Shell Beach

Shell Beach earns its name at first glance. Just around the headland from Gustavia, the little capital of St Barths, the cove called Anse de Grand Galet is not a strip of soft sand but a pale drift of tiny seashells, millions of them, piled and rolling at the water's edge. The effect is unusual and quietly lovely, a beach that crunches and glints underfoot and catches the light in a way that plain sand never does. The water in front of it sits calm and clear inside the sheltering arms of the cove, which makes this one of the more dependable places to actually swim on an island where some of the prettier beaches take on the open Atlantic.

The honest read is that Shell Beach trades soft sand for character and convenience, and for most people that is a good trade. The shells are gorgeous but coarse, so bare feet complain and water shoes are the small fix that changes the day. What you get in return is a swimmable, snorkelable cove you can reach on foot from town, no rental car and no long drive to the wilder beaches at Saline or Gouverneur. It is also busier and more scene led than those quiet strands, especially at lunch, so if you want solitude this is not it. Come instead for ease, for the walk from the harbour, and for a beach day that folds neatly into a day in Gustavia.

For a food and culture wanderer, Shell Beach is really a lunch with a swim attached, and the anchor is Shellona, the Greek and Mediterranean beach club that has overlooked the cove since 2017. Take a sunbed, order the mezze and the catch, and let the afternoon stretch out to the west facing sunset that this cove is loved for. Bracket it with Gustavia itself, a genuinely interesting little town with a Swedish past, named for King Gustav III of Sweden, who once held the island, with a walkable harbour of yachts, small shops and cafes just up the hill. My Shell Beach day is a morning stroll around the harbour, a long Shellona lunch, a shell footed swim, and a drink as the sun goes down.