Travel Guide for a cruise to Guadeloupe - Guadeloupe Purple Travel Guide
Guadeloupe is a beautiful Caribbean island that is infrequently visited by cruise ships. We tell you how to discover the beaches and historic sites in Guadeloupe and we provide lots of photos so you understand what you will see when you visit Guadeloupe.
The information on this page and much more (google maps locations, more reviews, website links, etc.) is available in our Cruising the Caribbean Guide.
Table of contents
General Information about Guadeloupe |
Self-guided tour of Pointe-a-Pitre in Guadeloupe |
La Caravelle Beach |
General Information about Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is a Caribbean island which belongs to France and the primary language is French and the currency is the Euro.
In 1493, Christopher Columbus landed on the island and named it Santa María de Guadalupe. When the French colonized the island starting in 1635, they renamed it to Guadeloupe. In the following years, the island changed hands a few times, slavery was abolished and then reinstated and then permanently abolished in 1848. In 1816, the Treaty of Vienna ratified French control over Guadeloupe.
The population is about 400,000.
Tourism is a major industry and more than 80% of all visitors come from France, 11% from other European countries, only 3-4% from the US and half of that from Canada. The cruise ship terminal is in Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe’s largest city and economic center.
Guadeloupe is one of the safest islands in the Caribbean, but compared to other French overseas territories, its crime rate is among the highest.
Guadeloupe has relatively constant temperatures throughout the year and a rainly season from May tbhrough December. The driest months are January through March.
The climate that you can expect when you visit Guadeloupe is shown here:
The two best beaches for sunbathing and snorkeling on Guadeloupe are: La Caravelle and Petite Terre
La Caravelle is probably the most famous beach on Guadeloupe while Petite Terre has the best snorkeling. La Caravelle beach has the advantage it is much easiwer and cheper to get to and you have time to experience Pointe-a-Pitre. If you decide to visit Petite Terre, then this is a day-trip.
Self-guided tour of Pointe-a-Pitre in Guadeloupe
- Cruise Port
- Place de la Victoire
- Cathedral of St Pierre and St Paul
- Car rental
- Fort Fleur-d'Epée
From the cruise terminal, it is a short walk to Place de la Victoire. The plaza itself is a quiet place with quite a few stands selling souvenirs to the South and, about 200ft away, a farmer’s market where you can buy fruits and vegetables.
West of the plaza is the bright yellow painted Cathedral of St Pierre and St Paul, that is sometimes called the Iron Cathedral because of its iron work on the inside. The inside of the cathedral is plain but nicely decorated.
The next stop is Fort Fleur-d'Epée. You will need to walk back towards the cruise port and rent a car to get there.
The fort was built from 1750 to 1763 above the town of Gosier. It has an old cannon and some of the underground tunnels and rooms are accessible. The fort has great views of Pointe-a-Pitre as well as Grande Baie and the Westernmost beach in Gosier.
La Caravelle Beach
Now drive to the beach at La Caravelle: Plage de la Caravelle.
Parking over there is difficult, and you may need to park in one of the side streets. When you first get to the ocean, you may be disappointed as we will likely see tons of seagrass and fairly high waves and nobody in the water except for the occasional surfer. Fear not, this is not the beautiful La Caravelle beach you are looking for. To get to La Caravelle, follow the other people and walk south. Soon, you will see La Caravelle beach with its beautiful white sand and turquoise water. The beach is actually fairly long. At the southern tip, the water gets waist-deep, the seagrass starts, so swimming is a bit of a challenge. There is some snorkeling in the seagrass area, but nothing to brag about. A little farther to the north-west is a concrete wall with some boulders. Snorkeling there is significantly better.
Other popular Purple Travel Guides you may be interested in:
Like this Backpack and Snorkel Purple Travel Guide? Pin these for later:
