Grand Anse

Grand Anse and the east coast

The tourism board describes La Digue's east coast as wilder than the west, where most hotels are. Grand Anse, on the south-east coast, is about a 40-minute bike ride from the harbour on a route through forest. The beach has white sand and granite boulders, but the water is deep and the sea is rough in the south-east monsoon, so it draws few visitors apart from bodyboarders. The tourism board's Petite Anse listing (updated September 2024) says it is not safe to swim at Grand Anse.

Walking on from Grand Anse

Petite Anse is a short walk from Grand Anse and is quieter. It also has deep water and no reef, and signs warn that swimming is not safe. Anse Coco can only be reached on foot, from Grand Anse or from Anse Fourmis in the other direction. It is more sheltered and safer for swimming than its neighbours, but the tourism board warns that currents can still be strong. Anse Songe, a small beach next to Grand Anse, is about a 15-minute walk away and is not suitable for swimming.

Further north

Anse Banane, also on the east coast, has a small snack bar and easy access. The tourism board says its water is shallow and not well suited to swimming, and its sand is coarser than on many other La Digue beaches.

What it is

Grand Anse is a wide beach of pale sand on La Digue's south-east coast, bordered by granite boulders. The Seychelles Tourism Board calls it one of the more popular beaches on the far side of the island and describes the approach as a path through forest. The outline mapped on OpenStreetMap measures about 460 m end to end in a straight line, and SeyVillas gives the sand as 450 m by 20 m.

Grand Anse or Grande Anse

Both spellings are in use. The Tourism Board lists the beach as "Grand Anse, La Digue" and the Tourism Department's safety guide writes "Grand Anse", while OpenStreetMap names the same sand "Grande Anse". Mahé and Praslin have a Grand Anse each as well, so a search returns beaches on three islands.

Getting there

La Digue has no bus: the Seychelles Public Transport Corporation describes its network as over 106 routes on Mahé and Praslin (checked 20 September 2026). The Tourism Board puts Grand Anse at a 40-minute bike ride from the harbour. SeyVillas describes the route as south from La Passe with the sea on your right, a left fork about 40 m past the police station, 1 km on to a second fork, left again, then a climb through the Vallée de la Retraite. Measured along roads mapped on OpenStreetMap, the ferry jetty at La Passe to Grand Anse is about 4.2 km; in a straight line it is 3.4 km.

What is there

Loutier Coco, a Creole restaurant, sits at the top of the beach. Its Tourism Board listing says it serves à la carte every day, with buffets for groups that book, and the only opening hours it records are Sunday 10.00 to 17.30 (listing updated 30 September 2025, read 20 September 2026), so ring +248 2514762 before counting on a meal; the listing records cash and Visa. SeyVillas lists toilets and a small car park that sees little use, given how few vehicles there are on the island, and says the lack of shade makes the beach hard going for children.

Why swimming here is dangerous

There is no offshore reef, so the beach takes the open ocean. The Tourism Department's Beach and Sea Safety Guide names Grand Anse as one of four La Digue beaches carrying an official warning sign, with Petite Anse, Anse Cocos and Anse Gaulette, and records lifeguards at Beau Vallon on Mahé and at Anse Lazio and Côte d'Or on Praslin only, none at any other beach (checked 20 September 2026). SeyVillas records the sign as reading "dangerous currents" and says the currents are strong enough to carry a swimmer out to sea; the OpenStreetMap record carries a contributor's note of "extremely dangerous rip tide currents, swim to either side when caught in current", which is the guide's advice as well: swim across a current, not against it. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office says the east coast is unsafe during the south-east winds season, around May to September (checked 20 September 2026). To ask whether a beach is safe to swim from on the day, the guide gives 2529976, the Seychelles Life Guard Services.

Surf, not snorkelling

The same guide lists Grand Anse among the La Digue places where surfing, bodyboarding and kitesurfing are practised, and records the country's one licensed surf school at Baie Lazare on Mahé. Its La Digue snorkelling sites are Anse Sévère and Anse Marron; Grand Anse is not among them.

The trail north

The path to Petite Anse and Anse Cocos leaves the north-east end of the beach, where OpenStreetMap maps a guidepost reading "Towards Petite Anse". SeyVillas puts Petite Anse at about 15 minutes over a small hill, and the path mapped on OpenStreetMap from Grand Anse to Anse Cocos measures about 1.2 km. SeyVillas' hiking guide gives 2.25 km from Grand Anse to Anse Caïman, about two hours there and back, 60 m of climbing, rated easy and suitable from about six years old, and advises sturdy shoes, two litres of water each and a start before 9am, because about half the route has no shade. Bikes stay at Grand Anse.