This is the Black Atlantic region. It encompasses a zone between Europe, Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean. Here imagined as a geographical region, the Black Atlantic refers to a concept coined by Paul Gilroy. Following Gilroy, the Black Atlantic has to be thought from a transnational and intercultural perspective due to its colonial legacy and the transatlantic slave trade. While this history is omnipresent in our chosen texts, it was surprising to find that the expected themes of migration and death feature only rarely. Instead, we find a continuity of leisure as the main theme, with swimming as the most prominent activity. In line with the other regions, contemplativeness is a prevalent mood on the literary beaches of the Black Atlantic, but it is the juxtaposition of melancholy and playfulness as well as happiness which stands out most.