The Best Waterside Restaurants in Guadeloupe

“Planning a trip to the Caribbean? Join us on a sailing adventure in the Bahamas.

This is a chilled place across from the beach to lower your sails after a long day at sea. Skewer your appetite with fish, chicken, and beef – because everything tastes better on a stick. For those who know that the real test of a barbecue joint is how they prepare their sides, you’re in luck. The fries are fantastic and so is the rice. Anything on the menu is sure to impress when dipped, dunked, and drizzled with their Creole sauce.

Let’s set the stage at Ti Bo Doudou. Beneath the table, your toes dig into the sand. On the table, mahi-mahi and duck breast with green pepper sauce are no match for a quick fork. Above your table, an umbrella shades your rum runner from the sun. You’d be wise to make a reservation, even for matinée dining; the secret is out on this formerly hidden gem so expect a packed audience.

In a stew over what delicious waterside restaurant to try in Saint-François first? Le Zagaya insists that you stew it over their spicy seafood stew, appropriate, given the waterfront setting and Creole spices galore. Switch up the meat and dive into a bubbling bowl of pot au feu, a stew with pig snout and tail blended with freshly chopped vegetables.

La Touna is the setting for a slow-speed dinner. Not that the service is slow – it’s more you’ll want every bite of lionfish risotto to last as long as possible. Let the sun find its hiding spot behind the Pigeon Islands while you taste the fusion of French, Creole, and Caribbean flavors. Linger just a bit longer over your drink, or at very least, until they can tempt you to stay put with an order of passion fruit créme brûlée.

Consider yourself signed up for the signature tuna tataki when you arrive at Couleurs du Monde in Terre de Haut. It’s a superb dish, though your vegetarian shipmates don’t need to feel lost at sea as the gnocchi is equally tasty. The relaxed vibes at this waterside restaurant are as fitting for an afternoon with a good book as a giant beer from their tap.

After working up an appetite walking to the cooling Bras de Fort waterfall, you’ll find some of the best saltfish fritters on the island at the portside Koté t’Chalis. Here, music mixes with the rolling waves to create a relaxed soundscape. Given how accommodating skipper-and-chef Jean-Marc is, we would say you won’t need to lift a finger, but the grilled fish is smothered in a special finger-licking sauce.

As you gaze out at the Passe de la Baleine with a freshly-caught tuna trio in front of you, the word lunch doesn’t describe it well enough. Others have used amazing while stuffing their mouths with Antillean cod fritters and best meal of my life, to attempt to rename the Iberian pluma and house fried. All we know is that the mango soufflé is indescribable, and your mouth will be too full to utter a word.

Hook a right walking off of the Port de Pêche and scurry like a sand crab over to Les Pieds dans l’Eau. When’s the last time you munched greens that weren’t seaweed or kelp? Order up a leafy salad to graze on while they throw some sauce on your spiny lobster. Two bowls of ice cream will melt their way over to your table before you’re ready to rock back onto the boat.

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