Palmar Beach

Palmar is what Belle Mare was 20 years ago: a beautiful stretch of east coast beach that most visitors pass on their way to the more famous destination to the north, which means it retains a serenity that is increasingly hard to find on the island's most celebrated coast. The beach is about one kilometre long, slightly narrower than Belle Mare, with more natural vegetation behind it — low coastal scrub and occasional palm trees — that provides irregular shade without the need for any artificial structures.

The lagoon at Palmar shares the extraordinary qualities of the entire east coast reef system: calm, warm, remarkably clear, and protected from the open ocean by the distant offshore reef that makes east coast swimming the most predictably pleasant on the island. The coral formations at the southern end of Palmar beach, accessible with a 10-minute swim or a short paddle on a hired kayak, are among the best shallow reef snorkelling sites on the east coast — richer and less disturbed than the comparable sections at Belle Mare, precisely because fewer people reach them. Eagle rays are occasionally spotted here in the early morning, gliding along the sand between the coral heads.

Palmar has very limited commercial infrastructure: a single beach shack selling cold drinks and fresh fish at lunchtime, and a small parking area at the beach access point. This scarcity is either a frustration or a feature, depending on what you're looking for. For those who want a full-service beach experience, Belle Mare or one of the resort beaches is the appropriate choice. For those who want the same quality of water and sand with a fraction of the foot traffic, Palmar is the east coast secret that regulars share only reluctantly.