Sunrise on Anse Source d'Argent, the most photographed beach on earth

Anse Source d'Argent, on the little island of La Digue, is the beach you have already seen a hundred times without knowing its name: pink granite boulders the size of houses, shallow turquoise water, palms leaning over white sand. It is regularly called the most photographed beach on earth. By day it is also one of the busiest.

So we set an alarm for half past five and rode bikes down through the dark to the estate gate. It officially opens at seven, but the woman there waved us in early on the promise we would buy tickets on the way out. We pedalled the last stretch as the island was waking up, birds going off in the trees loud enough to fill the whole morning.

We reached the sand before the sun did. There was one other couple, and four empty coves, and then the light came up and ran along the boulders, and the granite turned from grey to gold to pink while we just stood there. We had the most photographed beach on earth almost entirely to ourselves.

The first day-trippers did not arrive until nine. By then we had watched the whole thing happen, eaten breakfast, and come back for more. We did it again the next morning, because once was clearly not going to be enough.

If you only do one thing on La Digue, do this, and do it at dawn. The beach you came to photograph is worth far more when there is no one in the photograph but you.