Pointe des Chateaux

Grande-Terre ends in castle-shaped rocks - hence the name - where the Atlantic and Caribbean argue over a limestone point carved into pinnacles, arches and blowhole spray. The short, stony path to the cross on the summit takes fifteen minutes and pays with the archipelago's best free panorama: La Desirade lying on the horizon like a beached liner, Marie-Galante and Les Saintes to the south, the mainland's two butterfly wings behind, and beneath it all the point's tawny cliffs taking the swell in white explosions. Salt ponds, wind-bent sea grape and a cluster of snack shacks complete the classic sunrise-or-sunset stop.

What you actually see

• The summit cross - the fifteen-minute climb to the full panorama.
• The carved point - pinnacles and spray at the meeting of seas.
• La Desirade - the neighbour island floating east.
• The tawny cliffs - Atlantic drama from the rope-lined lookouts.

When to go

Sunrise is the pilgrimage hour and sunset the crowd's choice; December to May keeps the trades brisk and skies clear. Big winter swell doubles the wave theatre.

Honest expectations

It is a viewpoint stop of an hour or two - pair with Saint-Francois or the Salines beach rather than building a day on it. The point is windy always and shadeless entirely; swimming here is emphatically not the plan (the currents mean it). Weekend crowds peak midday.

Nearby

Saint-Francois' marina and golf, Anse a la Gourde's beach and La Desirade ferries.