Some of the tropical beaches of Guadeloupe Basse -Terre

Basse-Terre, the westside of the main island is dominated by old or active volcanos with steep green jungle hills on the west towards the sea. That is quite different from the east part of the main island Grande Terre which is flat and drier.  Grande Terre has some very touristic well known beaches with lagoons but the beaches at Basse-Terre are very Instagrammable as well! 

We explored several of them and they al have their own advantages and disadvantages.  I'll list them from Northwest of Basse-Terre to Southwest (of those we visited).


Anse de Grand Bas Vent

86XH+V4R, Deshaies 97126, Guadeloupe. (16.349503311663604, -61.77255942168704)

This is the beach that is dominated in the south by the Langley  Resort Fort Royal 4* hotel. We accessed it via a little trail at the end of a parking lot along the coastal highway, that leads up towards the beach following a little river bed.  Part of that river bedding wasn't spreading a great smell though.

The beach itself was deserted when we visited but torching hot with a strong torching wind and a wild sea.  I would assume that this beach is frequented by the hotel guests but we were the only souls out there. Maybe the wind is always so hostile. 

Anse de la Perle 

86RC+2JW, Voie du Sable d'Or, Rifflet 97126, Guadeloupe (16.34085271000153, -61.778547781059565)

The beach is accessible via the Voie de Sable d'Or, but also 100m via the wasteland with foodtruck that functions as an informal parking lot. 

The beach is aligned with several little restaurant huts, it has a basic toilet hut, a shower, some gazebo's and a basketball ring.  The many trees also offer much needed shade. 
One of the restaurants near the toilet hut is Ti Poisson and I can recommend the Grilled soft water shrimps that were marinated in old rhum. Most delicious meal I had on the island! 
 

The beach has the beauty of what you expect from a tropical beach. It is no wonder that it is the beach where is most often filmed during Death in Paradise if they need a beach. it's the location where the PI detective lives, but we also recognize that suspects are interviewed here and other interactions happen.  The landscape and the island that is visible is quite distinguishable. The island on the other hand is also visible from the Anse de Grand Bas Vent

As mentioned before, the beach descends strongly where the waves break and that seems to create a strong backwards surf.  For that reason we did not allow the children to go into the water here. 
This slope was also quite visible on screen recently. 

Plage de grande Anse

N2, Lieu-dit Ziotte, 97126, Deshaies, Guadeloupe (16.322113803656386, -61.78865583711873)
Just north of Deshaies is the most famous beach of this region.  At the roundabout of the coastal highway, you can turn off to the parking lot under the trees that is surrounded by little restaurants. However, that parking lot, the access road and some wastelands nearby the highway will be fully parked on a sunny day. 

The beach stretches very long with ample of space.  In the middle there is a river mouth reaching the sea.  North of that,  the restaurants are present more in the back behind the parked cars in the trees.  There were some full waste containers on the parking lot as well that were smelling less fun.   There is a toilet hut and there are also some showers available. 

While the whole beach is aligned with tropical trees, there are many lower schrubs which gives a bit less space to sit in the shade. 

Similarly as Anse de la Perle north of here, the breaking surfs had a strong back current (although not visible on our pictures) but we didn't swim here either. 

Beach in Deshaies town

Deshaies doesn't have much large beach.  The town streets often reach the beach itself with restaurants and shops bordering the water.   Here and there, there's some sandy stratches. The sand isn't as beige anymore as Anse de la Perle and Plage de grande Anse. 

However with the nearby bars and restaurants and the view on the many anchered boats, it's a fantastic spot to watch the sunset with a cocktail. 

Plage Leroux

(16.275269725145833, -61.804194978013925)

Plage Leroux is a smaller, less touristic beach that our hosts had recommended to us because this is their favorite beach. However we were first there at Easter Monday when all the locals had a holiday and the place was packed.  

There is also no toilets or foodtrucks around, just some restaurants up the highway that are some of the time open but not all the time. Sea was also pretty wild when we saw it so for al those reasons we never stayed on this beach. 

Plage de petite Anse

(16.267707836709256, -61.80590104523191)

The smaller brother of the Plage de Grande Anse.  It is accessible by a little road descending in a hair pin bend along the highway and it always seemed pretty crowded parked. We never tried it but the pictures seem great and it looks as if it also offers some good snorkeling and turtle viewing. 

Plage Caraïbe

Plage Caraïbe, 16.212838885120643, -61.78249070277382

Pointe-Noire where we stayed itself does not have a beach, but this is just south of town.  We came here first when we couldn't find a parking spot at reasonable distance from Plage de Malendure.  

It was great quiet here. Nevertheless, it has all amenities: a parking lot, 3 restaurants and a couple of food trucks, a dive hut and a sanitary block (a real building, not just a hut). I guess it was more quiet since the beach is a pebble beach.  But that makes the water very clear, and there were many snorkelling and dive excursions leaving here. 

Plage de Malendure

Well, the most touristic beach was also our favourite.  It had it all, but especially turtles that were there with each of our visits.  I have already dedicated a post to this well-known beach before. You can read all about it here. 
But come early if you want to park here!  Parking places are paying, but it's very cheap and it's worth it.