Awala-Yalimapo is a Kali'na Amerindian village on the sandy point where the Maroni meets the Atlantic, and the beach in front of it, Les Hattes, is one of the most important leatherback nesting sites in the world. Between roughly March and July the turtles come ashore at night — leatherbacks, the largest of all sea turtles, along with green and olive ridley — and from July the hatchlings run for the sea.
The beach and the estuary behind it are protected as the Réserve Naturelle de l'Amana, and visits at night are guided, with rules about torches and distance. It is also a birdwatching coast: scarlet ibis and flamingos feed on the mudflats at the river mouth.
The village itself is quiet, built under mango trees, and its community runs much of the tourism. It is about forty kilometres from Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, by way of Mana, the nearest town of any size.