Plage de Saint-Félix: sargassum conditions today
Clear
Clean
Plage de Saint-Félix stretches along the south coast of Le Gosier, between the town and the cove of Petit-Havre, inside the bays of Pointe-à-Pitre. The shore is low and the bottom shelves gently, so even a thin line of weed along the waterline is easy to spot from the sand.
This page follows sargassum at Saint-Félix as it stands today: the rating from 0 to 5, a short read on what has been observed, and a map of the beaches around it. Numbers are recalculated every morning, before the day gets going, so a wasted drive is easy to avoid.
Plage de Saint-Félix on the sargassum map
What to know about this beach
Saint-Félix looks south, on the Caribbean flank of Grande-Terre. This side sits downwind of the trades that drive sargassum rafts across from the Atlantic, so the beach is spared the head-on arrivals that hit the island's eastern shores. What does reach it has usually rounded the south-eastern tip first, then tracked west along the coast.
Two local features shape the rest. The Gosier shoreline is broken into short beaches separated by rocky points, and that pattern creates pockets where floating weed gathers when a current sets into them, while an open stretch a few hundred metres away stays clear. Shallow water then slows the clear-out once a mat is grounded, since there is little energy to pull it back offshore. Saint-Félix and its closest neighbour can therefore post different ratings on the same morning.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Saint-Félix get less sargassum than the east coast beaches?
Because it opens south on the Caribbean face of Le Gosier, sheltered from the trade wind flow that drives rafts onto the Atlantic shores. Anything that arrives has first rounded the south-eastern tip of Grande-Terre.
How can I check the beach before I set off?
Look at the FanGass map on the morning of your trip. Saint-Félix carries a 0 to 5 rating recalculated every morning, which you can read against the neighbouring beaches at a glance.
Does the shallow water make a difference?
It does. On a gently shelving bottom, a stranded mat stays pinned near the shoreline and takes longer to leave than it would at the foot of a beach worked by open swell.
Can I find a clear beach nearby on the same day?
Often, yes. The Gosier coast alternates points and small bays over a few kilometres, and neighbouring beaches regularly differ, so the area map is the quickest way to spot one before moving.