Baie Lazare is a wide bay in the southwest of Mahé and also the name of the village above it. Both are named after Lazare Picault, who sailed here from Mauritius in 1742 on a French mission, anchored and first called the island Île d'Abondance, Island of Abundance. Nearly thirty years later settlement began, and his name stuck to this bay.
What you see here
The beach is long, flat and often almost empty. For swimming it is not the best on the island: when there is wind, there is surf here, and seaweed drifts in. But it is one of the few where you can really walk alone in the late afternoon.
The church
Up on the slope stands the church of Baie Lazare, white, simple, with a view over the entire bay. From the square in front of it, the picture emerges that later looks like the postcard you were looking for.
Why we turn off here
Because behind Baie Lazare the road begins that leads to the small bays: Anse Soleil and Petite Anse are a few minutes away, via a track that not every rental car likes. On our beach tour this is one of the reasons why a driver who knows the route is worth it.
Food and a break
There are small shops in the village and a few restaurants, and hotels with terraces by the water line the bay. For a lunch break between south and west this is a good place.
Nearby
Anse Takamaka is to the southeast, Anse à la Mouche to the north, and between them the quiet little bays that you need to know the turning for.
