Unique Places in Guadeloupe

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If you really want to visit a special island in the Caribbean, you should not miss Saba. From Guadeloupe you'll need to fly to Saint-Martin first to get here, but the reward is amazing. From Saint-Martin it takes a 2 hours boattrip or a 12 minutes flight to get here.

Saba is a teeny tiny island that is part of the Netherlands Antilles, and that measures 3 by 4 kilometres. The island has two roads, 1200 inhabitants and the smallest commercial airport in the world. The people speak English (although Dutch is the official language) and the currencies used are the US Dollar and the Netherlands Antilles Guilder.

Saba is also called "The unspoiled Queen" and you'll find proves of that both on land as under water. On land you'll find many hikes that take you through the spectacular nature of the island, and to the highest point of the Kingdom of Holland. And you can visit the few villages to feel the odd atmosphere of this mini-world.

Under water Saba is known as one of the best diving spots in the Caribbean. Turtles, corals, lobsters, octopusses and even sharks can be spotted in the often very deep waters around the island. But also for beginners this is a good place to go to. Saba truely is a natural pearl and a very special destination: completely different from any other Caribbean island.

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About a 50-minutes flight to the north from Guadeloupe, you'll find two more islands that officially are part of the governmental unity "Guadeloupe". These islands are Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthelémy. Saint-Martin is the one I visited; a special island. This is the smallest piece of land in the world that is shared by two countries: the northern part is French, and the southside is Dutch.

Because of the fact that the island is shared, there are two official languages: French and Dutch. And to make it even more difficult, on the Dutch side only English is spoken, and Spanish, Creole and Papiamento are used as well. And there are two currencies as well: the Euro and the Netherlands Antilles Guilder, although most of the times the US Dollar is used on the southside.

Saint-Martin is an island with several different faces; some very nice and interesting, some very disturbing if you ask me. Let's start with the good sides of the island. The coastline is spectacular: beautiful beaches, blue sea, palmtrees... The island is interesting with some green hills and large saltpans decorating it. But: Saint-Martin is also pretty spoiled by cruiseboat-tourism. Large hotels, tax-free shops, casino's, nightclubs. Especially on the Dutch part this really did no good to the landscape. And because of this the roads are too full as well: 20 kilometres can cost you 2 hours on bad times.

Concluding: Saint-Martin is a nice island if you don't mind the mass-tourism. And it's a good place to stay for two days as a stop between two other islands: enjoy the beach and do some shopping. For the rest: better look for another, more authentic one.

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Guadeloupe is a fantastic island, and there is a lot to see and do there. But it is also a great experience to visit an island that is completely different. An easy island to visit from Gwada is Dominica; just a 2 hours boattrip to the south.

Dominica is an independant country that is part of the British West Indies. It has only 70.000 inhabitants and is a lot more remote then its northern neighbour. The local currency is the Eastern Caribbean Dollar and a "Jamaican-like" accent is spoken here. Dominica's mainattraction undoubtly is its fantastic natural wealth:

The island has a large, unspoiled rainforest that covers most of the inland. Waterfalls, lakes that are heated by volcanic activity, rare parrot-species, and lots of great views of green valleys make it the perfect place for nature-lovers.

And apart from all the green beauty the island has just a very nice vibe. The poverty might be bigger here, the life clearly is a party here, people are very friendly and for some reason you just feel a little bit more Caribbean here.

A nice and easy walk just before going on a beach...

From the Marigot bay, take the path going up the hill and follow the well indicated trail that will lead you to the top while you can admire the views of all the island. Follow up until you reach the Caroline battery ruins with great views of the Pompierre beach and Dominique island. Than retrace slightly back and descend to the Pompierre beach and relax...

With luck, you will see some iguanas on your way...

First waterfall on Carbet.

Often in the clouds, the first Carbet waterfall is a good 3 to 4 hours walk there and back from the second one. It is a very pleasant, even if demanding hike in the jungle along a well worn path. Your rewards? You should be alone for the most of your trip, cross small streams and a small river, have a few showers and admire the waterfall from real close. (Much closer than what you can currently do with the second one)

Just hope for more luck than we had - a tropical rain has started to fall when we were descending the last stretch - so we had mainly clouds.

Definitely not the first thing one would look for in Guadeloupe, but you can find very interesting indian petroglyphs on the island of Basse Terre, heritage of caribbean culture.

This one is on the Grande Pointe trail, near a small source and a beach and represents a woman giving birth in water.

You will find much more petroglyphs first in Trois Rivieres town - head for the Parc Archeologique des Roches graves near the port. Or the lesser known - Les Roches gravees de la Riviere Plessis - in the Baillif town.

Or you can try your luck in the jungle :-)

Not very far from Trois Rivieres is this small coastal walk. While well indicated once you are on it, it is not at all frequented. So you are sure to be alone, have wonderful views, see ancient fortifications, ruins of a windmill, indian petroglyphs and an empty beach with a view of Saintes and sand like belouga caviar...

To reach the start of the walk - drive from Trois Rivieres in the direction of Pointe a Pitre by D6, then take a right turn by the "Chemin Neuf" and "Chemin de Grande Pointe" to reach a parking. Then just follow the path down the steep hill. You can either do the whole walk to reach the parking after 3.5 kms and then back, or retrace your steps earlier at the small river.

You can find more information in my travelogue, in the Lonely Planet guide or the Topoguide "La Guadeloupe et ses iles a pied"

it was quit an hilarious to see all these people just standing up on the beach, one of them even reading standing.
This beach is called Grande Anse ( i think, not sure now)and is not far from Dehais. You will find a few restaurants and shops nearby