Anse Noire Slope

Anse Noire is a small black-sand cove on Martinique's southwestern coast where a gentle volcanic slope descends from 5 to 35 metres before dropping away to deeper water. The black sand habitat supports a macro fauna community rarely found on nearby coral reefs: flying gurnards, batfish, seahorses, and juvenile frogfish use the sand to hunt and hide, while juvenile spotted drums perform their characteristic spinning dance in the crevices of scattered rock outcrops. The sheltered bay allows for calm, slow dives with exceptional marine life density per square metre, and the lightly dived conditions mean species are unusually relaxed around divers. Night dives produce octopus, squid, and hunting lionfish.