Guadeloupe | From the sea to the jungle

We are in the heart of the Antilles, but everything happens in French, after a short direct flight from Montreal. There are no all-inclusive resorts – except Club Med – but the beaches are magnificent. You can easily go from the sea to the mountains to the jungle.

Here are some good reasons to stay in Guadeloupe, an enchanting archipelago, a little corner of France in the Caribbean Sea, which you can discover by sailing on the waves, walking along the cliffs, lazing on the beach or exploring the forest tropical.

All sails out

In the early morning, we set sail for Baie-Mahault, where the two “butterfly wings” join which form the main island of Guadeloupe. We chose an excursion with Ti-Bo Sailing. Our skipper Xavier awaits us on the quay, who takes us by zodiac on his sailboat fitted out for a day at sea.

With him, we explore the Grand-Cul-de-sac marin, a vast lagoon of 15,000 hectares closed by a 25 km coral reef, which includes areas protected by a nature reserve. Snorkeling to observe colorful fish (previously seen at the aquarium), paddle boarding on the turquoise water, swimming: the water activities are only interrupted by the maneuvers that Xavier teaches us to hoist the sails, by the vegetarian meal and a few glasses of ti-punch, an emblematic cocktail of the West Indies.

Vertigo and raging waves

The eastern end of the island of Grande-Terre is called Pointe des Châteaux, a peninsula bristling with cliffs and rocks where raging waves crash. There is no castle there, but by going to the “Grand-Croix”, which culminates at the top of the point, you can observe part of Grande-Terre and, if the weather permits, the island of La Désirade.

Walking along the windswept cliffs, which make you dizzy, you get a sense of the end of the world which will be exacerbated if, like us, you are alone there.

Relaxing or surfing

Magnificent beaches surround Guadeloupe, both on the side of Basse-Terre (western part), more mountainous and wooded, and on Grande-Terre (eastern part), a little more bare and dotted with villages. You can find a deserted beach or choose a more lively place.

The beach in the village of Sainte-Anne, where we live, is very family-friendly, crowded and lined with trees, which offer a little shade. There are several restaurants where you can drink fruit juice, or enjoy a bokit, a typical sandwich made with bread fried in oil, smoked chicken or another local specialty.

To play in the waves, we choose Helleux beach, where several surf schools are located, less suitable for swimming because it is made up of large pebbles.

Hanging in the jungle

Change of scenery: to make a foray into the jungle and discover the local fauna, the Guadeloupe Zoo at Parc des Mamelles, on Basse-Terre, does not disappoint. The road to get there from Grande-Terre is spectacular: it winds through a dense forest and allows a stop to soak your feet at the bottom of a magnificent waterfall.

A large part of the zoo visit takes place in the canopy, where you walk on walkways suspended between the trees. The gigantic plants and colorful flowers almost steal the show from the 85 species of exotic animals and birds (coati, red panda, sloth, mongoose, kinkajou, toucan, iguana, jaguar, puma, ocelot, etc.).

Carnival in the village

If you are lucky enough to visit Guadeloupe in January and February, don’t miss the carnival parades, where musicians and dancers parade in costumes and masks. Every Sunday, carnival takes place in one or more towns. The atmosphere is lively and the music is wild.

Several types of groups are found there, such as snare drum groups, “mas” groups (masks and choreography) and “po” groups (animal skin drums, percussion and conch shells). But be careful of the “pétèd-fwèt”, the masters of the whip who crack their instrument, sometimes a few centimeters from the spectators!

Exchange your house

We are not going to Guadeloupe on an all-inclusive basis. Organizing a trip therefore requires a bit of research and planning. Renting a car is essential; Fortunately, traffic is easy (you can cross the island in less than two hours, outside rush hours).

This is the ideal place to experiment with home exchange, a formula that we have adopted for a long time and which is growing in popularity. The concept is very popular in Europe, particularly in France. Guadeloupe being a French department, the Home Exchange site offers a large number of options there.

We spent a comfortable week in Sainte-Anne with our host, Valérie, in a magnificent wooden house where the living room opened entirely onto a lush tropical garden surrounding a small swimming pool.

To benefit from it, all you have to do is leave your house in impeccable condition to receive guests, and pay a subscription of $230 per year.

Check out our article “How to Prepare for a Home Exchange”