Book a half day in Mauritius if it is your first time at sea, you have children or non-anglers with you, or you want the afternoon free. Book a full day if you are after marlin or a big tuna, or you want to try more than one way of fishing. On the boats listed on Reelzy, a half day is really a 4 to 7 hour morning, and a full day is 8 to 10 hours that simply keeps going into the afternoon.
The short answer
The full day does not start at a nicer hour. On almost every boat in Mauritius both trips leave at the same time, between 4:00 and 6:00 in the morning, and the full day just comes back three or four hours later. So the real question is not “morning or all day”, it is “do I want to be back for lunch or for mid-afternoon tea”.
That changes the decision. You are not paying for a better morning, you are buying extra hours on the water: time to run further offshore, to fish more than one spot, or to switch from trolling to jigging or bottom fishing when the bite slows.
What “half day” and “full day” mean on real boats
These are the trip lengths and times the captains themselves set on their Reelzy listings, as of October 2026. Durations are the hours on the trip; where the captain gave a time window, it is shown.
| Boat | Port | Shorter trip | Longer trip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pyramide | Trou-aux-Biches | 6 h, 4:30 to 10:30 | 10 h, 4:30 to 14:30 |
| Fishing on Ivan | Trou-aux-Biches | 6 h, 5:30 to 11:30 | 9 h, 5:30 to 14:30 |
| La Rochelle Fishing Charters | Trou-aux-Biches | 4:00 to 11:00 | 4:00 to 14:00 |
| One and only | Trou-aux-Biches | 6:00 to 12:00 | 6:00 to 15:00 |
| Big game fishing | Trou-aux-Biches | 6 h from 5:00 | 9 h from 5:00 |
| Yan | Trou-aux-Biches | 6 h from 9:00 | 10 h from 9:00 |
| Baywatch | Trou-aux-Biches | 6:00 to about 12:00 | none listed |
| ti bato | Cap Malheureux | 8:30 to 13:00 | 8:00 to 15:00 |
| Last Cast | Grand Baie | 4 h or 6 h from 5:00 | 8 h from 5:00 |
| Full Day Big Game | Grand Baie | none listed | 9 h from 6:00 |
| Flying Kiss Cruise | Pointe aux Piments | 6 h from 5:30 | 10 h from 5:30 |
| Small Game Fishing | Mahébourg | 4 h from 6:00 | 6 h from 6:00 |
| Giant Trevally Popping | Mahébourg | none listed | 6 h from 6:00 |
| Big Game Fishing | Rivière Noire | 4 h from 9:00 | none listed |
Three things stand out. Most “half days” are six hours, not four. A few boats (Yan, ti bato, the Rivière Noire boat) start between 8:00 and 9:00, which is the easiest option if you have small children or a long drive to the port. And two trips are only sold one way: the Grand Baie big game trip is a full day by design, and the Mahébourg popping trip is a fixed six hours.
Why the extra hours matter offshore
Mauritius drops steeply into deep water past the reef, so blue water is not far away. A study published through the FAO describes the island’s fish aggregating devices, the anchored buoys that hold bait and draw tuna and dorado, set 3 to 10 nautical miles from shore. A six hour morning reaches that water easily and still leaves most of the trip with lines in.
What a full day buys is range and patience. Marlin are hunted by trolling big lures over a lot of water, and every extra hour is another stretch of ocean covered. The Grand Baie full day boat targets blue and black marlin with Tiagra 30 and 50 reels and a fighting chair, which is gear for a long fight, not a quick bite. The Rivière Noire listing names bluefin, yellowfin and bigeye tuna, blue and black marlin and sailfish as its targets.
On a half day the boat mostly trolls for what is around: skipjack and yellowfin tuna, dorado, wahoo, trevally. Our Mauritius fishing seasons guide covers when each of these is closest to the island.
Choose a half day if
- It is your first time on a sportfishing boat. Six hours is enough to learn how a strike works, fight a fish and find out whether you love it.
- Anyone in the group gets seasick. A shorter trip is the simplest way to cut the risk; our guide to seasickness on a Mauritius fishing trip covers the rest.
- You are travelling with children. A nine hour day is long for most of them. See fishing in Mauritius with kids for what to check first.
- You want lagoon or light tackle fishing. In the south east, Small Game Fishing works the largest lagoon in Mauritius with casting, light trolling and bottom fishing, on 4 or 6 hour trips.
- You want the afternoon for the beach, a dive or a family lunch. Most half days are back between 10:30 and 13:00.
Choose a full day if
- Marlin is the reason you came. More hours offshore is the one thing that improves your chances, and the boats that target them sell the longer trip for that reason.
- You want to try several techniques. Pyramide lists bottom fishing, deep sea and drift fishing, handline, trolling, jigging and popping; Fishing on Ivan adds spinning and spearfishing. You rarely get through more than one or two of those in a morning.
- You are an experienced angler in a small group. Last Cast in Grand Baie is set up for two to four people and offers 4, 6 and 8 hour trips, so you can choose the length to suit the group.
- The weather has already cost you a day. If a trip was called off for wind, a full day on the next good day gives back some of the lost fishing. Our post on what happens when a trip is cancelled for bad weather explains how rescheduling usually works.
What changes besides the clock
Food. Check what is on board for the longer trip. Fishing on Ivan stocks snacks, drinks and lunch. Last Cast lists refreshments and snacks. The Mahébourg popping trip includes drinks and asks you to bring your own snacks or lunch. On a 9 or 10 hour day, that difference matters.
Comfort. A long day is easier on a boat with shade and a toilet. Fishing on Ivan is a 36 foot boat with a toilet, an ice box and a fighting chair. Smaller boats can be excellent fishing platforms but less comfortable by the eighth hour, so ask.
The catch. Who keeps the fish works the same way on both trip lengths: it is set by the boat, not the duration. On Fishing on Ivan the catch is shared with the crew. Read who keeps the fish on a Mauritius charter before you go, especially on a full day where a big tuna is possible.
The sea. Offshore trips are weather dependent on every boat; the Mahébourg popping listing says so in as many words. A longer day means more hours in whatever the wind does after lunch, so a captain may suggest the shorter trip on a breezy day. Take that advice.
How to compare boats fairly
Because boats quote by the trip, not by the hour, compare what you get for the time, not just the headline length:
- Ask what time you are actually fishing. A 4:00 start from Trou-aux-Biches gives you the first light on the water. A 9:00 start is gentler but misses the dawn.
- Ask how far out the boat goes on each trip length. That tells you whether the full day is the same fishing for longer, or different fishing.
- Ask what the trip includes: lunch, drinks, tackle, lures, a second crew member.
- Ask which species the captain expects this month, on the half day and on the full day.
- Ask whether you can extend on the day. Some captains will if the fish are biting and the next trip allows it; never assume it.
The price for each option is on the boat’s own listing, set by the captain, and the booking shows exactly which trip length you chose.
Ready to go?
Most of the boats above sail from one bay on the north west coast: see all fishing charters in Trou-aux-Biches, or compare every boat on the island on the Mauritius fishing charters page. If a half day in the north is what you have in mind, our guide to a half day fishing trip from Grand Baie walks through the morning hour by hour.
Leave a Reply