We tried paddleboarding in Guadeloupe (Morne-à-L'Eau)

I’m continuing this week by talking about an activity Mélanie and I got to try during our week on Grande-Terre Island, here in Guadeloupe. When our parents arrived, we decided to spend one morning trying something we hadn’t done before: stand-up paddling. A few days earlier, we (well, Mélanie, the lucky one) had the opportunity to take a flight in a micro-light plane over the whole of Pointe des Châteaux, La Désirade and the islands of Petite-Terre. What a magnificent microlight flight over Guadeloupe! Mélanie has fond memories of it.

I have to admit that, living at the other end of Grande-Terre, we don’t come here very often, so this was a good opportunity to try something we’d heard so much about. Mélanie and I had heard that it was possible to go kayaking in a number of places in Guadeloupe, in particular along the mangrove swamps. So we were very excited to try this activity.

As we always say, this article has been written in collaboration with the online activity site Manawa and Get Up – Stand Up, a company that specialises in stand-up paddling in Guadeloupe. We leave the kids at the house in Saint-François that we’ve rented for the week and go to Morne-à-L’eau to enjoy our morning.

This was the first time I’d really tried stand-up paddling. I’d tried it before in French Polynesia, on the sea. But it was very limited. Mélanie isn’t much of a specialist either, and the only time she’d tried it was for a yoga class. So it was definitely different.

We weren’t quite sure what to expect, but we went along cheerfully. Unfortunately the weather was still grey and rather threatening. We’ll see what happens.

Before we get back into the swing of things, a visit to the Musée du Cacao de Guadeloupe is in order. Located in Pointe-Noire, on the west coast, it’s a great place to visit during your holiday here.

In partnership with Manawa, we also had the opportunity to take a wonderful sailing trip to Les Saintes. It’s a great way to discover these islands in a more relaxed way! Don’t hesitate to check out what we wrote about the few hours we spent there!

An hour after leaving Saint-François, we arrived on site. To give you an idea of how unfamiliar we were with the island of Grande-Terre, I’d never even heard of the village of Vieux-Bourg. It’s located at the western end of the commune of Morne-À-L’eau, and it was only by driving a few more kilometers to the west that we finally arrived at the beach of Babin, more or less opposite the island of Macou, in what is known here as the Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin. It’s a completely unknown place, far away from the tourist routes that are used by the visitors who come to discover Guadeloupe. But I have to admit that the less touristy a place is, the more I like it.

We meet up with Matt, the stand-up paddle instructor (or SUP as he’s sometimes called), who is quietly waiting for us. We explore the area, which looks beautiful despite the overcast. A shame for the trip, but it didn’t spoil the fun we were about to have. The sun would have helped me dry off quicker after falling off the paddle, haha.

By the way, the beach of Babin is very well known locally for its clay (found in the sea), which is said to relieve rheumatism, arthrosis and joint problems, as well as making the skin soft! We saw many locals covered in this grayish clay when we arrived!

Matt shows us the equipment we’ll be using: inflatable (but very hard) paddles, our oars and we’re off. Before leaving, we get a presentation of the day’s stand-up paddle programme: a walk to Macau Island, crossing its red mangrove tunnels, stopping at a small deserted beach and information about mangroves (role, composition, etc).

Matt (stand-up paddle instructor) also gave us a briefing on the area before we set off. It was very interesting, even though we already knew more or less what it was all about.

He explains that Grand-Cul-de-Sac Marin is protected by the largest coral reef in the Lesser Antilles. From where we are, we can see îlet Fajou, the largest îlet in the Grand-Cul-de-Sac Marin, and îlet Caret to the west, known locally as a very beautiful îlet where tourists and locals come to enjoy its beautiful turquoise waters. It also reminds us of the difference between the islands of Basse-Terre and Grande-Terre, the former being of volcanic origin and the latter of limestone. The two islands are very different from a geological point of view, but also in terms of vegetation and weather.

The island of Basse-Terre is volcanic, with much more relief, and has the highest volcano in the Lesser Antilles, the Soufrière volcano (1467m). Rainfall here is much more intense and prolonged. It falls on clay soil, which tends to absorb and retain moisture. The result is a greener, denser vegetation, which Mélanie and I are getting to know very well and which we’ve been discovering on our weekend hikes since we arrived in Guadeloupe. At the Bassin Bleu, for example, you can observe this lush vegetation without getting too tired.

Once you’ve crossed the Rivière Salée, the island of Grande-Terre is very different: there is much less rain, the vegetation is drier and the soil is entirely limestone, which doesn’t retain water. I’m not going to give you a geology lesson here (I don’t know enough about Guadeloupe yet), but from what I’ve been able to read, Grande-Terre is quite simply the result of a pile of sediments dating back millions of years. Since the current arc of the Lesser Antilles is the result of the Atlantic plate sinking under the Caribbean plate at a rate of 2 cm per year, these sediments were exposed as a result of tectonic movement. Practically speaking, when you’re on Grande-Terre (or Marie Galante or Désirade), you’re walking on very old coral.

So much for Matt’s briefing (for beginners), which was very interesting, especially for people who don’t know how tropical, volcanic or sedimentary islands work.

At 10am we set off on our paddle boarding trip, sitting on the board first. Matt gave us the necessary advice on how to handle the beast, standing up and, as usual, I’m not the best at coordinating my limbs, haha. I’ve always struggled with anything having to do with paddling, including kayaking. In fact, I think we are on the verge of breaking up every time Mélanie and I go kayaking, haha. We often wonder how many couples fight every time they go kayaking!

We start our trip by sitting on the paddleboard and paddling along the coast on our right, which quickly gives us great views of the mangrove swamp and its forest of red mangroves. The weather isn’t great, but we can still see that the water is very beautiful, translucent and in good weather, with sunshine, it must be a real beauty. Matt gets us up and explains the techniques we need to know to get the paddle where we want it. I spent some time struggling with my Sony A7III and the memory card which was acting up. Luckily I have a second memory card. I can put it in a second slot on the body. You can also see a whole bunch of white spots on the bottom, which are actually jellyfish clinging to the bottom. We were equipped with life jackets for safety during this exciting watersport experience.

Considering how stable I am (haha), I don’t want to risk taking my camera out while I’m standing on the board. Luckily, 5 minutes later I lost my balance and fell into the water from my paddle. Nothing serious, but I’m soaking wet. At least that makes Mélanie laugh, she’s got her balance right in her paddle board, she was standing-up… We continued to walk through this beautiful forest and the thing that struck us the most was the peace and the atmosphere of the breathtaking place. The fact that it’s just the three of us is really great! I really appreciate it. It’s so quiet and I’m really glad I didn’t go there to try out a jetski or water skiing… Although I can understand that some people like the feeling of a jet ski or water skiing, to be able to walk around peacefully in the middle of the mangroves with the only noise being the paddle moving through the water, it’s quite magical. There is something magical about being able to stroll peacefully through the mangroves with only the sound of your paddle moving through the water, although I can understand why some people like the feel of a jet ski. We even came across a magnificent stingray, clearly visible from the surface. Luckily she doesn’t make a lot of noise!

We then passed the islet of Rat on our right and had to make a short crossing to reach the islet of Macou. I say a short crossing because you can clearly feel that there’s more current on the right and you have to keep your balance and course to get to the “other side”. Once we were at the famous islet, we circled around it before the highlight of the show, in my opinion: the paddle into the islet, or at least across it. This island is unusual in that it has small channels. These allow you to cross from one side to the other. Mélanie went first, with me behind. The red mangroves are very low and the vegetation prevents us from standing, so we have to sit (or kneel). It was as if we were about to enter a great black hole of vegetation.

I’d been to mangroves before, when I lived in Mayotte, but that was on very wide stretches of river, usually motorised. This is a very different experience. You go in in a quiet, gentle way, very slowly, because you have to be careful to stay in the deepest part of the channel and not to touch the roots, which are so characteristic of the mangroves. It’s a magical place. Mélanie is just as happy to be here. It’s a really impressive place and I have to say I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.

Through the maze of canals, each more beautiful than the last, we move at a snail’s pace. The mangroves cover our heads completely, forming a veritable sky of low vegetation. It’s really cool. I continued along the road, following Mélanie, who was ahead of me on this stretch. The gorges were very shallow and I had to keep paddling to keep myself afloat as I kept touching the bottom. Unless it’s because I’ve put on a bit of weight recently, haha.

Inside you can see a few species of birds flying by and orange or purple sponges clinging to the mangrove roots underwater. It’s a really nice backdrop. We spent about 20 minutes in this crazy environment before emerging on the other side of the island. The light came back on and we walked around the island in the direction of a small deserted beach. When we got there we could see lots of orange starfish, which stood out very well despite the weather, which wasn’t great today.

We arrive and sit down on this lovely little ‘beachette’ as I like to call it. Matt serves us a nice little homemade juice. We enjoy it while listening to his explanations about the mangrove and how it works. We were told that a normal tree would not be able to grow there because the ground is so muddy. The mangrove is able to grow there because of the root system it has. It grows in salt water and has several ways of getting rid of the salt. When the water enters the root, the salt remains on the outside, which affects the colour of the root. The tree then filters out most of the salt and the rest is stored in the leaves. The yellow leaves are saturated with salt.

Then, bearing in mind that all the vegetation along the Grand-Cul-de-Sac Marin is mainly red mangrove, we learn more about mangroves and their 3 main functions. So we learn about the 3 main roles of the mangrove:

• The role of nursery: the fish come to take refuge in the roots of the mangroves, where they are safe from predators and where they also find a whole range of things to eat. When they are grown, they return to the lagoon. It is thanks to this role that fish can be found in the lagoon,
• Filtering role: before it flows into the lagoon, the surrounding water passes through the mangrove, which filters it as best as it can (soil, leaves, etc.) so that the water that comes out is “clean”. This is one of the reasons why coral can grow around it. He tells us about the growth of the coral and its symbiosis with the Zooxanthella, a unicellular alga that absorbs the carbon dioxide emitted by the coral and in return provides its host (the polyp) with various nutrients,
• Protection role against storms and cyclones: it plays an important role in case of heavy swell, protecting the land by retaining sediments, sea and wind.

After these explanations, we returned to the same stand-up paddle spot, varying the channel to cross the island of Macou once again. We’re still very happy here and the peace and quiet is, frankly, as enjoyable as ever. The return trip went without a hitch. After 2h30/3h of paddling through this beautiful mangrove we return to the starting point to stow the paddles! We really enjoyed it.

As I said, we were quite familiar with the mangrove and how it works, but we’d never had the chance to see it up close, and especially discover it so quietly, I was so enthusiastic. In the end, it was this tranquility and atmosphere that really appealed to us. The activity itself is really perfect for anyone who loves nature, discovery and watersports, in a way that’s environmentally friendly, quiet and slow.

I can now understand why some people like to go on long canoeing trips, kayaking for example on a large lake. It really is a way of discovering this ecosystem in a simple, slow way (not speed like surfing haha), at the speed of the elements so to speak (on flatwater). You’re not in a hurry. You’re observing all the details that make up the landscape around you. To make the analogy, it’s a bit like ‘slow travel’ in travel, which means travelling slowly and, I think, allows you to get to the bottom of things. I could drive across the US in a couple of days and say I’ve done it. But would that be worth it? Would I feel like having really seen and experienced it? I’m not at all sure…

In a very different style, I invite you to experience the wonders of Guadeloupe from the air with a seaplane flight over the Petit-Cul-de-Sac-Marin.

I’ll end this article on paddling and tell you about the other possibilities. For our part, we made the stand up paddle boarding excursion from the beach of Babin, which is considered to be an easy level (about 2h30 for 45€ per adult, the sea was very calm, I didn’t just stay on my knees haha). There are several departures during the day, depending on the number of tourists (morning, early afternoon and late afternoon). It’s also worth noting that the trip we took is suitable for children aged 4 and over (on the paddle with an adult).

There are two other options:

• The excursion from the Petit-canal to Port Louis: a sporting level, 3 hours, a route along the leeward coast in the direction of a river and a beautiful mangrove forest.
• The trip from Morne-Rouge to Sainte-Rose: demanding, 3 hours. Two routes are possible, depending on the wind.
• You can also hire stand-up paddles for €40 a day, €30 for half a day and €175 for a week.

That’s it, I’ve come to the end of this article. I hope you enjoyed the paddle excursion (water adventure). I’m going to repeat myself, but it’s clear that if you like nature, peace and quiet and beautiful scenery, you won’t be disappointed with this activity. We really loved it and if I lived in the area I’d have bought a paddle board to go around these islands after work (also it’s possible to rent paddle boards)! We’re not experienced paddlers yet haha! Morne-à-l’Eau is a good place for water activities and paddle for its flatwater without big-wave. I’ve also heard of people doing yoga fitness on paddle boards, they’ve got really good balance and the sea must be really calm!

See you soon for a new activity or watersport. In the meantime, come and dive with me at La Désirade if you’re a fan of the sea!

Hope to 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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