IT'S REASSURING how certain things never fail to delight, and high on that list is the delicious sensation of sea water flirting with your toes. This particular toe-tickling was on a sandy beach on the resort island of Mauritius. Walking along the beach before sunrise, you have the sands and seas almost entirely to yourself - and the two-and-a-half thoughts jostling for space in your brain.

The first of those thoughts was how the sound of the sea was the gentle murmur of water lapping the shores - rather than crashing waves - due to the protective encirclement of a barrier reef; the second, that this sound was well-designed by a master technician to quieten the pulses and bring down the blood pressure. As for half-thoughts, well, they are best left half-formulated.

From the time we were greeted at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport with sunny yellow alamanda flower garlands, Mauritius recommended itself as the perfect island getaway. With no extreme variations in temperature, Mauritius is easily a year-round destination. The landscape has both lovely beaches and volcanic mountains of odd shapes, which you can interpret as sleeping ladies or beaky-nosed codgers. Our lovely Mauritian guide, Marie Noelle, chattered between destinations about Mauritian life past - colonisation by the Portuguese, Dutch, French and English - and present - compulsory free school education, and grown up children living with parents to minimise rentals. She painted a picture of warm, hospitable people, by no means rich but blessed with a generosity of spirit.

The people are a beautifully integrated mix of Indian, European and Chinese origin, which makes for some unusual, exotic features. A Mauritian is typically trilingual; though English is the official language, most seemed far more at home with the Creole patois as well as French. The harmonious mix allows festivals from a variety of faiths to be celebrated - a real resonance with Singapore.

All in all, Marie proved to be a real fount of information on everything from the long dead Dodo, to the luscious flora, to people's living patterns. For example, our interest was piqued by the little flags seemingly planted at random in people's homes, and we were told it marked little Hindu shrines in their courtyards; with Hanuman the monkey god especially popular.

The hotels where we stayed - the Hilton, Le Telfair, Beau Rivage - had excellent facilities. A typical 'package' in Mauritian hotels includes dinner and breakfast. Such packages are definitely the way to do Mauritius, it is such good value for money.

The food is pretty darn good too. Breakfasts are enormous buffets, which, say, at the Hilton offer options to sip your java while also drinking in the sea view. Dinner could be another buffet, or you are given 'credit' limits to go off and enjoy at one of the themed restaurants in the hotel; still at the Hilton, this could be spicy Thai food at their Ginger Thai restaurant, atmospheric with the burning torches outside, and a draped silk and wood interior. Dining in at your hotel makes sense in more ways than one - travel between the sites on the island takes a lot of time and energy. If you want variety, you are largely better off sampling other restaurants at lunch times, doing your exploring via day tours or hired car and driver.

If you do venture out for dinner, a rather quaint point of call would be Victoria 1840, set up within an old sugar factory. It is both a gastronomical restaurant and the art gallery/studio of Yvette Maniglier, who was a student of Matisse. All sorts of cuisines - Indian, Creole, European - are available on the island, and their influence, in turn, is seen in the spicy Mauritian food. Those with a penchant for fiery flavours must make a point to ask for the Mauritian chilli paste, which has a nicely unusual bite.

I would argue that the beaches - both the public ones such as Flic en Flac or the strips associated with the hotels - and its glorious sunsets are the main attraction of a Mauritius holiday. Equally, the hotels have such a resort feel, it encourages lounging around. Most come with in-house spas, the more famous being the Givenchy Spa at Le Touessrok - of the One & Only luxury resorts brand - or the Ayurvedic Jiva Grande Spa at the Taj Exotica Resort by the Tamarin Bay. If you have indulged in a Presidential Suite at the Taj, for example, it comes with its own private infinity pool and outdoor showers, and elegant Zen-like interiors. We hear talk about visiting Hollywood and Bollywood celebrities, but it's always strictly off the record.

Press trips, of course, offer little of the 'lounge and soak in the atmosphere' type luxury of time, but the exposure to what else the island offers suggested holiday possibilities slanted to suit particular tastes. A more active lifestyle holiday, for instance, is tailored from among many tempting options. For starters, almost every sort of sea-related activity from sailing to scubadiving is available. We indulged in a thrilling bout of parasailing that offered an incredible 360-degree panorama of the sea, the sky and the horizon.

There are over 30 diving centres around the island, but even if you aren't a qualified diver, there are other ways of exploring the sea floor. Admittedly these are tourist-oriented, and all the same, it is a real fun experience to go on the small Blue Safari submarine rides. The descent was particularly fun; we were told to watch how the colours change as the infrared rays are filtered out by the water and at 20m depth, red looks like brown. We each had our own porthole to view the underwater sea wrecks, fish and coral, the heavy 6cm-thick glass distorting the apparent sizes of what we were seeing.

To be in direct contact with the water, we went on the Undersea Walk. More than anything else, you feel like a dizzy moonwalker as you bounce along the sea floor and feed the greedy fish. If your preference is that you catch the fish, there are many deep-sea fishing operators, and the promise of big fish such as marlins, bonitos and sharks. On land, there are numerous eco-tourism sites for a back-to-nature experience with sporty options such as hiking. We visited Domaine du Chasseur that also offers hunting, under carefully monitored conditions, mostly deer and wild boar. There are four bungalows if you want to stay, but we just stopped there for lunch.

The restaurant came decorated with antler heads - hunters are offered taxidermy options for their game. We were served the fabled millionaire's palm - so called because the palm heart takes five years to grow - and spicy venison. However, with a friendly bambi walking in and out of the restaurant - and nibbling on our bread - it was a bit difficult to contemplate consuming the venison, let alone think of shooting them. Instead, we went on a quad bike ride that proved to be exhilarating. After the briefest of lessons, we followed our guide through curved paths and sugarcane fields for a - very toned down - version of Indiana Jones hurtling through the wilderness.

On the sporty front, Mauritius is positioning itself as a golf getaway with five 18-hole and five nine-hole courses; particularly scenic, with white sands a mountain backdrop, is the course on the island of Ile aux Cerfs.

As for sightseeing, there are some set tourist destinations such as Pamplemousses Botanical Gardens or Domaine Les Pailles that takes you back in time with a zebu-driven sugar mill, a horse-driven carriage, and a toy train to ferry you around. You can also catch a sega performance there, though chances are your hotel would have laid one on for you.

The sega is the national dance of Mauritius; lively and rhythmic, with the women arrayed in swirly, colourful skirts, it is done to a powerful percussive beat. Another possibility is a trip to Chamarel to see the multicoloured sand dunes; when the sun strikes the volcanic sands, they magically assume a variety of iridescent hues.

Of course, no holiday is quite complete without shopping. For a bazaar-style feel, visit the island's capital city and main harbour, Port Louis, to wander around the Central Market or Caudan Waterfront, where local crafts, spices, fruit and vegetables are piled high. Tempting the shopper are bright sarongs, shawls and woven straw bags; be prepared to bargain. The other interesting shopping area was at Grand Baie, cute little shops selling 'made for gift' delights such as aromatic soaps, vanilla tea and trinkets; food lovers can indulge in jams, pickles and chutneys. The local rum made from sugarcane could also provide some, well, happy memories of the island - acres and acres of sugarcane plantations are a familiar sight, even though tourism has now supplanted sugar and textile manufacturing as the island's leading industry. There's also a scattering of art galleries, where you can buy souvenir-style paintings of Mauritian life quite cheaply.

But, ultimately, the real reason why Mauritius has such a high repeat occupancy - and why you would be tempted to return - is the people. In the hotels, the attitude, very much, is that hotel guests are to be treated as personal guests, with the staff going the extra - unpaid - mile to make your stay pleasant. And present you with the kind of memory-souvenir that money just can't buy.

Air Mauritius flies there three times per week now, and four times during peak season; currently they are offering a special 'Escape to Paradise' package from $1,165; for details call 6222 3033, or email airmauritius@aviationservices.com.sg. The writer visited Mauritius courtesy of Air Mauritius