Bassin La Paix, then the windward coast

The east of Réunion has no picture-postcard beach, and it is worth saying straight away: the sea is strong, the sand black, swimming rarely possible. That is exactly why the windward coast stayed itself while the west was built up. Here you do not swim in a lagoon — you swim in rivers.

Bassin La Paix is the most accessible of them all. A wide waterfall dropping into a dark pool, framed by basalt organ pipes — the regular columns lava forms as it cools slowly. All of it a quarter of an hour from the bungalow, at the end of a cane road.

Bassin La Paix, and Bassin La Mer above it

A road runs down to a proper car park at Bras-Panon; from there, a few minutes on foot and a flight of steps lead to the pool. It is short, it is waymarked, and it works with children. In return, the place is well known: come early, or on a weekday.

One important point, and it changes from year to year: swimming has been banned by municipal order after rockfalls from the walls. The situation evolves. Check with the Bras-Panon town hall before you get in the water, and respect the signs on site — they are what counts, not what you read online.

Further up the Rivière des Roches, Bassin La Mer takes a longer walk, around three quarters of an hour on a rougher path. It is wilder and far less busy. Same caution, and the same rule: you do not enter a river when it has rained upstream, even if the sky above your head is clear.

Sainte-Anne, eight minutes further

On the way back down to the sea, the church at Sainte-Anne is worth the stop even if churches do not interest you. Its façade is covered in a profusion of carved motifs — fruit, flowers, cherubs — with no equivalent on the island. It is a listed monument, and it is eight minutes from the bungalow.

Right beside it, the mouth of the Rivière des Roches gives a fair idea of what this coast is: fresh water meeting a sea that never quite settles. You look at it; you do not swim in it.

Anse des Cascades to finish

Half an hour south, the Anse des Cascades earns its name: several waterfalls drop straight into the sea, under a planted palm grove that gives dense, even shade. It is the point in the day where you sit down and stop doing anything. There are tables, barbecues, and a great many people on Sundays — come another day.

What to bring

• Shoes that grip on wet rock. Polished basalt is slippery, and it is the first cause of falls on these sites.
• A towel and a change of clothes, if swimming is allowed on the day you are there.
• Something to picnic with: the Anse des Cascades is made for it, the pools much less so.
• A windproof layer. On the windward coast, a ten-minute shower gives no warning.

Why this day rather than another

Because it fits inside a thirty-minute radius. You leave after coffee, come back when you like, and you have not spent the day in the car. That is the principle behind everything we suggest here: the east is visited from the east. For a more committing day, Grand Étang is twenty minutes away; for the big outing of the stay, the volcano means leaving at four in the morning.

When to come

The pools are at their best in the wet season, January to March, when the flow is strong — but that is also when swimming bans are most often in force, and when rain upstream can raise the river in minutes. From May to October the flow drops, the water warms a little and the risk falls. In any case, one rule beats any forecast: if the water is cloudy or carrying branches, you do not get in, however blue the sky.

Frequently asked questions

Written in Saint-Benoît, where we rent the bungalow, and updated on September 7, 2026. Access and swimming rules change: we always point to the authority in charge rather than speaking for it.