Anse des Cascades, under the palms

This is one of the few places on the island where fresh water falls straight into the ocean. A cliff covered in vegetation, threads of water coming down out of the forest, and below them a palm grove planted at the edge of the black rocks. You park fifty metres away.

The place is very busy at weekends with Réunionese families, who come for the day with tables and cooking pots. On a weekday, and especially in the morning, you are often close to alone.

Getting there

Follow the RN2 south from Saint-Benoît, through Sainte-Anne then Sainte-Rose. Just before Piton Sainte-Rose a road drops toward the sea and leads straight to the cove. Thirty minutes from the bungalow, on an easy coastal road.

Access is free, with no hours. A picnic area is laid out under the palms, with tables and shade — one of the best-equipped sites on the east coast, which explains the Sunday crowds.

What you do here, and what you do not

You walk, you picnic, you photograph. You do not swim: the coast is directly exposed to the swell, the bottom is rock, and there is no protected area. The rollers breaking on the basalt are exactly what you came to see, and exactly why you stay out of the water.

• The little fishing harbour next door is worth the detour: a few brightly painted boats hauled up the ramp, and often fish sold straight off them.
• The grove is partly made up of vacoa palms, emblematic of the east coast.
• A restaurant operates on site seasonally; do not count on it without checking.
• The light is better in the morning: in the afternoon you are shooting into the sun over the sea.

What comes just after

Anse des Cascades sits at the northern entrance to the Grand Brûlé. A few kilometres on, the Route des Laves begins, crossing the volcano's lava flows. The two belong to the same outing, and that is what we suggest: the cove in the morning, the flows after — it is day 5 of our week in the east.

On the way, at Piton Sainte-Rose, the church of Notre-Dame des Laves deserves a stop — the 1977 flow stopped at its door, and you can still see exactly where.

Frequently asked questions

Written in Saint-Benoît, where we rent the bungalow, and updated on September 13, 2026. Access and swimming rules change: we always point to the authority in charge rather than speaking for it.