Swimming at Lorient

pintsizepilot

SBH Member
Hello All,

Can anyone tell me if it is safe to swim off Lorient Beach? I have read a few posts that mention an undertow.

Thank you.
 
Toiny has an undertow, and swimming is not recommended there, but I don’t ever recall hearing about an undertow at Lorient. Waters are calmer on the right side of the bay.
 
There was a post about swimming at Flamand and it’s undertow sometime after I joined in 2008...just a general reminder that I thought to bring up at this time.
 
Lorient beach has a few personalities. Some of the beach is rocky and not great for swimming and some has smoother sand. I am also not aware of an undertow, but Lorient does have stronger waves than some other beaches and is a surfing hub.

Do NOT let your kids swim at the Le Toiny Beach club. There was a fatality a few years ago on that beach due to the strong undertow.

Looking forward to meeting you on our Bucket chase in 12 short days.
 
p.s. Amy is correct about Flamands beach. The forum has a number of posts about people who have had broken bones from the force of the waves there. On a calm day, it's a great place for a swim.
 
Lorient swimming is intersting as fishermen clean their catch into the shallows (towards the right side, facing the sea), which attracts many large barracuda into 12-inch deep water -- just where you might like to snorkel. It's a bit unsettling to be in the water with them, but these toothy fish aren't interested in us per se, though maybe in sparkly jewelry. So just swim in that part of Lorient like you'd walk around at night in Detroit: don't wear shiny things, keep your eyes open, exhibit only confident movements, and have an exit plan.

Agree about Flamands and impact; there often is a "beach break". This renders even average-sized waves a bit rough since they tend to slam themselves (and any people they catch) onto hard sand. Gouverneur sometimes has this too, towards the right side. So just pick your path or time your moment to swim out beyond the waves, for out there is abolutely no problem. And return to shore via the same path or timing.
 
Lorient swimming is intersting as fishermen clean their catch into the shallows (towards the right side, facing the sea), which attracts many large barracuda into 12-inch deep water -- just where you might like to snorkel. It's a bit unsettling to be in the water with them, but these toothy fish aren't interested in us per se, though maybe in sparkly jewelry.

https://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/guadeloupe/comment-expliquer-ces-attaques-barracuda-674509.html
 
Both Flamand and Saline beware like Toiny. We are fine with Lorient, Shell, St. Jean and Grand Cul de Sac. Colombier is calm as well.
 
Exactement, Cassidain. The bit about no fear of humans is correct -- they trail after us a few meters away looking vaguely demandingly at us -- just like our dog looks at us at dinner time (= our own dinner time, but he demands his tribute!).

The biggest barracuda we've seen was whilst dangling our legs off on a pier in Corossol at dusk. We watched a woman with her dog dinghy towards the pier from her sailboat to buy provisions, then about 20 minutes later load water and her dog and start motoring her tiny boat back out. And next, crossing perpendicular across her wake was an enormous solitary barracuda - thick and dark like an old telephone pole and at least 3 meters long -- it looked twice the length of her dinghy. It swam near the surface, straight, very slowly and deliberately like any animal with no fear and a single objective. Luckily its objective was not the dog nor the dinghy (nor our dangling feet) but something away towards Maya's. And next, crossing maximum 20 meters behind the fish was an older man in just a speedo and swimming cap (!!), breaststroking across the same piece of water. We watched hoping to not see anything happen. Please God no, at least not while we're sober! Chilling but nothing happened. And probably such near-misses occur all the time without incident.
 
Amy you are correct about Flamand. The only two real scares and minor injuries I have ever experienced from waves occurred there.
 
Exactement, Cassidain. The bit about no fear of humans is correct -- they trail after us a few meters away looking vaguely demandingly at us -- just like our dog looks at us at dinner time (= our own dinner time, but he demands his tribute!).

The biggest barracuda we've seen was whilst dangling our legs off on a pier in Corossol at dusk. We watched a woman with her dog dinghy towards the pier from her sailboat to buy provisions, then about 20 minutes later load water and her dog and start motoring her tiny boat back out. And next, crossing perpendicular across her wake was an enormous solitary barracuda - thick and dark like an old telephone pole and at least 3 meters long -- it looked twice the length of her dinghy. It swam near the surface, straight, very slowly and deliberately like any animal with no fear and a single objective. Luckily its objective was not the dog nor the dinghy (nor our dangling feet) but something away towards Maya's. And next, crossing maximum 20 meters behind the fish was an older man in just a speedo and swimming cap (!!), breaststroking across the same piece of water. We watched hoping to not see anything happen. Please God no, at least not while we're sober! Chilling but nothing happened. And probably such near-misses occur all the time without incident.

Chilling story, Charlie . . . however, I think it’s commonplace, though not normally seen.
 
Simple answer: It is perfectly safe to swim at Lorient. There can be a gentle current there. Nothing to worry about.

More: Yes there are barracuda at Lorient. Never seen one 10 feet long at Lorient or anywhere else in the world. Lorient barracuda might be 3 feet at most. There is / has been a small school of Tarpon to be found in Lorient. I see them most often in the eastern portion of the bay. I see turtles to the east as well. You might be lucky to find a lobster, octopus and squid in the bay as well.
 
One other thing about the right side of Lorient: there is occasional incoming/outgoing outboard-boat activity. Just be aware of it and you should be OK, but it might be difficult for a boat captain to see a swimmer.
 
Pintsizepilot as former Canuck resident ...go Trevor Linden or Tiger Williams, that might tell you might age. I will share with you my experience staying at a beach front villa on Lorient Beach. We stayed at Villa Les Sables on Lorient Beach and the villa represented excellent value and location. The Villa is located at the far end, I guess west end close to the old hotel owned by Jimmy Buffet that burnt down. You could walk to one of the better supermarkets on the island, bakery (it was amazing), couple restaurants within a couple minutes, yet have tons of privacy. There was also another bakery on the road mid beach, I caution that after the hurricane not sure if both bakeries are open. The mid beach bakery, it offered a lot of sandwiches, stuffed baguettes, etc great to take home or the beach for lunch but I felt there pastries lacking, that statement might created a whole separate debate on this site. I’m sure if I’ve got the location of the villa wrong, someone will correct me :). The beach it’s self is nice, there are both wide areas and some narrow but plenty of room for towels to sun bathe. The beach, it was never crowded and if we wanted always a friendly couple to talk too. BUT NO BEACH BARS! Sorry for the shout, closet alcoholic. Just off the beach and I would say about 70% of the length of the beach, the reef is almost touching the shore. We kind of liked it, because it created many pools of calm warm water and thought if we came back with our young children these pools would be perfect for them. The reef itself, had a lot of cobblers not great for walking barefoot. Towards the other end of the beach and close to a life guard shack (there was never a life guard) there was an area with no reef. There is also a small fishing village at the other end. When we visited about a month before the hurricane hit the island, the water was calm and no currents or large waves. I researched before booking and it seems at different times of the year, it gets waves big enough for surfers. When we stayed there were no waves but the beach is shaped like young moon and the water acts different in different areas. My biggest complaint was the wind. It was windy all the time, windy enough to make sitting by the beach at night uncomfortable and hard enough to blow over wine glasses or almost empty plates (not paper). Maybe different times of year the wind is better and a good question to ask a villa rental agent. PM if you wound like.
 
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