SAZILED TIP

Pointe Sazilé, which can only be reached on foot, is a great place for a stroll. Two hiking options are available:

Sentier des plages: 5.8 km round trip. This easy trail follows the peninsula's various beaches, from M'tsamoudou beach to Sazilé beach, where you can enjoy the drop-off with snorkels. The trail takes you past centuries-old baobabs whose shapes are as strange as they are captivating. You'll see many padzas, the result of erosion and deforestation. The beaches we cross are important nesting grounds for sea turtles. Be careful not to disturb them if you're lucky enough to see them out of the water. An ideal family hike or day trip with picnic and swimming.

Sentier des crêtes: from the parking lot at the exit of M'samoudou, the Sentier des crêtes takes you through the jungle, with its many species, and the hillside gardens of the island. It's not uncommon to come across locals carrying heavy baskets of cinnamon apples, bananas and roots on their heads. The trail is relatively flat, apart from the final descent to the beach, and offers superb panoramic views of Dapani Bay, the islets to the east and, of course, the islet of Sable-Blanc, which appears and disappears with the tides.

Ideally, if you have two cars, you can start on the ridge trail and return on the beach trail, avoiding the climb back up after the beach.

Bivouac option. The association Les Naturalistes organizes bivouacs at the end of the peninsula, with observation of egg-laying. The bivouac area is behind the Grande Saziley beach. A biotope protection decree was issued in 2022, prohibiting access to the beach from 6pm to 6am. Naturalists have been granted a dispensation to carry out weekly scientific monitoring with volunteers, as well as observations of egg-laying. Turtles come to lay their eggs at high tide, as soon as night falls. If you happen to witness such a spectacle, you should know that the turtle has just travelled several hundred kilometers to find the beach where it was born, that it is exhausted trying to get back to the beach even though it spends its life in the water, and that it has to dig a hole, sometimes up to 1.50 m deep, to lay its eggs. You'll understand that the poor thing asks to be left in peace, and that it's forbidden to climb on it or photograph it while it's laying its eggs. Don't walk next to her, she can feel the vibrations.