Five Days of Protection on St Barths
Your St Barths Itinerary at a Glance
- Day 1 Day 1: Understand the rules first
- Day 2 Day 2: Coral, hands on
- Day 3 Day 3: Turtles at dawn
- Day 4 Day 4: Walk the coast
- Day 5 Day 5: Lagoon, market and go
What to Do in St Barths
Réserve Naturelle Nationale: the five protected sectors
1,200 hectares, five sectors, and 51 coral species, among the richest assemblages in the French Antilles.
St-Barth Essentiel
The island environmental association.
Coral Restoration St Barth
Nursery at Saline, outplanting at Gros Ilet inside the reserve.
Island Diving St Barth
Dive the reserve properly, with the mooring buoy and no gloves rules that apply here.
ATE turtle nesting beach patrols and Reef Check monitoring
Beach patrols at first light and three fixed reef monitoring stations.
Anse de Petit Cul-de-Sac shore snorkel
North east coast, shore entry, quiet.
Sentier littoral de Toiny (Toiny coast trail)
The south east coast on foot, wild and largely undeveloped.
Morne de Vitet
The high point in the east, for the shape of the whole island.
Domaine Felicite
One of the very few places growing anything at all here.
Transparent kayak and SUP on the Grand Cul-de-Sac lagoon
Paddle the shallow lagoon.
Etang de Saint-Jean
A pond behind the busiest beach on the island, and still full of birds.
Grand Cul-de-Sac lagoon shore snorkel
A last swim over seagrass, which is what the turtles are here for.
Your Day by Day St Barths Itinerary
Day 1: Understand the rules first
This is one of very few Caribbean islands where the marine rules are genuinely enforced, with 66 fishing offences recorded in a single year.
Réserve Naturelle Nationale: the five protected sectors
1,200 hectares, five sectors, and 51 coral species, among the richest assemblages in the French Antilles.
St-Barth Essentiel
The island environmental association. Worth knowing who does the work here.
Day 2: Coral, hands on
The restoration work is real and it is local.
Coral Restoration St Barth
Nursery at Saline, outplanting at Gros Ilet inside the reserve. Local dive clubs also remove around 500 coral predator snails a year.
Island Diving St Barth
Dive the reserve properly, with the mooring buoy and no gloves rules that apply here.
Day 3: Turtles at dawn
The environment agency runs the nesting patrols with around twenty volunteers a year across roughly ten beaches.
ATE turtle nesting beach patrols and Reef Check monitoring
Beach patrols at first light and three fixed reef monitoring stations. This is science you can accompany, not a wildlife show.
Day 4: Walk the coast
The trails are free and they are the best of the island.
Sentier littoral de Toiny (Toiny coast trail)
The south east coast on foot, wild and largely undeveloped.
Domaine Felicite
One of the very few places growing anything at all here. The island has six farms and 1.3 hectares of farmland in total.
Day 5: Lagoon, market and go
If your last day is the first Sunday of the month, you are in luck.
Transparent kayak and SUP on the Grand Cul-de-Sac lagoon
Paddle the shallow lagoon. No engine, no anchor.
Etang de Saint-Jean
A pond behind the busiest beach on the island, and still full of birds.
Grand Cul-de-Sac lagoon shore snorkel
A last swim over seagrass, which is what the turtles are here for.