Guadeloupe Snorkeling – Top 14 Spots To Explore
Guadeloupe is famous for its submarine life with good reason: it is home to the biggest and most diverse coral reef within the Caribbean’s Lesser Antilles. This island archipelago consists of seven islands, each boasting incredible underwater sites that even impressed the legendary French filmmaker Jacques Cousteau; he spent a long time here doing his underwater research. While snorkeling in Guadeloupe, you can also explore the underwater treasures he witnessed. But where do you find the most pristine waters and abundant marine ecosystems? Here are 14 spots we found the best, where you can swim with sharks, snorkel with sea turtles, or take in lush coral gardens.
Petite Terre
Petit Terre, a small island off Guadeloupe, is a top destination for snorkeling due to its clear waters, vibrant coral reefs, and rich marine life. These waters are part of a protected nature reserve, ensuring a healthy and undisturbed environment. Snorkelers can enjoy shallow, calm waters with diverse marine species, including tropical fish, sea turtles, rays, nurse and lemon sharks.
Petit Terre can be accessed by boat from the town of Saint-François. Several tour companies offer guided trips to the island, often including snorkeling gear and lunch. These tours usually last around 4 to 5 hours, giving visitors ample time to explore the island and its surrounding waters.
Plage du Souffleur
Plage du Souffleur is one of Guadeloupe’s most beautiful and popular beaches, located on the northwest coast of the island in the town of Port-Louis. It’s known for its stunning golden sand and clear turquoise waters, but it is also a great spot for snorkeling. The bay is well-protected, which helps create calm waters and allows excellent visibility, making exploring the underwater world easy.
Though the coral reefs here are not as extensive as those in more remote areas, they offer a vibrant underwater environment. You can expect to see colorful fish, such as parrotfish and angelfish, as well as occasional rays and sea turtles. Another huge advantage is that you can easily swim out to the reef from the shore.
Plage des Raisins Clairs
Plage des Raisins Clairs is a magnificent white sandy beach near the town center of Saint Francois in Grande Terre. It offers calm, shallow waters and excellent water clarity, making it an ideal snorkeling site, even for beginners. The waters around the beach are home to a variety of marine life, including colorful tropical fish such as parrotfish, angelfish, and damselfish. You can also find sea stars, sea urchins, and small crustaceans in the shallow reefs.
The beach is especially popular with locals and tourists alike for its shade and sheltered swimming, however from time to time, sargassum can be a problem.
Tip: Saint Francois offers a wide range of accommodation choices. For families, we recommend the Le PLAYA LODGE holiday house, while budget travelers might check out the Butterfly Hostel.
Plage du Bourg – Sainte Anne
Plage du Bourg is one of the most popular beaches in Guadeloupe. It is basically the main beach of Sainte Anne, a vibrant town that is rocking with energy both day and night with fantastic restaurants and cafes around.
The reefs around Plage du Bourg are not as extensive as at other Guadeloupe snorkeling spots, but there is still some interesting marine life to explore. The long beach is divided into three parts by breakwaters. These attract a range of marine life, and you can enjoy encountering various creatures without having to swim too far from shore.
Common species include parrotfish, angelfish, sergeant majors, and other small reef fish. The beach also offers the chance to spot sea stars and small crustaceans, which can be found in the rocky areas near the shore. We also spotted sea urchin colonies; therefore, if you don’t use snorkel fins, wear beach shoes.
Tip: There aren’t huge resorts nearby, but there are lovely apartments. We like Villa Clara, which is just just 100m from Plage de Sainte Anne!
Plage de Bois Jolan
Located on the east coast of the island lies Plage de Bois Jolan, a natural lagoon enclosed by a reef. This impressive expanse of sand is great for families with kids: it has fine sand, crystal clear water, little waves and plenty of natural shade, making it a great place to relax and play in the sea.
The coral formations around the beach are generally small and shallow, so it is not the island’s most extraordinary snorkel spot. However, it is good enough for beginners or weak swimmers who can safely explore some small shallow reefs just offshore, which are home to colorful fish, sea urchins, and occasional rays or small reef sharks.
Compared to more popular beaches in Guadeloupe, Plage de Bois Jolan is quieter, allowing for a more peaceful and relaxed experience. This beach also stands out for having more than ample parking, something not commonly seen on the island.
Plage de Malendure
Malendure Beach is a dark sandy stretch of sand on the western coast of Guadeloupe in Basse-Terre. This spot is most famous for being the best spot on the island to swim with green sea turtles, who regularly visit the seagrass meadows in the middle of the bay. You need to swim a few meters out to find them when the water is a bit deeper (close to the shore, the visibility is not so good).
Besides the turtles, you also find a reef here, on the northern side. There is a reef on the southern end, too, beyond the jetty, but we haven’t checked that due to the heavy boat traffic. You might do it if you have time and the conditions are good because we heard that it is nice and you can see big schools of fish there.
Pigeon Islands – Jacques Cousteau Reserve
Guadeloupe’s most popular snorkel site is the Jacques Cousteau Reserve at Pigeon Islands. These two little islets lie about 1.5 km off the coast of Plage de Malendure. The easiest way to access the islands is by boat, however, you can come by kayak too. The latter is not always a good option as the current and wind can be strong between the beach and the islands, so I recommend signing up for organized tours that are available from most of the island’s tourist centers.
This protected marine area features some of the best underwater sights in the area: you can see here big coral colonies (mainly elkhorn and staghorn corals) and an abundance of fish (parrotfish, barracuda, surgeonfish, damselfish and other reef fish). You can encounter turtles too, plus, visit the underwater statue of Cousteau!
Plage de Petite Anse
Found along the Guadeloupe northwest coast on Basse Terre is Plage de Petite Anse. The beach stretches for about 100 yards (meters) with its boundaries of lush vegetation and rocks, then finally it opens out to a little sheltered cove that features turquoise colored water and excellent snorkeling.
Since many fish call this cove home and often sea turtles come to rest into this sheltered bay, Petite Anse it is among the best places to go snorkeling in Guadeloupe. Swim towards the left and right rocky edges of the beach!
Tip: check out the Paradise Bay villas and bungalows if you are looking for accommodation near this beach!
Plage Leroux
Leroux beach on Basse Terre is a bit difficult to find, but those who seek out fantastic snorkeling shouldn’t miss out coming here. It is just 1.55 km far from Plage de Petite Anse and the road to the beach goes from the Au Bon Accueil restaurant where you find a small parking next to the road.
This sandy beach is bordered by rocks on the sides, the waves are usually light and the water is very clear. Snorkeling is the best on the left and you might see here sea snakes too!
Anse Mire
Anse Mire lies only a little to the north of Terre de Haut village on Terre-de-Haut. This tiny cove within the Baie des Saintes is among the most stunning bays and snorkel spots in the Caribbean Sea.
Snorkeling the shallow coral reefs here means getting to take in the moray eels, bluehead wrasse, trunkfish, and the shipwreck of the Lynndy that is a mere 100 meters off of the beautiful beach. A great advantage to the location of Anse Mire is its close proximity to the pier at Terre-de-Haut, so it is easy to get to.
Tip: our accommodation tip here is: Kazajany Apartments
Pain de Sucre Beach
About 50 minutes walking from the Terre-de-Haut port, the small beach of Pain de Sucre is perfect for those who love discovering less-touristy places.
The beach may be smaller but it makes up for its diminutive size with enormous coconut palm trees lining the beach and its tropical reef that has been covered by sponges and sea fans. There are literally hundreds of individual kinds of Caribbean fish living here just waiting to be seen, however it is recommended for advanced snorkelers only since the water is deeper.
Tip: if you are considering staying near this dreamy location, Villa Le Sucrier is what you need to check out!
Anse à Dos
When visiting Terre-de-Haut, make sure to go to the nearby Terre-de-Bas island too that is known to be among the top Guadeloupe snorkeling sites.
The island is only 9 km2 in size with a few villages on it. The center is Grande-Anse and Petite-Anse, but if you are interested in exploring the undersea life, we recommend going to the other side, to Anse à Dos. On the left of this small quiet cove the water is crystal clear and cliffs are covered with colorful corals!
La Désirade
A beach whose name La Désirade means “the Forgotten” is famed for being one of the oldest islands in all of the Lesser Antilles. It explains why it is a veritable geological nature reserve. Both a simple calmness and peacefulness pervade this forgotten spot that is memorable for anyone who comes to enjoy island’s natural beauty on land and under the waves too.
The sand is powder white-colored while the beaches and bays here are well protected and sheltered thanks to the expansive coral reefs that also make this island a fantastic place to try snorkeling in Guadeloupe. A mere rock’s throw from the beach are the unspoiled Petite-Terre Islands that have similarly achieved the status of natural reserve from the island and government of France and are also worth to visit!
Tip: On La Désirade, accommodations are limited to Grande Anse. Our favorite is Hotel Oasis!
Îlet du Gosier
Îlet du Gosier is another of those ubiquitous charming islets of Guadeloupe. This one fronts the Gosier area of Datcha Beach. Getting here requires the use of a shuttle from the Tabarin Beach. You could also rent a kayak to come out or even swim.
The range of tropical fish to be seen here is staggering. It includes Orphies, sergeant major, and demoiselle to name a few of the thousands of colorful Caribbean fish. There is also a charm-oozing lighthouse on the islet plus it’s classic golden colored sand. The Conservatoire du Littoral has guaranteed its special environmental status and protection since the year 2003.
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