Saint-Leu

Saint-Leu is a small town in the west coast of Réunion and has a bathing resort thanks to its pebble beach.

Understand
Agriculture is economically important in the village, with a focus on the production of coffee, sugar cane and geranium. Coastal and deep-sea fishing is also important. Sea turtle breeding in Pointe-des-Châteaux is now only for scientific and tourist purposes. Also important in the past was the production of lime from coral (the last lime kiln on the island was in Saint-Leu) and the extraction of sea salt (the last plant closed in 1970).

By car
Saint-Leu is on the RN 1 along the west coast, and the "Route des Tamarins" motorway, opened in June 2009, runs from Saint-Paul to L'Étang-Salé directly past the site with a junction.

By bus
Saint Leu is on bus lines A & A1 (express line on the RN1 along the west coast) and B from Saint-Denis - Saint-Paul - Saint-Gilles-Les-Bains - Saint-Leu - Saint-Louis - Saint-Pierre, total travel time for the route about an hour and a half at €4.20 (maximum fare). The yellow coloured CAR JAUNE operates the bus lines.

From the bus station in Saint-Denis there is a connection to lines F and G to the east of the island, from the bus station in Saint-Pierre line H starts (island crossing to the east of the island to Saint-Benoit) and line I to Saint -Philippe in the south of the island.

The buses run early on weekdays from around 04:30 (much later on Sundays and public holidays) until around 6 p.m. in the evening, roughly every hour.

Do

 * La Plage de Saint Leu is a pebble beach with lagoon. The beach is the island's most important surfing spot, and Saint-Leu's "left wave" is part of the world surfing championship.

Buy
The main street is also the main shopping street with a few shops for basic necessities (including groceries).