The highlight of our trip to Îles des Saintes in Guadeloupe was snorkeling at Plage de Anse Mire. We had been trying to find a place to snorkel and finally decided to try this beach just outside of Les Saintes, the cute fishing-village-turned-tourist-town where we were staying.
The beach itself is nothing special – just a thin strip of sand with people walking along a path between the access stairs and homes along the shore. But once we got in the water we saw why there was a snorkeling class with giggling children at this particular beach.
Just past the wall you’ll walk along, if you swim out from there you’ll come across some old concrete features that now make great artificial reef habitat that attracts a lot of fish.
Much of the swimming area at the beach is just a sandy ocean floor and quite shallow. As it gets deeper there are beautiful grass beds. Don’t dismiss these areas – I saw flounder and my first flying gurnard on this “boring” sandy bottom.
Further along, as you swim past buoys and a small dock, you’ll get to a magnificent section of ocean floor with a variety of coral and loads of fish.
Of course, I made a video of this area, which you can see here: https://youtu.be/lXHxm8-JTIE
Enjoy!
The Well-Traveled Fridge 
One thought on “Snorkeling at Îles des Saintes”