A fishing trip from Cap Malheureux starts on the public beach at Bain Boeuf, not in a marina. The boat comes in to the sand, you wade a few steps, and twenty minutes later you are trolling past Coin de Mire with the whole north of Mauritius behind you. The islands and the drop-off beyond them are the nearest big-game water on the island, which is why the northern tip is a shorter run to the fish than most of the west coast. The day is private, five or seven hours, and the skipper decides the plan on the morning by the wind.
That is the short version. The rest of this page is what we tell friends who ask us about it: where you actually go, what tends to bite in which month, how the fish are handled, and the three questions worth asking before you pay.
Where the boat goes once it leaves the beach
Cap Malheureux is the village at the very top of Mauritius, in the Rivière du Rempart district, with the red-roofed church that is on every postcard. The fishing boats based here anchor off Bain Boeuf, the beach just west of the church. There is no jetty, so boarding is from the sand or a short tender ride, and that matters for anyone with a bad knee or small children: ask the captain how boarding works on the day.
From Bain Boeuf the water opens straight onto the northern islands. Coin de Mire, which the maps also call Gunner’s Quoin, sits about eight kilometres north. Flat Island, Ile Plate on the charts, is roughly eleven kilometres out. The sea floor drops away hard past these islands, and the current that sweeps around the top of Mauritius pushes bait along that edge. Most trips troll out towards Coin de Mire, work the edge between the islands, and go further only if the morning is calm and the first hours were quiet.
Because the run is short, a five-hour trip from Cap Malheureux spends more time with lines in the water than a five-hour trip from a port that has to motor for an hour before the first lure goes out. That is the practical advantage of booking here rather than further down the coast.
What bites off the north tip, and when
The reports from boats working out of Cap Malheureux read like most of the north: trolling days that produce a blue marlin bite along with bonitos and the odd dorado, wahoo strikes along the drop-off, and days where the skipper spends an hour chasing birds over tuna that never settle. That last kind of day happens. If anyone promises you fish, be suspicious.
The marlin months run from November into April, with the hottest weeks of the southern summer the most reliable. Our note on the November marlin season in Mauritius explains why the start of the season is quieter than the brochures suggest. Wahoo and yellowfin turn up through much of the year along the same edge, and the blue marlin boats in Mauritius are the same hulls that troll for wahoo in the months when marlin are scarce.
From June into September the trade winds blow hardest and the north coast is the most sheltered side of the island. The boats still go out, but a trolling day may turn into a morning of bottom fishing in the lee of the islands for snapper and grouper, which is a good day for a family and a poor one for someone who came only for a marlin. Say which you want when you book, and read what the captain offers rather than what you hope for.
The boats that actually leave from here
As we write this, in October 2026, one charter boat on Reelzy is based at Cap Malheureux itself, and two more sit ten minutes down the road in Grand Baie. That is the honest size of it, and it changes how you should book.
ti bato is the Cap Malheureux boat: a sportfishing hull between twenty-six and forty feet, licensed for up to five guests, run by Nandhan, who speaks English and Spanish. The listing offers two private trips, a five-hour morning from half past eight to one o’clock and a seven-hour day from eight until three. The gear covers trolling, bottom fishing and casting lures, and the trip policy says children are welcome and the crew keeps the catch. The listing text is short, which is normal for a small family boat that fills through word of mouth, so the questions at the end of this page are how you fill in the gaps.
If the dates do not line up, or you want a boat with a longer description to read, Grand Baie is the next port east and the drive takes about ten minutes. Last Cast is a Baymaster 215 for up to four guests run by Captain Belon with his first mate Pravin; the listing talks about trolling, jigging and popping, half days, full days and sunset trips, and a catch and cook option on request. Full Day Trip Big Game Fishing takes up to five, fishes medium tackle on Tiagra 30 and 50 reels, has a custom fighting chair, and includes snacks, drinks and catch cleaning. All three boats work the same northern water, so the choice is about group size, trip length and style, not about where the fish are.
The port pages for Cap Malheureux and Grand Baie show whichever boats are live on a given day, and the island-wide trolling charters in Mauritius page is the one to use if you are flexible about where you start.
Who keeps the fish
On the Cap Malheureux boat the policy on the listing is that the crew keeps the catch. That is the norm on most Mauritian charter boats and it surprises visitors every week. The fish is part of how the crew earns a living, and a marlin or a big wahoo is sold or shared in the village the same afternoon. If you want to eat what you catch, the usual arrangement is that the crew keeps the fish and you take a couple of fillets for dinner, or you book a catch and cook trip where that is the point of the day. Our page on who keeps the fish on a Mauritius charter goes through the variations, and it is worth reading before you book anywhere on the island, not just here.
Ask the question plainly in the booking chat, before you pay: can we take some fish for dinner, and how much. A captain who answers clearly is a captain you will enjoy a day with.
Weather, the skipper’s call, and your money
The north tip is exposed to the open ocean on three sides. Rough mornings and rain squalls appear in the trip reports from this corner more often than from the lagoon ports, and when the swell is up the skipper will either shorten the trip, swap trolling for bottom fishing behind the islands, or cancel. On Reelzy the captain’s cancellation terms are shown on the listing, and a weather cancellation by the captain is refunded in full under the cancellation policies. What you cannot get back is a day of your holiday, so book the fishing early in your stay, not on the last morning, and keep a second date free.
If you are deciding between here and the busier ports, our comparison of Grand Baie and Trou aux Biches covers the same ground for the two towns down the coast, and the piece on what happens when a Mauritius trip is cancelled for weather explains the refund path step by step.
How the morning actually runs
You arrive at Bain Boeuf a little before the start time; the start times on the ti bato listing are eight and half past eight. Bring a hat, sunscreen, water, something light for your stomach and a jacket for the run out, because even in February the spray is cool at speed. The boat has an ice box and a fishing licence covers everyone on board, so there is no paperwork for you.
The first hour is trolling towards Coin de Mire with lures set, and this is when most of the bites come if they are going to come early. The crew sets the rods, calls the strike, and hands you the rod once the fish is on. On a five-hour trip you turn back around noon; on the seven-hour day the skipper has time to go past Flat Island or to switch to bottom fishing if the surface is dead. Back on the beach the crew deals with the fish, you rinse off in the sea, and lunch in Cap Malheureux or Grand Baie is a five-minute drive.
Three questions to ask before you book
Whatever the listing says, three things decide whether the day matches what you had in mind. First, where will we fish and will we be trolling or on the bottom, because that depends on the week’s weather and your answer tells the captain what you want. Second, can we take some of the fish, and how is that handled. Third, how do we board at Bain Boeuf, and is the boat right for a child or for someone who does not swim well. Put those in the booking chat on ti bato or one of the Grand Baie boats, and the replies will tell you more than any review.
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