The Most Beautiful Beaches to Visit in Guadeloupe

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Take the short ferry ride from Trois Rivières to Marie-Galante for rum and rustic beaches. The island, located just 16mi (25km) from Guadeloupe’s mainland, might be small but is home to no less than three distilleries. After picking up supplies from one of them, head to Vieux-Fort Beach for your own stretch of sand. This narrow, white-sand beach sits beside a quiet road so is easy to get to, and overlooks the rocky outcrop of Vieux-Fort Islet. Surrounded by trees and vegetation, you’ll easily be able to find a spot all to yourself. Be warned, there are no facilities here, so come prepared.

Bust out your bodyboard and take to the waves on Grand-Anse Beach. Located on Basse-Terre’s south coast, just a ten-minute drive from Trois, this stretch of sand makes an easy pit stop if you’re looking for a little adventure. Its exposed position means you’ll often find rolling, breaking waves lashing the dramatic dark sands, making it a popular surf spot.

Hear that? No? Exactly. Quiet and solitude await at this quiet spot on Terre-de-Haut, one of two islands that make up the Îles des Saintes. No motorboats are allowed in the bay and it’s protected from the strong trade winds by an island close to shore. Despite this being a popular spot to chill beneath the sprawling coconut trees – time it right and you might have only the local, wandering goats for company.

At the most easterly point of Guadeloupe’s main islands, you’ll find Anse a la Gourd beach. The ocean is a little wilder here than at other spots on the island, with a coral reef and some rocks just offshore. But the fine sand and its wild beauty make it a favourite spot to watch the breaking waves. A short drive from Anse a la Gourde is Pointe des Chateaux, where you can watch a spectacular sunset, which silhouettes the large stone cross on the headland.

Shallow blue waters and bobbing boats are just a step away from a strip of busy restaurants and a variety of street food vendors at this well-known spot, popular with tourists and locals alike. With whipped white sands and gently lapping water – thanks to the protection of a coral reef out to sea – it’s the perfect spot to loll and laze ahead of a Ti’ Punch (sugar, lime, and local rum) to toast the day.

Find yourself a shady spot beneath the coconut palms and drift off to the sound of the tide. The impressive stretch of sand that makes up Grand-Anse Beach is the longest of the Guadeloupe archipelago, yet has escaped any major development. You’ll find only sea grapes and palms lining the shore. Venture slightly back from the beach for a number of beach bars, where you can grab a coconut sorbet to cool down. Bear in mind that unpredictable currents mean this is not the best spot for swimming.

Love diving? Fancy a snorkel? Or do you prefer to watch the ocean’s wildlife pass by from the comfort of a glass bottomed-boat? Malendure Beach is the spot for anyone looking to take part in some water sports while visiting Guadeloupe. The waters here, just off the west coast of Basse-Terre, are known as some of the best in the Caribbean for diving. Home to the Jacques Cousteau Underwater Reserve, the protected waters are home to schools of tropical fish and several sponge-covered wrecks. Find a diving school for any ability on the dark grey sands of the beach itself.

Pull up a chair at the beach bar below the palms and relax. This vast beach close to the village of Deshaies, in the north of Basse-Terre, has numerous laid-back spots at the base of the trees. Get there early and seek out a hammock by the golden sands. The beach is also a nesting site for turtles. Arrange a fishing trip out towards the Kawan islet, with a local fisherman.

Approach this beach from the water on a chartered or day-tripper yacht, and you’ll see just how its distinctive domed cliff got its name. Guadeloupe’s very own Sugar Loaf – Pain de Sucre – sits tall out of the water, its sheer rock topped by lush forest and framed by golden sands. Visitors here will find dream island living, with clear shallow waters and languid palms that shade the small strip of beach. Land lovers can even traverse a craggy path to reach it.

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