Flacq (also written as Centre de Flacq) is the main town on the east coast of Mauritius. It hosts the island's largest outdoor market on Sundays and Wednesdays — the Flacq Sunday Market is a genuine local institution, good for cheap produce, street food, and the kind of atmosphere that disappears inside resort grounds.
The east coast's two best attractions are both close by. Belle Mare beach, a few kilometres north, is one of the finest stretches of white sand on the island, protected by the outer reef and rarely crowded. Île aux Cerfs, a small island in the lagoon off Trou d'Eau Douce to the south, is reached by boat in ten minutes and offers excellent swimming and snorkelling in translucent lagoon water.