Bassin La Paix and Bassin La Mer

The Rivière des Roches drops through a series of basalt pools inland from Bras-Panon. Bassin La Paix is the accessible one, a wide pool below a waterfall reached by a stepped path of a few minutes from the road, with a nineteenth-century bridge above it. Bassin La Mer is further upstream, reached by a rougher walk of an hour or so along the riverbed, and is deeper, quieter and enclosed by higher rock.

What you actually see

• Bassin La Paix - a wide pool below a fall, reached in a few minutes from the road.
• Bassin La Mer - the upstream pool reached by a rough riverbed walk.
• The old bridge - the nineteenth-century crossing above Bassin La Paix.
• The basalt walls - the rock enclosing the pools.

When to go

May to November is the drier season and the safest for the riverbed walk. Flash flooding after rain is a serious danger. Weekends bring crowds to Bassin La Paix.

Honest expectations

Flash floods on this river have killed people; the walk to Bassin La Mer should never be attempted when rain is forecast in the highlands. Swimming is at visitors' own risk with no supervision. Bassin La Paix is crowded and littered at weekends.

Nearby

Bras-Panon is on the coast, and Saint-Benoit is south.