Visit the Cirque de Salazie

Walk, swim, trout fishing, canyoning, accommodation … here is our guide for a great weekend in the Cirque de Salazie.

A great weekend at Salazie

Salazie, one of the 3 cirques of Reunion Island

In La Reunion, there are 3 wonderful cirques to discover: Cilaos, Mafate and Salazie. Each of them is unique and deserves attention. You want to discover Salazie, the cirque at the north of the island? To take a breath of fresh air and lush greenery, we share with you, in our travel blog, our good ideas for a colorful weekend in the “chouchou” city (hummm, we love the gratin of chouchou, it’s a vegetable).

Relax, visit, be active… all what we love!

1- Cirque de Salazie, where to sleep?

Our bungalow, view on the mountain

To relax, we stopped at Jardin d’Héva, a 2-stars hotel perched above the village of Hell-Bourg. Well located (10/15 minutes walk from the village), there are several small wooden bungalows in a large and beautiful flower garden.

We had a great time and also ate well and local at the hotel restaurant. Some small finishes to review in our bungalow, but nothing bad enough to spoil our stay there. We also tested the SPA, sauna and jacuzzi, nice but it was under construction at his time.

An hostel in the heart of Hell-Bourg

Here is a group solution more economical to sleep in the cirque de Salazie.
Last year, we privatized  the “Piton d’Anchaing” cottage in the heart of Hell-Bourg for a group of 14 people. Less than 20 € / pers. The cottage has many rooms, a kitchen and a terrace where “chouchous” grow in lianas.

2- Our activities at Salazie

Looking for thrills? Canyoning of Trou Blanc in Salazie

After our 1st canyoning at Langevin, we decided to test a new one, this time at Salazie. The activity lasted all morning. Meeting point at 7:30am at the old Hell-Boug pharmacy, then we drive to the start of the canyoning. After a good briefing, equipment checking and a little walk of 40 minutes, we start the descent. We are a great group of 10 people with 2 monitors.

The spot is beautiful, we go downhill abseiling in the rocks, jumps up to 8 meters, natural slides in the canyon and small zipline. Just fun and thrills!

Personally, we preferred this one to Petit Galet in Langevin. Which is very good to start, but much less impressive. After a few hours of fun and thrills, we return to cars for a fresh beer (or a juice) and say goodbye to our nice group.

We went there with Adrénal’île, both pro and cool, we recommend.

For fun, go trout fishing

Yes, for relax and fun, we went to try trout fishing. The entrance is free, they gave us 2 fishing rods (big bamboo and a line) and some corn and then, let’s start fishing. Trouts seem to adore this bait, in less than 1 hour we fished at least a dozen fish. And, as it was raining, we were the only people to come … great!

Keep in mind that you pay by kilo, so try not to empty the basins!

3- Visit Cirque de Salazie and around…

• Visit the Hell-Bourg village, its beautiful creoles houses, its shops and local restaurants.

• Try the small Trou Blanc hike that goes in 20 minutes (passing trough a footbridge) to a nice spot where you can picnic and have a swim.
• A few miles before Hell-Bourg, have a stop at Mare à poule d’eau, you can also picnic there. We will certainly see some fishermen…and cats!

• Stop on the road to admire the famous « Voile de la Mariée »… a huge waterfall on the road to the Cirque de Salazie. Its name comes from a love story with a gruesome fate. Here is a quick summary. “A gardener, Henrio, fell in love with the most beautiful girl in Cirque de Salazie, Amanda, the daughter of his employer. She fell in love in return, but her father, adoring his daughter, opposed their union. Crazy in love, they decided to marry without his consent. But he realized it, found them in the church and yelled his displeasure. The couple fled and the bride slipped by the cliff. In her fall, she snagged her wedding veil on the wall of the mountain and when the old man realized what had happened, he cried his eyes out… creating the Veil of the Bride waterfall.“

• ….and still so many things to do and see around!

We hope hat this article will make you want to visit this beautiful Cirque de Salazie, in the north-east of La Reunion.

Do not hesitate to comment and tell us what you love in Salazie: favorite restaurants, activities or accomodations in the cirque de Salazie!