Reunion Island: Worth It? An Honest Look
Is Reunion Island worth it. Yes, if what you actually want is to hike into an active volcano and sleep in a mountain refuge inside a collapsed caldera; no, if you are chasing a wild, untouched tropical-island fantasy, because this is French and EU territory with European prices, a rental car that is genuinely mandatory, and a swim ban on most of the open west coast. It is also not part of Mauritius, a separate country roughly 175km away that gets confused with it constantly. The real pitch: one of the world’s most active volcanoes, three collapsed calderas reached by one road each (or none, for Cirque de Mafate), and a 3070m summit hike, all inside a single Indian Ocean island.
The Ranked Sights (Sight, Area, Why Go, Access)
| Sight | Area | Why go | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piton de la Fournaise | Southeast, the volcano | One of Earth’s most active volcanoes; a caldera hike across the Enclos Fouque | Free entry; drive to Pas de Bellecombe, ~4h hike to the rim one-way, status-dependent |
| Cirque de Cilaos | Interior south | Thermal spa town, Reunion’s only wine, the island’s own lentils | 1 paved road, 400+ hairpins, ~1h15-2h from the coast |
| Cirque de Salazie / Hell-Bourg | Interior northeast | The lushest cirque; one of France’s most beautiful villages; the Voile de la Mariee waterfall | 1 paved road in, a multi-hour transfer from anywhere else |
| Cirque de Mafate | Interior, roadless | Wildest, least touristed cirque; hamlets like La Nouvelle and Marla | Foot only (2-4 day trek) or a helicopter flight, roughly EUR 300-380; no road exists |
| Piton des Neiges | Interior south | 3070m, the highest point in the Indian Ocean; sunrise over all 3 cirques | 2-day hike from Cilaos via the Gite de la Caverne Dufour, a cash only refuge |
| Saint-Gilles / L’Ermitage lagoon | West coast | The one stretch of this coast where swimming is actually sanctioned | Drive from Saint-Denis, ~35-40 min; free public access |
| Le Barachois, Saint-Denis | North, the capital | Colonial-era waterfront, old cannons, Creole mansions on Rue de Paris | Free, walkable, about 10 minutes from the airport |
Book a room in Saint-Gilles-les-Bains, the easiest base for the lagoon and the west coast: check rates on Booking.com . For Cirque de Mafate, most visitors book a helicopter flight over Mafate and the volcano on GetYourGuide rather than commit to the multi-day trek.
Is Reunion Island part of Mauritius?
No, and this is the single most common mix-up. Reunion is a French overseas department and region, fully part of France and the Eurozone, though outside Schengen and the EU VAT area. Mauritius is a separate, independent nation about 175km to the northeast; Mauritius was ceded to Britain in 1810 and Reunion stayed French, so the two developed completely separate governments, currencies in the past, and cultures despite the shared Mascarene sugar-island history.
Can you swim anywhere on Reunion’s west coast?
Only inside marked, protected lagoons: Saint-Gilles/L’Ermitage, Saint-Leu and Boucan Canot. Open-water swimming and surfing elsewhere along the west coast have been banned since July 2013, following a documented cluster of shark attacks, and the ban remains largely in force in 2026. Locals and tourists both swim inside the reef; nobody local swims past it, regardless of how calm the water looks that day.
Do you need a car to see Reunion Island properly?
Yes, without exception. The island looks small on a map but its interior is a genuinely mountainous volcanic massif split into the coast, three cirques and the volcano, each reached by exactly one road, or none at all for Mafate. Car Jaune public buses reach the coastal towns on a slow, fixed schedule; they will not get you into a cirque or up to the volcano on any timetable that fits a real trip.
The one cirque worth prioritizing on a short visit is Cilaos, reachable and rewarding in a single day; treat Mafate, reachable only on foot or by helicopter, as its own separate trip rather than something to squeeze in. Check current trail and caldera status with the Parc National de La Reunion and the Observatoire Volcanologique before you commit a day to the volcano. For a route that strings these sights together day by day, see the 2 day and 7 day Reunion Island itineraries.