Diving in the Cousteau Reserve

As I write this, it has been almost a year since we arrived in Guadeloupe. We have taken our time exploring the islands and discovering the beauty each one has to offer. If you have followed the blog for a while, you will know how much we love nature, new discoveries, and hiking. I have to admit, though, that since our two children arrived last year, we have been diving less and less.

We met a friend here on the island who works as a freelance dive instructor. A few months ago, we had our first chance to explore the underwater world off Guadeloupe’s west coast. More recently, during our stay on the island of Désirade, I was able to discover another side of the local marine life, which was a real pleasure. If that sounds interesting, take a look at my detailed article about the experience.

We recently partnered with the Manawa website to introduce you to some of the activities available in Guadeloupe and across its islands. It is a reliable platform where you can book activities around the world. Through this partnership, we had the opportunity to dive in the Cousteau Reserve on the west coast with the Les Heures Saines dive club in Bouillante.

I would love to tell you all about our dive in this underwater haven, which is well worth experiencing. For another fun activity in Guadeloupe, read our article about microlighting in Saint-François. Mélanie was the lucky one that day and enjoyed a beautiful flight over Pointe des Châteaux, Désirade, and Petite-Terre. It left her with some wonderful memories.

With the kids at school, we decided to make the most of a day off and spend some quality time together underwater. How good is that?

If our story makes you want to try it for yourself, you can book at the end of the article!

We were due at the club at 9:30 a.m. After dropping the kids off at school and daycare, we left Basse-Terre and headed to Bouillante, about a 30-minute drive from our home on the west coast. The dive club is very easy to find. You really cannot miss it: it sits right beside the rock at Malendure, below a restaurant with a good reputation that we will have to try one day. There is plenty of parking when you arrive.

We were lucky with the weather. The sun was shining over the sea, which is especially beautiful here. The water was clear, and we had a gorgeous view of the Pigeon Islets, also known as the Goyave Islets, and the famous Cousteau Reserve. That was where we would be diving that morning. We were ready for a new underwater adventure. I will tell you more about the islets and this remarkable reserve later in the article.

Our first impression was excellent. The club is in a lovely setting right by the reef. We stepped inside and gradually explored the facilities. The colorful wooden building is spread across three levels. Reception is on the upper level, where divers meet the instructors and one another. It is a pleasant little space, with a terrace overlooking the Pigeon Islets. We introduced ourselves and chatted with the team. The welcome could not have been friendlier.

At the bottom of the wooden stairs, you collect your wetsuit, mask, and fins. Another set of steps leads down to the boat that takes you out to the islets. I thought the whole place was very well designed and quite different from a more conventional dive center. Everything seems to have been carefully thought through.

Our first impression was excellent. The club is in a lovely setting. We stepped inside and gradually explored the facilities. The colorful wooden building is spread across three levels. Reception is on the upper level, where divers meet the instructors and one another. It is a pleasant little space, with a terrace overlooking the Pigeon Islets. We introduced ourselves and chatted with the team. The welcome could not have been friendlier.

At the bottom of the wooden stairs, you collect your wetsuit, mask, and fins. Another set of steps leads down to the boat that takes you out to the islets. I thought the whole place was very well designed and quite different from a more conventional dive center. Everything seems to have been carefully thought through.

We ended up spending about half an hour in the water. Visibility was fairly good, and there was plenty of marine life to see. Yellow sponges stood out beautifully underwater, alongside a few tropical fish, of course, and plenty of gorgonians swaying in the current. Gorgonians belong to the phylum Cnidaria and are commonly described as corals. There was very little plant life, apart from seagrass beds and sea pearls. We were having a wonderful time. When we saw the boat carrying the first group of divers arrive, we turned back toward the club to gear up for our own dive.

We collected our scuba gear and settled onto the large boat prepared for the dive. Named “Demelou,” it is a 12-meter vessel designed specifically for scuba diving and can carry up to 30 divers, although the limit is 25 within Guadeloupe National Park, where our dive sites were located. All the equipment was already on board, which was very convenient. We had left almost all our own gear in Polynesia, apart from our regulators, which we had brought with us but needed to have serviced. The size of the boat was useful because there were plenty of people on board, including many first-time divers. These sites are popular for a reason!

One of the instructors gave us the dive briefing. Since we were accompanied by a Level 3 diver who already knew the area, we were able to dive independently, which made things much easier. During the short crossing of about 15 minutes, we calmly put on our gear. We were heading to a site called the Coral Garden, east of the two islets on the shoreward side. When we arrived, the weather was still beautiful, and the sea was calm and remarkably clear.

We entered the water from the back of the dive boat, and the three of us slowly descended toward the drop-off. We began at a depth of about 10 meters in beautiful conditions. Visibility was not quite as clear as it can be in Mayotte, but it was still very good—and, between you and me, these things can vary so much. What stood out most were the large sea fans swaying in the underwater currents. As a reminder, touching the flora or fauna is prohibited in the national park.

We continued over a mostly sandy seabed, surrounded by the familiar marine life of tropical islands: multicolored sponges, especially the beautiful yellow ones, plenty of coral, gorgonians, colorful fish, and soft corals moving with the water. I was genuinely surprised by how much color there was. Conditions were excellent too, with no current at all. We barely needed to fin and could almost have stayed in one place.

After about 10 minutes, we reached the drop-off. The instructor had warned us that, unlike some of the dives we had done in Mayotte or French Polynesia, it was not a sharply defined wall. Even so, the underwater landscape changed clearly, and the depth increased noticeably as we approached it. Visibility out into the blue was also more limited.

At the drop-off, we descended to around 25 meters. It was every bit as beautiful as before. Mélanie and I had a fantastic time on this dive. We could not exactly talk, of course, but I could see that she was enjoying herself and reconnecting with an activity she had loved when she was younger—if I can say that, since she was nearly 38. Mélanie began diving in Mayotte, and back then we went almost every weekend. It was our main water-based activity and part of everyday life, giving us regular access to this wonderful underwater world.

Here, we rediscovered that sense of wonder and the pleasure of exploring the seabed. We saw all kinds of fish: several species of jack, king mackerel, plenty of parrotfish, two moray eels—not huge, but always exciting to spot—several kinds of sea urchin, with the white ones looking especially beautiful, and different types of coral.

Above all, there were lots of small schools of fish. It is always difficult to put an underwater scene into words. I often say that diving is an experience-based sport: you really need to try it and live it for yourself to appreciate the beauty of the seabed. Naturally, your impression depends on what you have seen elsewhere, but overall, this is a very beautiful site.

We continued to the right along this gentle drop-off toward the small islet in the corner—simply called “the little islet,” haha. Near Pointe Carangues, a striking cliff rose on our right. This vertical rocky ledge reflects the geology of the islet and makes for a beautiful view underwater. We still had plenty of air, especially since we were moving at depths of around 15 to 20 meters, which kept our consumption low. We decided to continue around the small islet. In theory, we should have turned back there and passed the famous statue of Captain Cousteau on the return journey, set on a sandy headland at a depth of about 12 meters. That will have to wait for another dive.

We continued toward the area known as “La Piscine” and returned between the two islets. I found this section less interesting as the water became shallower. The seabed is mostly sandy, with fewer fish. You may also come across visitors who are there for a snorkeling trip, another activity offered by the club, which I will mention again later. It is an easy place to get used to the water and build confidence. We slowly made our way back to the mooring after passing between the two islets in less than 2 meters of water.

The small punch served afterward was a welcome treat. We headed back in the same lovely weather, rinsed our gear thoroughly at the club, and that was the end of our dive.

I hope you enjoyed this little underwater story and that it has made you want to dive in the Cousteau Reserve. It is an especially good choice for a first dive, and the setting is beautiful. I am ready to book another one!

Right after the dive, we had lunch at Le Rayon Vert, where we also had a great time. The food was very good, and diners can use the infinity pool overlooking the sea. What more could you ask for?

I was not entirely sure what to expect before diving here. Everyone had told us how nice it was, but as I mentioned earlier, your impression inevitably depends on the kind of diving you have done before. We have dived a little in Southeast Asia and much more extensively in Mayotte, Madagascar, and along the east coast of Africa, so we have been fortunate enough to see some wonderful sites.

That said, we have done far less scuba diving since our children arrived. Mélanie and I talked about it afterward, and we both genuinely enjoyed the experience. It was a beautiful deep dive in very clear water, with rich, colorful marine life. That was a major plus for us. The only drawback, unrelated to the dive itself, was the number of people on the boat. Even though the vessel is large, it still felt crowded to us. Of course, that comes down to personal preference. We were used to smaller groups of no more than four to six divers, so this was quite a change.

To give you a little more background, the Cousteau Reserve is a protected marine area within Guadeloupe National Park. It lies opposite the well-known—and very popular—Malendure Beach on the leeward coast of Basse-Terre. The protected area around the Pigeon Islets covers approximately 980 hectares. Its name refers, of course, to Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who helped draw attention to the site. The Pigeon Islets became part of the national park’s core protected area in 2009.

There are many dive sites in the Cousteau Reserve. A few of the best known include the Coral Garden, where we dived, Les Sources / La Bouée Anticyclonique, Pointe Carangue, L’Aquarium, Pointe Barracuda, and La Piscine. In other words, there is plenty to explore if you want to discover the marine life of this part of the Caribbean.

With Les Heures Saines, the club we used, you can also dive at other nearby sites, including the Gustavia wreck, the Franjack wreck, Pointe Malendure, Jardin Japonais, and Anse Négresse. Note that the Caye site, where we went snorkeling in the morning, is not part of the reserve.

Pointe Mahault and Pointe Lézarde are two other well-known dive sites in Guadeloupe.

I will not go through the entire history of the dive club—it has plenty of experience under its belt, or plenty of tanks, if you will. Founded in 1983, it has now been operating for more than 40 years. I simply wanted to share a few details about the club and what it offers:

The “Yaïsa,” a 10-meter trawler that has been there since the club was founded in 1983,

The “Demelou,” built in 2013 and used for our dive,

There is also a small shop selling souvenirs and diving accessories, which is always a nice touch. The club’s T-shirts are particularly attractive, with options for both men and women.

As for activities and training, there is plenty to choose from. The club offers:

• First dives in the Cousteau Reserve,
• Classic exploration dives,
• Snorkeling,
• Night dives,
• Wreck-diving courses,
• Children’s dives,
• Introductory and advanced freediving courses,
• Introductory and advanced marine biology courses,
• And diving courses at every level (ANMP, FFESSM, SSI).

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced diver, Les Heures Saines offers a reassuring way to discover the underwater world.

This article is not meant to cover everything you can do around the Cousteau Reserve, but the area is a major visitor attraction, and there is no shortage of activities nearby. You can rent kayaks and paddleboards from Malendure Beach and make your way quietly out to the reserve. It is also a good way to swim with turtles, which are apparently often seen around the islets. If you do not dive and are not comfortable snorkeling, a glass-bottom boat also departs from the same beach. It can be a lovely way to introduce a young child or baby to the underwater world.

We really enjoyed diving with the dive school in the Cousteau Reserve and found the atmosphere very friendly. Even if you are a beginner and feel a little nervous, diving is one of the most rewarding water activities to try in Guadeloupe, and you can learn gradually at your own pace. We still have not explored all the best dive sites in Guadeloupe, but diving here certainly feels like a must. We would happily recommend it. Many thanks to the club for sharing some of its underwater photographs with us.

I will leave it there. I hope this article has inspired you to dive in the Cousteau Reserve. It may be a popular tourist spot, but it is well worth visiting during a trip to Guadeloupe. For another place to explore, spend some time at Pointe des Châteaux in the commune of Saint-François.

See you soon.

Written by Sylvain PONS

Since 2021, I've been living in the Guadeloupe archipelago with Mélanie and our two children. We are exploring these beautiful islands and discovering the treasures that we are happy to share with you!

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