The north tip
Anse Patates
Beach · The north tip
Anse Patates in short.
A small beach at the very top of La Digue with granite on three sides of it, ten minutes' ride from the jetty. It is best at high tide and mostly rock at low.
Which months
North-facing, so the calm months are May to September. The tide matters more here than the month.
Small, and worth stopping for
Anse Patates is not a beach to spend a day on. It is perhaps eighty metres of sand wedged between granite at the northern tip of the island, and it is one of the prettiest small things in Seychelles, particularly in the late afternoon when the light is behind the rocks.
At high tide there is water over the sand and the pools between the boulders are swimmable. At low tide it is largely rock and shallow shelf, and the swimming is at Anse Sévère instead.
Riding the north road
The road round the north of the island from La Passe passes Anse Sévère, Anse Patates and on down the east coast towards Anse Fourmis, and the whole ride is flat and takes about twenty minutes end to end. It is the single best hour on a bicycle anywhere in the country.
There is a small hotel above the beach and nothing else.
Reading the tide
Anse Patates is the beach on La Digue where the tide decides everything, and the difference between the two states of it is not subtle. At high water the sand is covered, the pools between the boulders fill, and it is a swimming beach for an hour or two either side. At low water the sand comes back and the granite shelf in front of it is exposed, and it becomes a beach to walk on and photograph.
Neither state is the wrong one. It is worth knowing which you are riding out to, and tide tables for La Digue are posted at the jetty and in most guest houses.
How you arrive
About ten minutes by bicycle from the La Digue jetty, north along the coast road past Anse Sévère.
The sheet.
Checked 2 September 2026.
- Island
- La Digue, north tip
- Size
- small, granite on three sides
- Best at
- high tide. At low tide it is mostly rock
- From the jetty
- about ten minutes by bicycle
What people ask.
When is Anse Patates calm?
North-facing, so the calm months are May to September. The tide matters more here than the month.
How do you get to Anse Patates?
About ten minutes by bicycle from the La Digue jetty, north along the coast road past Anse Sévère.
Is there anything on the beach?
Nothing built. Take what you need with you.
What we do arrange.
The sand is not ours. The car that gets you to it, the day out that takes in three more of them and the driver who meets the flight all are.
Car hire, from €45 a day
Ten cars, no deposit, handed over at the airport, the jetty or your hotel.
Days out and excursions
Island tours, boat days, snorkelling and walks, with real ratings and free cancellation to twenty-four hours.
Airport transfers
A driver who watches your flight number and waits with your name on a board.
The terminal photograph above: Remi Jouan, CC BY-SA 3.0
Planning a week around the right coast?
Send the dates. Meera will tell you which side of which island is calm in your month, and put the car and the days out around it.