OPENING up the curtains to admire their idyllic view before sipping a coffee in 30C heat, life is certainly different these days for Adam Short and his family.
In June, the car sales business owner, 45, and his wife, Tara, 39, left their home in Sheffield with their two sons to join the growing number of Brits moving to this tropical paradise.
Nowadays, instead of long 8am – 6pm days stuck at work, Adam and Tara live a simple life on the stunning island of Mauritius.
“We always wanted to live in the sun. The boys are five and nine, and after school, they head straight to the beach,” Adam tells the Sun.
“We basically live outside now.
“The food’s incredible too – lots of fresh fish shacks, and markets full of delicious fruit and veg.”
Adam has also become an unexpected social media hit.
A TikTok video he made about going food shopping racked up hundreds of views, and now people regularly ask him about moving to Mauritius.
“I make videos about everything, from hiring cars to what prices for renting or buying are like,” he said.
“There’s so much interest.”
The family now shares their life online at @the_4_shorts
Parents say they’re keen for their kids to grow up spending more time outdoors and less time on their screens.
Figures show that more and more Brits are looking to leave behind grey skies, plummeting temperatures and increasingly high living costs for a place in the sun.
Between 2014 and 2022, approximately 1,198 residence permits were
issued to UK nationals moving to Mauritius, which is about 1,200 miles off the southeast coast of Africa.
With more than 3,000 hours of sunshine a year – double the UK average – coupled with a stable economy, English-speaking population, and British-based legal system, it’s easy to see why.
We’ve got about 44 beaches within 15 miles of where we live
Mark Thomson,
Retired engineering consultant Mark Thomson, 66, and his wife Karen, 60, have also jetted across the world for a new life.
Instead of braving freezing walks or hiding in the pub from the Scottish rain back home in Perth, the couple are now spending their days hopping between beaches in sunny Mauritius.
“We’ve got about 44 beaches within 15 miles of where we live in Goodlands, in the northeast of the island,” Mark says.
“We try to visit as many as we can.
“We’ve also been getting to know more about the local culture, and have been to a couple of concerts.
“The music’s a mix of funk, blues and reggae, and while we don’t understand much as it’s all in Creole, the atmosphere is amazing.”
The couple made the move to Mauritius just last November after deliberating over where they wanted to spend their retirement.
Their main requirement? “Somewhere warm and pleasant!”
After considering Malaysia, Costa Rica and Portugal, Mauritius won out.
“I’d visited through work before,” Mark said.
“What tipped it in our favour is its sheer beauty, alongside the relaxed pace of life and the sense that it’s like stepping back in time.
“Life feels much simpler here.”
How much does it cost to live in the UK vs Mauritus?
Average prices in the UK and Mauritius
Pint of lager
UK: £5.23 Mauritius: £1.60
Litre of petrol
UK: 131.91p Mauritius: 93p
Loaf of bread
UK: £1.24 Mauritius: 46p
Monthly rent on a two-bedroom flat
UK: £1,381 Mauritius £715
Brett Gregory-Peake, who left London for Mauritius ten years ago, works
in real estate, and can vouch for the fact that more and more Britons are
making enquiries about property here.
Currently marketing Valriche by YOO, a range of luxury residences on the southwest coast of the island, he says, “we’ve got a lot of interest and demand from the British and European markets, which is no surprise to me, as I truly believe Mauritius has all the ingredients that make it such a great place to live.
“One of my three children was born here, and it’s so safe for kids to run around and play.”
But while there are plenty of upsides to life in paradise, there are, of course, some downsides.
Helen Morrison*, 58, from Kendal, has lived in Mauritius for more than five years now, and says people should think carefully before taking the leap.
“I’d advise anyone thinking of moving here to do their research and be prepared for things to be different,” she says.
“Medical insurance is ridiculously expensive here – we pay £750 a month – and there are many things you just can’t do online.
“If you want to tax your car, it takes all day in a queue at the National Transport Agency, and Amazon doesn’t operate here.
“Also, the driving standards are very poor, with many aggressive drivers.”
She was also shocked by the number of stray dogs.
“Before I came here, I had no idea Mauritius had so many,” she says.
“It was startling to see them roaming freely around the streets or lying around the beaches. For a tourist, I can imagine it’s very off-putting.”
Mauritius has come under fire in recent years for the way it has tried to deal with its stray dog problem.
While there are no official figures, it has been estimated that there are something like 57,000 “roaming street dogs”, according to the global charity Humane World for Animals.
Senior director Keren Nazareth explains: “The street dog population is caused mostly by uncontrolled breeding in the ‘owned’ dog population, producing a high number of unwanted puppies.
“The main problem is that many owners don’t get their own dogs sterilised, and allow them to mix with the street dogs.”
For a long time, the Mauritian government’s response had been to cull strays, at one point killing around 2,000 every month.
In 2016, this horror was caught on camera. The release of disturbing footage showing dogs being caught in nets and brutally slaughtered became the watershed moment that led to a new initiative.
In 2018, HWA entered into a collaboration with the government
to open the island’s first dedicated spay and neuter clinic, aiming to sterilise up to 10,000 owned and roaming dogs.
Keren explains: “We’d had great success with this programme in other countries.”
Sadly, this arrangement came to an end in 2022, but there are still several charities and NGOs in Mauritius who are carrying on the good work.
Emma Plumb, 48, from Hertfordshire, works for PAWS, an animal welfare NGO which focuses on sterilisation, education, rescue and rehoming.
“When I first came to Mauritius, what I saw was heartbreaking,” she explains.
“You’d see really malnourished dogs, badly treated dogs…they were all just in a very bad way.
“I’ve heard stories of dogs being burned, or covered in oil – absolutely horrible things. There is a huge issue with them not being sterilised, even if they are owned by people.”
Things, however, are improving; just before Christmas last year, the government made it compulsory for dog owners to have their pets microchipped and registered, and have also agreed to work with charities and NGOs to improve the sterilisation programme.
Emma is optimistic about the situation, saying, “I think everybody wants the same thing, from the government to local people.
“The government also realised that it was having a negative effect on tourism, especially for countries like the UK, with us being such animal lovers.”
*Helen’s name has been changed