Backpacking In Reunion Island🇷🇪: Day Trip To Saint Gilles Les Bains

“Alone on the beach🇷🇪, on my own, out of reach, but you just passed me by” – Noel Gallagher
(quoted by Jonny Blair when referring to someone who let me down).

When I went backpacking (or whackpacking) in Reunion Island, I was here mostly to chill out, get a glimpse of the lifestyle, backpack the capital city, Saint Denis, and do a pub crawl. Of course, I’d throw a few other things in, but that was the gist of it. Nothing hardcore – no hiking, no volcanoes and no five star luxury resorts. This time.

I based myself in the Kaz Hotel in Saint Denis and started by backpacking the sights of the capital city Saint Denis hardcore. When I saw the main bus station in Saint Denis, I realised this island is still pretty small. This was part of a tour where I backpack The European Union in Africa!

I considered a hop on hop off personally tailored circle of the island, but then gave it a miss, mostly because it would have meant I’d actually spend most of my days on buses. I honed in on Saint Gilles Les Bains which is a popular beach and seaside town on the west coast. For geographical knowledge, Saint Denis is the capital and is in the north of the country along with the international airport at nearby Sainte Marie.

Getting To Saint Gilles Les Bains

I speak a bit of French, but this was easy anyway. Everything at the main bus station is clear. I got a ticket for the next bus to Saint Gilles Les Bains which was 5 Euros. The bus company was called Car Jaune (Yellow Car). I was a bit surprised by the price as my other bus trips in Reunion, including to the airport and back were a mere 2 Euros! I also heard about a 3 hour ticket for 3 Euros with unlimited use, but that wouldn’t have worked for me as I was spending longer than 3 hours in Saint Gilles and was basically on a return trip.

So I bought a single ticket in advance from the ticket office counter just in case I didn’t make use of the return – if you read on – this was a great decision! I was on the T Bus which runs about once an hour. The bus was on time and I left Saint Denis behind.

The bus journey was gorgeous and cruised along the famous Indian Ocean highway. It’s a custom built road which overhangs the ocean. There are also tunnels on the way.

It took about an hour and here I was out in Saint Gilles Les Bains. Don’t forget to press the button to alight at the next stop on the bus. The driver only stops if that bus stop has people waiting or someone on the bus wants off. This makes sense to me as th population of the island is less than 1 million.

Backpacking Downtown Saint Gilles Les Bains

The town centre is basically one main street with all relevant amenities on and off it. I spent about 30 minutes here only, before obviously heading to the seafront promenade and beach. I was here on a Sunday and most of the shops and restaurants on the main street were obviously closed. There are a few ATMs if you need cash.

Beachpacking in Saint Gilles Les Bains

I was here to relax so that’s what I did. I spent my time on the main beach and toured the seafront and trendy bar areas.

You might have expected me to do an epic pub crawl here but I just didn’t. I only had two beers and some chips in my time here. The seafront promenade has over 10 Bars including Esplanade, La Plage Bar, Kazbar, Le Carre Des Roches, Leon and Le Bololos Beach Bar (where I drank the brace of beers).

When I left Saint Denis that morning it was sunny and scorching. I thought it was the norm here.

But on arrival at Saint Gilles Les Bains, there was a tropical thunderstorm and heavy rain. I then realised I had experienced the exact same weather in The Seychelles, Madagascar and Mauritius, all nearby Indian Ocean islands.

There are some surf and diving shops here as well as the souvenir shop and the bars and restaurants and hotels. I could have spent a night here too but my time on Reunion Island was limited (my choice rather than forced by flights) to 3 days.

In the capital city Saint Denis there is no real sandy beach, only pebbled beaches and they are not safe to swim in due to shark attacks. No joke of a lie. This was one of my triggers for backpacking to Saint Gilles Les Bains.

Playa Des Roches Noires beach at Saint Gilles Les Bains

I planted myself on the main beach near the pier, the beach is known as Playa Des Roches Noires. There were not many people on the beach despite the rain clearing mid afternoon. There were two attractive girls to my left and a family to my right and a few swimmers in the waters.

First up – swim here as the Indian Ocean is so clean and gorgeous. Second up – be aware of the borderline and don’t go past it. Sharks do exist here. In fact, sharks surround Reunion Island and it’s often cited as one of the most dangerous places in the world for sharks!

After the swim and pre sunset I headed to the Le Bololos Beach Bar which is like a temporary shack hut bar by Playa Des Roches Noires beach at Saint Gilles Les Bains.

As I ordered my Bourbon beer, a local lad started to talk to me. I was wearing my ocean blue AFC Bournemouth away shirt that day and a green beret hat which I had picked up in Paris in France. This local lad hazarded a guess that I was from Ireland! How did he guess that?! The island of Ireland of course though I quickly corrected him with an “Irlande Du Nord, Northern Ireland mate”. Maybe he had seen my flag (fleg)?

He then suggested I speak to the group of lads occupying a table at the front. I had met only French, Mayotte and Reunion people here and was surprised to learn these were 5 lads from the UK. That day, about an hour later, AFC Bournemouth were due to play Leeds United at home in the English Premier League. By complete random coincidence two of these lads were Leeds United fans! Nuts. What are the chances! If you know your football history then you’ll know that Bournemouth and Leeds don’t exactly like each other. It dates back to the May bank holiday weekend in 1990 when Leeds United came to AFC Bournemouth knowing a win would send them.up.from Division Two to Division One. At the same time, a defeat for AFC Bournemouth would send us down to Division Three. Leeds United brought over 10,000 fans on that weekend to Bournemouth and ran riot, smashing up cars and shops, destroying the town and many of the Leeds fans were arrested. It was a dark time for football hooliganism. Ironically, here in 2023, this was also the May bank holiday weekend!! 33 years later and here I was on the most popular beach on Reunion with a brace of Leeds fans.😂

“We all hate Leeds” – AFC Bournemouth fans.

I had a couple of beers chatting away to the lads here. The beers are called Bourbon, nicknamed “Dodo” (after the extinct bird) and have no bourbon in them. It’s just a name. As well as the two Leeds fans, was a Liverpool fan and two Welsh lads – one each of a Cardiff City bluebird and a Jack army Swan. I watched the sunset here on the beach and these lads were all working in Reunion Island on a job contract. They were all based in Saint Denis and 2 of them were driving.

I was going to get the last bus back to Saint Denis (at 18:29) but they offered me a lift! While all that was happening, news filtered in that Bournemouth were 2-0 up against Leeds at half time! I was in the car with the two Leeds fans who actually work in Wakefield when they are in the UK. I reminisced of my mate Bob (Paul Jackson) from Wakefield who is a Barnsley fan and we used to hang out together when I was 20-22. I made it to Bob’s 30th birthday but missed his wedding and met him randomly one day for 10 seconds as he was running for his train at Great Victoria Street in Belfast. Here are a few more photos from Saint Gilles Les Bains…it’s a pretty town, if not mind-blowing.

The drive back to Saint Denis took around 45 minutes and I was glad I hadn’t wasted money on a return ticket as I now had a free lift back. The Leeds lads dropped me off at my hotel. I then learnt that Bournemouth had thrashed Leeds 4-1, were on 39 points and virtually safe!

That evening I met up with the lads again in the city’s “L Bar Zone” at Cafe Edouard. I hope to cover the bars and pub crawl soon as I actually visited about 15 bars and cafes during my three days backpacking Reunion Island. It was another wacaday trip on this ball we are on.

Here are some videos from my time backpacking in Saint-Gilles-Les-Bains:

Bus journey there –