid it will be several months or more before I can get to your side of the world. I have some things to do here first. I'm researching the world for a new home. I don't want to travel around a lot. I hope to get to Mauritius, or wherever, and stay.  Thanks.

hi time1!

friends of mine, who have visited from England, absolutely felt the need for A/C when they returned back to their flat and they were extremely grateful for the A/C.

other friends weren't as lucky to find apartments that had A/C, so had to content themselves with fans, but they would usually leave it on the whole time they would be at home!!!

So, I would humbly suggest you opt for something with A/C, it'll just make your life that much easier

At 20 degrees latitude I'm sure the sun is intense but I wonder if inland, on the central plateau, if the air is cooler.

thanks for pointing that out, silly me, I thought of that only after submitting my post.

in Mauritius, I've lived on the central plateau region all my life (Vacoas/Curepipe) and during Mauritian Winter, we wouldn't need A/C at all. absolute waste of money really because the air is absolutely cool and lovely.

But nonetheless, since being in Vacoas, during summer time, I occasionally wished we had A/C. But I had to settle for open windows all the time, even at night. I dislike fans, but if you don't mind them, then that's absolutely an option.

And there's always a solution for the mosquitoes as purplepixie pointed out.

There's also the cost factor, A/C flats/apartments will let at higher prices.

Quatre Bornes, which is only a little further away from Vacoas, is always hot, despite being inland too. and my friends rented out an apartment (with A/C) in the QB region.

What with Mauritius's micro climate, it will really depend on where you want to live exactly

That's very helpful. The sort of thing a person wouldn't learn until he'd lived there for a time. I believe in an island group like Hawaii the temps are near perfect by the coast but if one would want something cooler there are high enough elevations to allow snow to remain most of the year. That's more extreme than most tropical islands but many islands do have some mountains inland. Mauritius, being worn down a bit, doesn't have those high mountains but that's an advantage also. It has more land a person can walk on instead of climb on or fall off.
  I wonder if you can't just stick a small window ac in for that hotter time of the year? That's all I use here and it gets in the 90's in the summer. I wouldn't bother with central ac. I would bet, and hope, that everything is different halfway around the planet. Any advice you may care to pass along will help with my future move. Thanks so much.

Or other than advice, just what it's like living there. Like everyday expenses, insects that are a bother, ease of moving around the island, things that I would encounter as a resident. I know this is more than about temp and climate so maybe I should start a new topic.

i'd love to help out with any questions you might have and yeah, i think starting a new topic is an excellent idea, something like 'way of life in mauritius' or something. so other members know what sort of advice/ideas you're after

and regarding the A/C matter, well, one of my friend's Dad got A/C for their living room which also works as their TV room. it's where they are most of the time, reading, watching TV or just chilling out, so it made sense to have the A/C there instead of everywhere. it all depends on what a person can afford

You're a great help Nerolife. So I'll do some more reading here and start a more general topic with a group of questions as soon as I make a list. 
  I get the impression most people think it's pretty warm there and use AC, at least sometimes.  I used to pull the ac out of my cars when I was younger but now I wouldn't buy a car without it. As I get older I get more spoiled or sensitive, not sure which. Maybe both. In Mauritius I don't think I'd want a car. Maybe a bike and a scooter. Thanks.

No problem time1, it's a pleasure!

I'd love a bike/scooter, but my Mom has this huuuge issue with bikes and it's the one thing I've agreed to agree to, i.e. not having a bike
Traffic wise, it sure would be easier and faster if you have a bike
Will be looking forward to your new topic. Cheers!

Nerolife. I've been reading through the blog and there are more answers than I have questions for. Your time is 8 hours later than mine so I expect you're sleeping by now but I wanted to just say thanks again. I may be able to think of something to ask later but I have a lot of reading to do first. Later, Tim

Hey Tim, I'm actually in London at the moment, so evening time here No problemo, whenever you're ready with your questions, I'm sure the members, including me, will be more than happy to help out. Take care!

As someone wrote earlier, it depends where you live. If you choose a place like Albion for example, then no way you're going to survive without air con. But if you live in Curepipe, you will  rarely need to turn it on.

time1,

I, too, am from Florida (Wellington). I've been on the island for six years now and I can tell you that heat isn't a necessity. Temps will dip into the low 60's at night mid-winter (July/August) inland, but nothing a sweater and some blankets won't compensate for.

As for A/C, we don't have any in the house since we built a very open, American design floor plan that would cost a fortune to cool (very simple CBS construction here with zero insulation, et al). However, a variety of ceiling and floor standing fans help to keep things tolerable, as does a plethora of windows.

Overall, I think you'll find Mauritius to be quite tolerable - just don't assume that it's all tropical, all the time. There are definite seasons here, and you'll find yourself breaking out the summer/winter clothing depending on the time of year, etc.

Good luck!

RCK

I live in Tamarin which is on the West Coast of Mauritius and boy do we need air con, same in Flic en Flac and Albion - probably the same elsewhere but these area's I know.

We put our air con on in the bedroom 2 hours before we go to bed, so its lovely and cold, yet within half an hour of turning it off the room has warmed up, so we switch a small fan on low directed at the bed and we sleep ok, the fan also keeps any mozzies away as they cannot land - so no mozzie bites
(A local person told me about the fan trick for keeping mozzies away while you sleep and it does work)

My friend who lives in Vacoas has to use a tumble dryer as apparently they get a lot of rain there. Yet she only lives half an hour away from me.

That's one of the fascinating things about Mauritius, the sights, the weather, in area's around the Island can be so different

Hi Rosiewestie,
That's one of the things about Florida, where I live now, that is so cool. It can rain on one side of the street while the sun is out on the other side. The clouds are low and the environment is intimate. Although sometimes in the summer too much so. Hot and humid. And we do have the bugs here which makes me wonder about Mauritius since it's in the tropics. It doesn't have the cold to kill off the insects each year.
I'm getting an idea of the climate in Mauritius. Curepipe is about the highest neighborhood elevation at about 2000 feet, 600 meters, which is cooler than sea level. It pushes the air up which condenses the moisture out so the windward side of the island would get more rain than the leeward side. Also at 20 degrees latitude your sun is more intense than my 29 degrees. Still, there are so many variables that I have to ask the opinion of people who live there and at some point will have to come and see for myself. Some of us like it cooler, some warmer. I think I'd want to live in the Curepipe area but I'll need time to explore the island and get a feel for it.
Thanks again to all of you who are helping me understand some of what it's like in Mauritius. I'm an outdoor, plant loving, kind of guy so climate is important to me.

Life here is all about being outdoors - since we have been here we have never eaten indoors except at a restaurant and we look and feel so much better for it

There is nothing dangerous animal wise in Mau, bugs included!

I understand what you are saying about the weather, we also have high humidity - it has just started raining heavily here in Tamarin but I have just been speaking to a friend in Albion and she has no rain

The joys of being in Mauritius - Good luck

Yes, being near the ocean is great. I'm a couple miles from the beach and the sea breeze usually keeps us cooler than inland, and warmer in the winter. The U.S. has several islands in the caribbean and pacific but I would like to get away from the U.S. sphere of influence as much as possible. Since you are in the tropics I would think you grow a wide assortment of fruits and colorful plants. Are orchids common?  I know very little about Mauritius really.  Thanks, Tim

I also keep hearing about mosquitoes while people are trying to sleep. In Mauritius do people not have screens on their windows? Where I live the waterway between the mainland and beachside is called Mosquito Lagoon. With good reason. Saltwater mosquitoes are large and aggressive. I doubt people would live in Florida without AC and screens. And mosquito control of course. I can only imagine how difficult it was for the earliest settlers.

Its raining in Tamarin today Rosie? We have nothing in the north!
Like you we switch A/C on an hour or so before bed and it feels like a fridge so switch it off when we actually go to bed, but some nights we have to supplement with the fan too.
It depend wher you live as othes have said, as Mauritius has a microclimate.....
No mozzie nets etc. I find the tabard candles good when you eat outside, as well as the electric zappers indoors.
Its hotter this summer they say........! And I think they are spot on.
Daisy