The Guadeloupe beaches are very unique compared to other Caribbean islands we have visited.
The original name for Guadeloupe is Karukera, meaning land of beautiful waters. Across Guadeloupe you’ll find over 200 beaches, all of them public, and nearly all of them absolutely spectacular!
FYI – We have personally visited all the beaches on this list.
What makes the beaches in Guadeloupe so unique?
- Guadeloupe has white sand beaches, clay/golden sand beaches and black sand beaches! Most of the Caribbean islands only offer white sand beaches making Guadeloupe beaches very special.
- All beaches are open to the public – even the beaches located on resorts like Plage de La Caravelle is.
- Over 200 beaches! Which is insane considering how small the island is.
Things to know before visiting the Guadeloupe Beaches
The main island is actually 2 islands (separated by a channel). There is a blue side and green side. Blue side called Grande-Terre (right side of the butterfly) has white sand beaches, the Green side called Basse-Terre (left side of the butterfly) has golden and black sand beaches.
15 Best Guadeloupe Beaches
In no particular order, these are my picks for the 15 best beaches in Guadeloupe.
Plage de Bois Jolan
Located on Grande-Terre.
This beach is perfect for you if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the main city and be only in nature. Plage de Bois Jolan is great for swimming, snorkeling and lounging on the sand.
There is plenty of shade and even a restaurant and bathrooms located at the very first parking lot you will come across. There are multiple lots available as you continue driving down the beach.
Read the full blog post with photos of Plage de Bois Jolan here.
Plage de Tillet (My favorite beach in Guadeloupe)
Located on Basse-Terre.
The Caribbean has a lot of gorgeous white sand beaches with gorgeous turquoise blue water. What the Caribbean doesn’t have is many beaches like this that are almost entirely empty!
Plage de Tillet is one of those beaches that looks better in person than in the photos. In person, it’s a lot bigger than it looks and there are multiple beach areas you can go to.
Overall it is incredibly gorgeous, easy to access, yet somehow mostly isolated beach! This is AWESOME news for those looking to have their own stretch of paradise. This is a must see beach in Guadeloupe!
Read the full post with photos of Plage de Tillet here.
Plage de Grande Anse
Located on Basse-Terre.
This beach was just spectacular. It is massive so even though it attracts crowds you can easily walk down the beach and have it to yourself.
Read the full post with photos of Plage de Grande Anse here.
Plage de Sainte Anne
Located on Grande-Terre.
Plage de Sainte Anne is a gorgeous white sand beach located on Grande-Terre island in Guadeloupe. This beach is perfect for you if you are looking for a beach with restaurants, bars, food trucks and calm shallow water.
The negatives about this beach are the parking and the crowds.
The positives
- Family friendly
- Lots of palm trees for shade
- Shallow, clear turquoise water
Read the full post with photos of Plage de Sainte Anne here.
Plage de La Caravelle
Located on Grande-Terre.
Plage De La Caravelle is located in the city of Sainte-Anne, and it is directly behind the resort named Club Med.
I wrote detailed instructions on How To Actually Get To The Beach As a Non Club Med Resort Guest here.
This beach has pretty much everything, there are wide stretches of soft white sand, clear calm turquoise water, multiple bars and restaurants located right on the beach, access to vendors offering massages and fun sea toys like jet skis, and even instructors leading seniors in ocean water aerobics! Yes, that part about water aerobics is true.
Plage de Petit-Havre
Located on Grande-Terre.
This beach surprised me, I was not expecting to like it as much as I did.
Read the full post with photos of Plage de Petit-Havre here.
Plage de la Perle
Located on Base-Terre.
Plage De Anse Laborde
Located on Grande-Terre.
Anse Laborde is a gorgeous but out of the way beach in Guadeloupe. It takes about an hour to drive up to this part of the island from the main airport. The roads are winding but they are paved and easy to drive on.
It is also the trailhead for the hike to get to Trou a Man Loui cove beach. Highly recommend!
Read the full post with photos of Plage de Anse Laborde here.
Trou a Man Loui
Located on Grande-Terre.
This gorgeous cove beach makes you feel like you are literally on your own deserted island!
Read the full post with photos of Trou a Man Loui here.
Where to stay in Guadeloupe
La Toubana Hotel & Spa – This hotel is in an amazing location in Sainte-Anne overlooking Les Saintes.
Guadeloupe is not known for their amazing resort hotels, and yet, if that’s what you are looking for La Toubana Hotel is one of the nicest on the island. Located in Sainte-Anne, the location is ideal! So close to all the best beaches in Guadeloupe.
Make sure you book in advance as this place fills up really fast. We went to Guadeloupe in January and I checked prices for March and a lot of days were already booked out. Check availability here.
La Toubana has been recently renovated and upgraded to a five-star hotel, the first and only five star hotel in Guadeloupe. Vénite said. “It is our first five-star property; we’ve never had that before,” she said. “It is in an amazing location in Sainte-Anne overlooking Les Saintes.”
Nearby Beaches: Bois Jolan Beach, La Caravelle Beach and Sainte Anne Beach
Some things to be aware of before traveling to Guadeloupe
- The power plugs and sockets used on the island are types C and E Just like the rest of France. Voltage in Guadeloupe is 220 AC. This means if you are coming from the US you will need a plug converter. We forgot one and had a difficult time finding one on the island. We had to go to three different stores so definitely plan ahead.
- Money – They use the Euro.
- Population – about 400,000 people.
- Almost every Guadeloupean is Roman Catholic. A lot of the stores were closed on Sunday or only open for a few hours.
Geography Clarification – most people think of Guadeloupe as 1 island, but there are actually 6 different inhabited islands. The biggest island is named Guadeloupe, but this island is split in two by a small sound – the west (left side on most maps) is called Basse-Terre and the east (right side on most maps is called Grand-Terre.
Language Barrier – Guadeloupe is a French speaking island and there is very little English spoken. Trust me, it will help to know a few beach terms in French. Creole is the second, unofficial language of Guadeloupe.
I had to use google translate while doing my trip research because most of the articles were written in French. Once there, most of the people are not used to tourists who do not speak French. Google translate is a MUST have when ordering food, etc.
Some words that will be especially helpful to know are…
- Plage – Beach
- Anse – Cove
- Plongée en apnée or “palme masque tuba” PMT – Snorkeling