Bains Jaunes Guadeloupe

Bains Jaunes Guadeloupe steams on the forested slopes of La Soufrière, the highest peak in the Lesser Antilles at 1,467 meters and one of the Caribbean's most actively monitored volcanoes — an andesitic stratovolcano whose phreatic eruptions, sulfurous gases, and periodic earthquake swarms have required evacuations of the surrounding communities on multiple occasions in recent decades. The springs' distinctive yellow coloring — the bains jaunes of their name — comes from the sulfurous minerals deposited by the volcanic gases escaping through the hydrothermal vents that feed the pools, creating a landscape of vivid geological chemistry in the midst of the Guadeloupe National Park's lush rainforest. Bathing in these volcanically heated waters within a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve on the slopes of an active volcano represents one of the most genuinely elemental thermal experiences in the entire Caribbean archipelago.