Anse Park is with a length of 120 steps the shortest and the only beach on
the southeast side on the island. At first sight, the scenery surrounding Anse
Park resembles the coastal area of a windswept British isle where one might
expect to find a herd of sheep grazing the hillside.
Many coral stones and black granite stones may make swimming difficult at low
tide. However, at high tide Anse Park is an excellent snorkelling ground with
plenty of marine life to be discovered. On land, violet blooming Beach Morning
Glories fight their way through the coarse-grained sand towards the water. An
impressive Fish Poison Tree (Barringtonia asiatica) with leaves up to 40 cm
long and large white feathery flowers can be found along the coast. Anse Park
is the only beach with fresh water nearby. The first inhabitants of the island
settled here and built a stone wall around the spring to protect their source
of water. Nowadays the second largest group in the Seychelles of about 180
wild breeding tortoises has made these backwaters their home. The native
Killifish has been re-introduced to the area by the islands environment manager
Steve Hill in an effort to conserve this originally endemic Seychelles specie.