Guadeloupe · Guadeloupe · Reef · Drift
Pointe Carangue
Jacks and barracuda stacked in the current
Area photo: Antoine Cupial · CC BY-SA 4.0
A point between La Piscine and Jardin de Corail, reached from either, averaging 10 to 30 m. The current is what makes it: moderate to strong, and the harder it runs the more fish stack up on the point. Big-eyed jacks sweep past in a broom, with barracuda, hawksbill turtles and shoals of smaller fish filling the moving water.
Where it is and how deep
16.1659° N, 61.7886° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The site is picked up from the Swimming Pool or the Coral Garden and averages 10 to 30 m, so the profile itself is straightforward; the current is the variable that decides the dive. It runs moderate to strong on this point, and the stronger it runs the more fish the point holds, which means the plan is built around the water rather than around the depth.
When the current is strong, the local advice is to stop swimming: lie on the bottom and let the broom of big-eyed jacks sweep past you. Barracuda hold in the same water, hawksbill turtles come up through it to take a breath, and shoals of smaller fish fill in behind them. It is a fish dive rather than a coral one, and the moving water is the whole reason to be there.
Marine life and season
- Trevally & jacks
- Barracuda
- Sea turtles
- Reef fish swarms
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime |
Season follows Guadeloupe: Dec–May is the dry season with the calmest water; Aug–Oct brings hurricane risk and the heaviest rain.
Know before you go
- The current runs moderate to strong; when it is strong the working method is to lie on the bottom and watch rather than swim against it.
Questions divers ask
How strong is the current at Pointe Carangue?+
Moderate to strong. When it runs hard, divers lie on the bottom to watch the jacks pass instead of swimming into it, and that is also when the site holds the most fish.
Sources
- Pointe Carangue — Scubago — Scubago
More dive sites in Guadeloupe
The park's main drop-off, 10 m down to 45 m
Cousteau's bust at 12 m in the reserve he asked for
Wreck
A 49 m freighter sunk as a reef, upright at 40 m
Hawksbill turtles and jack schools over protected coral
Reef
Green turtles gather here after dark
Reef
Two platforms, 15 m and 30 m, on one rope
Sand slope
Sand, sponges and coral, with a wall dropping to 40 m
Reef
A circular bottom feature at 20 to 25 m
Similar dives elsewhere
Splendid toadfish, nurse sharks and turtles along the coral
Giant coral pinnacles cut with caves, tunnels and caverns
A multi-level drift through tunnels in the deeper Palancar reef
Where two currents meet at the island's north-west tip