Manapany-les-Bains

Manapany-les-Bains is a small village on the southern coast where a natural pool in the basalt has been enclosed to give protected swimming, with the open ocean breaking on the rocks just beyond it. The coconut palms and screwpines above the shore are the habitat of the Manapany day gecko, a bright green endemic reduced to a very small range along this coast and now critically endangered, with a conservation programme working in the village.

What you actually see

• The natural sea pool - a basalt basin enclosed for protected swimming.
• The Manapany gecko - a bright green endemic confined to this stretch of coast.
• The screwpine and palms - the coastal vegetation the gecko depends on.
• The rock shore - the black basalt coast with the ocean breaking beyond the pool.

When to go

May to November is the drier season. Weekends fill the pool. Cyclone swell closes the pool and the coast road at times.

Honest expectations

Swimming outside the pool is dangerous with heavy swell on rock. The gecko is small, shy and rarely seen despite being the village's emblem. Parking is very limited.

Nearby

Grande Anse is west, and Saint-Joseph is beyond it.