Anse des Flamands

Anse des Flamands is the largest beach on Saint-Barthélemy, a wide crescent of pale sand on the north-west coast backed by latanier palms and a handful of villas and small hotels. The swell reaches it directly, so the water is livelier than in the sheltered bays. A footpath from the western end climbs over the headland to Colombier, a beach with no road to it at all, reached only on foot in half an hour or by boat. Turtles nest on both, and the snorkelling at Colombier is the best on the island. The island road ends at the eastern end of the beach.