Beginners spots - Guadeloupe - need advice

[Gimli11]

Hey guys,
Im going with my friends to Guadeloupe in the end of March 2016, we are all beginner surfers and Id like to ask u guys for the best spots for us. I searched the web and most of spots for beginners has reef so Im not sure about that. I need to find a place to stay close to the spot so thats mainly the reason why Im asking, so if anyone has a tip for that too, that would be great, thanks a lot.

[jaffa1949]

Welcome to SW , I can't help you much with Guadeloupe but in the interests of dwarvish surf lessons make sure that your beards don't get caught in the wax in the tropical sun.

There is a range of breaks , a lot out on coral reefs, and some beach breaks, the beach breaks are pretty weak but more suitable for your stage, depending on time of year Atlantic swells can pump it up quite a bit. Good luck let the forum know how you went!

[Big H]

For what it's worth, I lived four years in St. Thomas and Nevis in the caribbean....I never once saw anyone surfing anywhere on any of the islands I went to, never saw a surfboard at all. Not saying that surfing isn't a thing down there, and I've never been to Guadelopue (St. Martin/Maarten, St. Kitts, Anguilla and St. Barth's the closest in that area)....all those islands are classed leeward while Guadeloupe, Martinique, Antigua, Barbados are all part of the windward group which faces the open ocean, so maybe there is surfing over there, but for all the islands that I'd been to the water resembled a lake with "waves" smaller than wind chop here.....

Maybe put the surfing on hold and go diving.....that is the real thing to do in that area....spectacular visibility and a range of site types from walls to reefs.

[danse]

Hi Gimli

I'm in a similar situation to yours. I'm trying to decide whether to go to Martinique or Guadeloupe for 3 months from January and the main deciding factor is the surf. I'll decide within a week so I should have some information to share with you soon.

If you happen to get some useful info I'd be very happy to hear it! Maybe we can catch some waves together in a couple of months

[Gimli11]

Thx to all for a reply.
danse: I havent found any reliable info so far, if you get to know anything, please let me know, thx!

[cl2joeswim]

Check the site below. Most breaks on the island are rock or reef but they list those which are suitable for beginner.
http://www.wannasurf.com/spot/Central_America/Guadeloupe/

[sunsurfbetty]

Hi there!
I came from Guadeloupe less than 2 weeks ago! I had my own board with me and my level is intermediate, but I decided to take lessons anyway. I had chosen the instructor from searching on the web, but it turned out to be the perfect choice: http://www.guadeloupe-karibik.com
It's not a camp like it says, but instead you meet up with the instructor. He's an easygoing guy with a lot of patience, and also sincere in his work. He will get you standing on your first lesson I saw a couple of other instructors, but this one I can highly recommend!
Guadeloupe is very difficult to stay on, if you don't have a car. It means you're stuck in one place, since there are no public transportation, and the taxis are expensive. You would have to (like you say), stay close to where you can walk to a beach. All the waves (as far as I know), are on reef. It means you have to paddle far out, and not ride the wave too close to the beach, because it gets shallow.
Many beginners surfed at Helleux beach (in French plage du Helleux), and there you don't need to paddle far out. It's not far from the small village Sainte-Anne. The beach itself isn't very nice, so you would go there to surf mainly. If you search on the web, and since you are a group of people, you can easily rent very affordable bungalows or apartments very close to this beach.
(In regards for the tips of spots on wannasurf.com, I'm surprised to read that Port Louis should be sand. I was there, and it was definately on reef when you paddled out. About going to Martinique, I wanted to go there too to surf. I did end up there, but never surfed, and from what I heard from people on Guadeloupe, the surf was not such a big thing there.)
For me as a single traveler, it would quickly get expensive, and just too much money for me to rent a car. I'm planning on going back again in 2 weeks time, and have been searching for accomodation in walking distance from two beaches with surf, I'm now familiar with
I hope this was somehow helpful. I felt totally "blind" before I went there, only having the web to trust, so I completely understand you.

[danse]

Hey again. I've been in Guadeloupe for about a month now and am starting to have a better understanding of the spots. And to my knowledge, everything Sunsurfbetty writes is pretty correct.

There's one beach break in Guadeloupe. It's called Bananier and you can rent boards on the beach there. But honestly, i'd recommed Le Hellux instead. There are some rocks and urchins there but the water is pretty deep so there's no reason to be nervous. You'll mainly be surfing with beginners and intermediate surfers there.
Another popular spot is Anse Bertand. In some places it's quite shallow but the waves are nice and as a beginner who's just understanding the basics of surfing I feel safe there.

[Gimli11]

Thank you so much guys for replying. Can you also rent a surf on the beach at Le Helleux and other beaches (you mentioned only Bananier)? Because I was searching for a car to rent with a roof rack so I can put the boards on it and travel amongst different spots, but its a problem to find one. Btw what is the price for 1 day?

[Gimli11]

Hello guys, I finaly found time to write here for anyone searching for info on Guadeloupe surfing. We surfed Le Helleux spot most of the time as its the easiest spot on the island as far as Ive been told by local instructors. It has left and right wave and the water is coming back from the beach in the middle so u cant surf there, there u only go if u wanna get back to the lineup. The right wave is close to the rocks so left one is much suitable for beginners. It has a sandy beach but after 10 meters in it turns into reef mostly so u have to be careful but its fine. I also surfed Le Moule once and its definitely not for beginners, I had to use all the info my surfing instructor told me to stay safe there, u have to know when, where and how to get in and out of the water cos its all rocks and u can get hurt pretty easily. But the waves are bigger and stronger here and it was a lot of fun. In general Guadeloupe is not for beginner surfing at all, you have to paddle a LOT to catch waves and get back to the lineup so u get exhausted quite fast and waves are quite powerless so u cant even surf the whitewater. As most of my friends were surfing for the first time its was very difficult for them and even for me too. From the places Ive been to, Bali and Sri Lanka or Lanzarote are much easier to surf. If u needed any more info feel free to contact me at: pavel dot matoska at seznam dot cz

[jaffa1949]

Nice to have you return, Gimli, thanks for the information. Hope you had a grea time!
I'm a little concerned though ,,how do,you surf without a lot of paddling to catch waves , and then paddle back out .
90% + of surfing is paddling. We talked elsewhere about a no paddle take off but you have to,paddle out the back to catch a wave by not paddling.
The majority of advice here is how to get paddle fit and position wise to easily catch more waves;
Catch more waves skills improve.

[Gimli11]

Haha of course u need to paddle a lot everywhere and yes its 90%+ of surfing for sure. But compared to other places Ive been surfing at, this was the most difficult one. In Bali, u can just surf white water as a beginner for the whole 1st day, but in Guadeloupe u cant do that cos its completely powerless and it will not push you. Same as classic waves they dont push so u have to paddle really hard and for a beginner its really not fun