Once upon a time… La Pirogue

Some places stay with you long after you leave. La Pirogue is one of them.

For half a century, this resort has captured the hearts of guests from around the world. For many, it has become a second home, a place where familiar faces welcome them back, year after year. It is a happy place where connections come easily, smiles come naturally and stories are shared.

The birth of an icon

When La Pirogue opened on 7 June 1976, Mauritius was still a young independent country. For many years, the island had relied on sugarcane. At the time, tourism was beginning to grow and become an important part of the economy.

Flic-en-Flac, on the west coast, was still a quiet fishing village. Mauritian families would gather there on weekends, while international visitors were still few.

This simple, authentic setting inspired Dutch architect Joseph Van Melick. He designed 200 stone-walled bungalows with thatched roofs, made to blend naturally into the landscape. Their roofs, shaped like the sails of traditional pirogues, became the hotel’s distinctive signature. The resort was built on a 14-hectare site, once covered with casuarina trees and home to Java deer.

From the very beginning, La Pirogue also broke new ground by employing 120 women across different roles. At the time, the hotel industry was mostly male. This pioneering step was featured in the February-March 1976 edition of Africa Woman magazine. Other hotels soon followed, helping to change the country’s hospitality sector and support wider social progress.

La Pirogue Marlin World Cup

In 1984, La Pirogue launched the first Marlin World Cup. It became the longest-running big-game fishing tournament in the Indian Ocean. Broadcast in 120 countries, the event helped put Mauritius on the international stage. At its peak, it welcomed up to 40 teams and around 200 participants from around the world.

It also brought a new energy to the west coast, with boats leaving at first light and stories returning with the tide.

After a 13-year break, the tournament returned in 2025 with a catch-and-release format. This new approach supports more responsible sport fishing and helps protect the marine ecosystem.

A village beneath the palms

The resort's garden's have certainly evolved over the years. Coconut palms replaced many of the casuarina trees (the above photo shows what the gardens looked like prior to this transformation). This was done for both practical and aesthetic reasons. Casuarina seeds made maintenance harder and were not pleasant for guests walking barefoot. Native species, including olivewood, Gastonia and the blue latan palm, one of Mauritius’ most recognisable native species, were also added to enrich the landscape.

Today, the estate is home to almost 1,800 trees and more than 9,000 tropical plants. These mature gardens are cared for every day by a dedicated team of gardeners.

Evolving without losing its soul

Over the past 50 years, La Pirogue has continued to evolve. Rooms have been refreshed. Restaurants have taken on new energy. Shared spaces have been opened up for today’s travellers. Yet the feeling has stayed the same.

Behind every change, the ambition has remained clear: to protect the spirit that has always defined La Pirogue. A relaxed seaside village, deeply rooted in Mauritian culture and open to the ocean. It is also a hotel where guests return not only for its beach, gardens and ocean views, but for the warmth and genuine hospitality of its people.

In the early 1990s, the hotel unveiled two new Royal Suites ahead of a visit by the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and his son Prince Edward.

In 2003, a three-month refurbishment brought a brand-new swimming pool and redesigned common spaces. In 2016, La Pirogue refreshed its rooms, restaurants and shared areas once again, while staying true to the architecture that has made it so loved.

Celebrating fifty years of memories

This rich heritage is now celebrated through a photography exhibition entitled La Pirogue: A Journey Through Time. On display in the hotel’s gardens until 31 December 2026, the exhibition features 19 photographs that capture key moments in a story shaped, above all, by people.

More than anything, the exhibition pays tribute to the women and men who bring La Pirogue to life every day. Through familiar smiles, thoughtful gestures and small moments of care, they help make every stay feel personal. Perhaps that is why, year after year, so many guests travel from far away to return to what has become their second home.

Fifty years after opening its doors, La Pirogue still carries the warmth of Mauritius in its own easy, colourful way. Guests come back for the beach, the gardens and the familiar rhythm of village life. But most of all, they come back for the people who make the place feel alive.