Ile aux Cerfs Golf Club
A golf course with its own island. Bernhard Langer routed 18 holes across a speck of land in Mauritius's largest lagoon, off Trou d'Eau Douce on the east coast, and opened it in 2003: a par 72 to 7,056 yards threaded between volcanic outcrops, mangroves and nine kilometers of visible turquoise. You arrive by boat. Here is the verdict, the facts, the holes and how to get on.
Photograph: Ile aux Cerfs Golf Club, via Google.
The verdict
No course in the Indian Ocean sells the fantasy harder, and few back it up better. The boat drops you at a jetty, a cart winds you up through the palms, and then Langer's routing spends four hours showing off the lagoon from every compass point. The architecture is more serious than the postcard suggests: the course crosses around 38 hectares of genuinely interesting ground, old sugar plantation land studded with black volcanic rock, and the green sites are small, firm and quick to punish the lazy approach. Langer the player was a relentless tactician, and Langer the designer built a course that asks for the same discipline.
Water is visible from almost everywhere and in play more often than the width suggests, with mangrove carries and lagoon edges tightening exactly the holes where the scenery is most distracting. It is the round every Mauritius itinerary gets judged by, and it earns the billing. Our best courses in Mauritius ranking sets out how the island's heavyweights compare.
Ile aux Cerfs at a glance
- Opened
- 2003
- Designer
- Bernhard Langer
- Par
- 72
- Length
- 7,056 yds
- Type
- Island resort
- Green fee
- ~EUR 120
Designer, opening and layout verified June 2026. Ile aux Cerfs was designed by Bernhard Langer and opened in 2003. It plays as a par 72 with tees at 7,056, 6,500, 5,733 and 4,961 yards. Indicative 2026 rates start around 120 euros per person per day through partner resorts, with public rates and bundled boat and cart packages varying; fees change by season and year, so always confirm directly before booking.
The holes worth the trip
The card swings on the water holes, and Langer spaced them so the round never settles. Early on, the course works inland through the old plantation ground, where black volcanic boulders frame the driving lines and the trade wind starts its work above the palm line. The first lagoon reveal lands mid round, and from there the routing keeps returning to the shore: carries over mangrove inlets, fairways that bend along the beach, and greens perched close enough to the water that a bailout barely exists.
The closing stretch is the keeper. The penultimate holes play with the lagoon hard against the line of play and the mainland mountains stacked across the water, and the last asks for two brave shots when the match is usually still alive. Distances deceive all day: the wind is stronger than the palms admit, and the small, firm greens make a three quarter club into the heart the percentage play almost everywhere.
Book the first boat of the morning. The lagoon is glass, the course is empty, and the day trippers who share the island's beaches arrive long after you have made the turn.
How to get on
| What to know | Detail |
|---|---|
| Access | Open to visitors; tee times bookable directly with the club, through east coast resorts or any Mauritius golf agent, with partner hotels holding preferred rates |
| Green fee | Indicative 2026 rates from around 120 euros per person per day via partner resorts, with public rates higher; cart, boat transfer and practice balls are commonly bundled into packages |
| Booking | High season mornings, October to April, book ahead through the resort golf desks; the first boats of the day are the slots worth asking for |
| On the day | Boat shuttle from Trou d'Eau Douce or your resort jetty, carts with GPS, full practice area and a clubhouse bar above the lagoon; allow time either side for the crossing |
| Getting there | Off Trou d'Eau Douce on the east coast, about 60 to 75 minutes from the international airport; east coast resorts are minutes from the jetty |
| Best months | May to November for the cooler, drier season; mornings beat the trade winds year round, and late summer carries a cyclone watch |
Access and indicative green fees verified June 2026; they change without notice, so always confirm directly before booking with the club or your trip planner. Check tee time availability.
Where to stay nearby
The east coast is the move. The resorts around Trou d'Eau Douce and Belle Mare put the jetty minutes away, and the golf desks at the big east coast houses bundle Ile aux Cerfs rounds, boat transfers and carts into the room rate. Couples splitting golf and beach days do it best here, because the island's own beaches give the non golfer a full day on the same boat schedule.
Mauritius rewards a multi course week: Anahita faces Ile aux Cerfs across the same lagoon, Heritage Le Chateau in the south is the island's other heavyweight, and La Reserve Golf Links adds the newest card. Our Mauritius golf guide maps the full rotation.
Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts along the east coast.
Build a Mauritius golf trip
We arrange Ile aux Cerfs tee times with the boat transfers handled and build them into a full Mauritius itinerary, east coast resort base, the southern courses and every detail, costed to the head. Tell us roughly when and who is travelling and one concierge does the rest, with no obligation.
Ile aux Cerfs questions
Who designed Ile aux Cerfs Golf Club?
Ile aux Cerfs was designed by Bernhard Langer, the two time Masters champion, and opened in 2003. He routed the 18 holes across a small island of volcanic outcrops, mangroves and old sugar plantation ground in Mauritius's largest lagoon.
What par and length is Ile aux Cerfs?
The course plays as a par 72 with four tee decks: 7,056 yards from the Langer tees, 6,500 from the championship markers, 5,733 from the tournament tees and 4,961 yards from the forward tees.
How much does it cost to play Ile aux Cerfs?
Indicative 2026 rates start around 120 euros per person per day through the partner resorts, with public rates higher and packages, boat transfer and carts often bundled. Fees change by season and year, so always confirm directly before booking.
How do you get to Ile aux Cerfs golf course?
By boat. Shuttles run from the jetty at Trou d'Eau Douce on the east coast and from partner resorts, with the crossing taking around 10 to 20 minutes. The boat ride across the lagoon is part of the experience.
When is the best time to play golf in Mauritius?
Mauritius plays year round. May to November is the cooler, drier season and the most comfortable golf window; December to April is hotter and more humid with a cyclone risk in the late summer. East coast mornings are calmest before the trade winds build.
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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Designer, opening date and layout verified June 2026; indicative green fees verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.