Saint-Pierre

Saint-Pierre is the principal town of the southern half of the island, built around a harbour and one of the few stretches of lagoon on this coast, protected by reef and safe for swimming. The seafront is lined with bars and restaurants and is where Réunionnais go out. The Saturday market along the front is the largest on the island, and the town has a Tamil temple, a mosque, a Chinese temple and an old marine cemetery by the shore.

History

The town hall was completed in 1773, and the port, built from 1854 to 1882, served the trade between Asia and Europe. Most commercial traffic later moved north to Le Port, and the harbour now has 400 places for fishing and pleasure boats; the town is also the headquarters of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Wikipedia, Saint-Pierre, Réunion).

Highlights

• The lagoon beach - reef-protected swimming, rare on the south coast.
• The Saturday market - the largest market on the island along the seafront.
• The seafront strip - the bars and restaurants that make the town's nightlife.
• The marine cemetery - the old seaside graveyard of the town.

When to go

May to November is the drier season. Saturday morning is market day. Summer weekends and French school holidays fill the town.

Good to know

The lagoon is small and crowded at weekends. The nightlife strip is loud late into the night and accommodation nearby suffers. Shark risk has affected swimming rules on this coast outside the lagoon.

Nearby

Entre-Deux is north, and Grande Anse is east.

Key facts