Diving in Desirade island

Here I am again writing about Guadeloupe and more specifically the islands of Guadeloupe : Desirade island. At the time of writing it’s been 8 months since we’ve been in the wonderful area that is Guadeloupe. After exploring the island of Terre-de-Bas in Les Saintes, we are now exploring the magnificent island of La Désirade. We took advantage of a long 4-day weekend (with the mid-Lent holiday and a gap) to discover this beautiful area, which we’d heard nothing but good things about since our arrival.

Naturally, you’ll find our full guide to what to see and do on the Desirade island. And among the must-sees in our opinion, diving on Desirade island remains a must. In fact, I was able to go diving there thanks to a partnership with the only diving club on the island, l’îlot Plongée Désirade & Manawa. This is a very good website for outdoor activities, snorkelling and one that I can recommend with my eyes closed.

Come with me. I’ll take you to discover the local fauna and flora at a dive site off the island. It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or an experienced diver. I think you will enjoy it! Here’s a short report on how I went diving with Olivier, the Manager of the diving company.

I invite you to read about Mélanie’s microlight flight if you’re looking for another way to explore the island. She spent over an hour and a half in the air. She flew over the beautiful island of La Désirade!

Let’s face it, diving is not the first thing that comes to mind when you imagine La Désirade. In fact, unless you’re a resident of Guadeloupe and/or have been here on holiday, you’ve probably never even heard of this little tropical paradise off the coast of Pointe des Châteaux. However, I must say that the idea of discovering the island’s seabed, as someone who is used to looking at maps and satellite photos, delighted me. There are numerous coral reefs around the island, as you can see from the sky. It was very promising!

So I had a meeting with Olivier at 8.30am at the only petrol station on the island! Early in the morning we got to know each other. I got my diving equipment (life jacket, flippers, mask and snorkel) and we boarded Olivier’s Zodiac. The weather was not too bad. During the day-trip he explains that tourism in Guadeloupe (and even more so on a small island like Désirade) has taken a beating since Covid began, so he no longer has a diving club. As a result, he runs his diving club from his home. He has set up a container with everything he needs. This means that all the diving equipment is safe in case of a cyclone. (Cyclones are notorious here in the French West Indies and throughout the Caribbean).

It’s just the two of us on the dive boat and I still feel privileged. Even though he confirms that he’s going out even though only one diver has booked the diving trip. By the way, here’s something else you need to know: if you’re going to dive with La Désirade, it’s better to book your dive or aquatic activity with Olivier. This will allow him to organize his aquatic activities according to the weather conditions. Olivier is an ex-fisherman who has been a diver for over 20 years. You can bet he knows the place well as he’s lived on the island for 25 years! He is also a volunteer member of the local fire brigade. To cut a long story short, we left the harbor at 9am to go boating for half an hour. It was a bit of a bumpy ride out of the harbor and into the main channel. This time of year is quite choppy with the trade winds, those famous tropical winds.

We headed towards the south-west of the island, more or less off the Pointe des Colibris, a superb spot by the way. We returned by car to watch the sun set behind the Pointe des Châteaux. When we got there, we were looking for a floating buoy. Olivier had tied it up in order to find the dive site we were going to, the “Tuyaux” site. It doesn’t sound very glamorous when you put it like that, but for the record: This is the old pipe that connected the island of Désirade to Guadeloupe and supplied the island with water/electricity and internet. When Cyclone Lenny hit Guadeloupe and its islands in November 1999, the pipe was destroyed. Since then, the supply line has been rebuilt a little further away.

Finally unable to find the floating buoy, we dropped anchor on the site in about 20 m of water. The weather is fine and the water is looking pretty good to me. It’s going to be a great diving expedition. Olivier prepares everything we need for a safe dive, including an underwater safety tank and a buoy at the back of the dive boat to help us attach the blocks and stab so that we don’t have to climb back onto the dive boat with them (it’s much easier). We quietly get into the diving boat, Olivier gives me a quick briefing and we set off to explore this site for underwater adventures.

We went down slowly along the anchor rope to a depth of 15 to 20 meters. For the start of this diving experience the visibility was really good. As I write these few lines, I’m aware that it’s not easy to put into words the feeling of an excellent diving. I tend to say: You have to dive to experience it, but I’ll try my best! As soon as I reached the bottom, I let myself be carried along by a small current (nothing too serious). I followed Olivier (the dive inspector). Even though I’m a (French) level 4, I obviously don’t know the diving destination and Olivier, who knows it like the back of his hand, will be the perfect guide today for a perfect dive.

Apart from the relative ‘coolness’ of the water at 25°C, the first thing that struck me in the first few minutes of the dive was the underwater flora. We were passing through a collection of hard and soft corals, which I thought were in very good condition. Visually, it was really nice. There are also a large number of medium-sized gorgonians that move with the current. The soft corals are buffeted by the current. It is really cool to zigzag between them. Underwater you’ll find all the classic tropical fauna of the islands. A large number of schools of fish follow us and circle around us. You can recognise them by their 5 black stripes that look like a military uniform. Several schools of Sergeant Major fish followed us. There were also schools of Caesar grunt, a French angelfish, schools of damselfish, a school of manioc fish and a host of other colorful fish. It would have been incredible to do underwater photography at that time with a GoPro. We didn’t see any of the ‘big ones’ like sharks, mantas, whales or dolphins (haha). But we were lucky enough to hear them for most of the diving experience. And that’s really cool, I have to say.

I really enjoyed the change of scenery throughout the dive, with passages on the sandy bottom where we were able to get up close to two beautiful stingrays. But most of all there were a lot of rocky diving locations with a succession of caves and faults. It’s hard to describe, but feeling like you’re diving under an arch is really cool to experience. You will also be able to take in the sights of the underwater world as you turn your head around. I always enjoy discovering this underwater microcosm a few meters behind or next to Olivier. It’s really something different from diving. Even though I don’t dive as much as I used to when I lived with Mélanie in Mayotte (and didn’t have children), it’s still a pleasure to be underwater.

For a few minutes, we walked along the famous pipe, which I noticed had been colonized at an impressive rate. Life has completely taken over and developed on top of what the fish must see as a human anomaly in the space of about twenty years, haha. We also come across the three anchors that date back to the 19th century. They have also been completely colonized by marine life. However, they are still quite visible underwater.

At the end of the diving trip, the water is a little more murky and there is a bit more current. This doesn’t really disturb me and there’s still plenty of life. We never get tired of watching the two stingrays sweeping across the sand. Always such a majestic animal! 55 minutes of diving excursion and a maximum depth of 18 meters, this was a very nice dive. I have to admit that even though I’m increasingly chilled, I didn’t do too badly in the 25 degree water. This is the time of year when the temperature of the water is at its coldest…

We made our way back quietly with a swell that had picked up quite a bit offshore and even in the lagoon. I have to say that I really enjoyed this diving destination and adventure. I found the seabed to be rich in both flora and fauna and it was a real treat for the eyes and breathtaking. We chatted over a drink, kindly offered by Olivier, but I promised myself I would return the favor on my next diving visit. Because that’s the upside. Now that I’m living here, I have no excuse to go back to Désirade for a long weekend (for diving vacation), for example. Olivier offers diver training for beginners (baptism) in the lagoon in general to learn how to dive and for more experienced divers (diver certification) up to 40m off the coast. Of course, there are a dozen other dive sites on the island, including the Kachakou wreck (17m), the Kaye a man Armide (15m), the Cathédrales (20m) and Pointe Monbin (30m).

I invite you to read our report on diving in the Cousteau Reserve on the west coast of Guadeloupe. It was also a great discovery and excursion!

Olivier (the dive inspector) even gave me some good advice about a viewpoint we’d missed the day before on the highland. There’s a great spot near the old windmills with a stunning view across Souffleur beach to the end of the island. The view is truly magnificent and is a must see if you are going to go there. I’ll tell you more about it in our full article on visiting the island of la Désirade. If you’re heading to la Désirade, I highly recommend the Olivier diving center for some of the best diving around. His diving company also has good diving equipment (snorkel, fins, etc.).

By the way, if you’re looking for another fun aquatic activity or watersports, we tried paddle boarding in Guadeloupe, in the mangrove swamps of Morne-à-l’Eau.

See you soon for another article on Guadeloupe. In the meantime, I invite you to read our article on all you need to know about coming to Guadeloupe. We explain the different options available.

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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