Trou d'Eau Beach, Reunion

Trou d'Eau is the beach the snorkellers and the families of the west coast quietly love, the shallowest, gentlest end of the great La Saline lagoon. Where L'Hermitage trades on its name and Boucan Canot on its style, Trou d'Eau trades on its water, a barely waist deep band of glass clear reef lagoon that runs warm and calm along a modest strip of white sand under the filao pines. On a still morning, with the light flat and the water like a held breath over the coral, it is one of the most restful and rewarding stretches of swimming water on the island, even if the beach itself is simple.

The honest read is that you come to Trou d'Eau for the lagoon, not for the trimmings. This is a basic local beach, with a car park, some shade and a few snack spots rather than any polish, and at weekends it fills with island families who know exactly how good the water is, so it can be busy and lively. But what it offers is genuinely special, some of the shallowest, calmest and clearest reef lagoon on the coast, rarely more than two metres deep, with healthy coral and dozens of reef fish close enough to watch from the surface. For easy, safe, fish filled snorkelling it rivals anywhere on the island.

So our verdict is to treat Trou d'Eau as the west coast's finest easy snorkel and family swim, and to set your expectations to the water rather than the sand. Come on a still dry season weekday morning, ideally near low tide, bring your own mask, shade and lunch, and float the shallow lagoon over the coral while keeping inside the reef and the marked areas. Pair it with the livelier L'Hermitage or the shaded Cap Homard along the same lagoon for variety, and read Trou d'Eau for exactly what it is, a modest beach over an exceptional piece of protected, swimmable water.