Marvellous Martinique
Terysa Vanderloo finds the perfect blend of cosmopolitan French culture and laid-back Caribbean island life
The perfect blend of cosmpolitan French culture and laid-back Caribbean island life
Martinique may just be the perfect sailing destination. Warm weather, picturesque anchorages, charming villages and excellent yachting facilities make it very hard to beat, whether you’re a long-term liveaboard or looking to charter. Martinique is a part of France and as such provides an interesting contrast to its neighbours Saint Lucia and Dominica, both only 20 miles away, as a thriving, prosperous island with clean, wellmaintained coastal towns, all with excellent town docks.
We sailed up from Saint Lucia and spent several weeks port-hopping along the western side of the island. Our first stop was Sainte-Anne on the southern coast. This is a sleepy seaside town with a huge anchorage. A line of yellow buoys marked a large no-anchoring zone off the town and beach, but even so there was plenty of room with good holding. Entry formalities are a breeze, all completed in minutes at a nearby internet cafe. There are a few restaurants in town, mostly along the waterfront with wonderful views over the anchorage. Small fresh food and fish markets are also on the waterfront and easy to find. The nearby beach is the perfect place to relax and has another array of dining and drinking options.
The small town of Le Marin is located a couple of miles away, in a vast and well-protected bay called Cul-de-Sac du Marin, the best hurricane hole in Martinique. It is full of shoals, but there is a well-marked channel. This is one of the Caribbean’s largest yachting centres and as such has a vast array of yacht services and technicians – almost anything can be done here. This is also the base of the charter industry in Martinique. Marin Marina is the only large marina on the island, but there is also plenty of room to anchor.
Charming villages
Further north, Grande Anse d’Arlet and Les Anses d’Arlet are two charming beachside villages set on the shores of neighbouring bays which are only half a mile apart. We anchored in both, but also walked between the two. It’s an easy 10-minute stroll along the main road, or a hilly hike along a pretty trail across the headland.
There are free mooring buoys in both bays, although anchoring is also permitted. The holding is variable with sand, weed and some broken coral. We spent many happy days swimming in the crystal-clear water with the local turtle population, enjoying a series of excellent meals in a variety of restaurants, and enjoying the magnificent twin views of the sunset from our cockpit and the beautiful beach with its mountainous backdrop from our foredeck. Both villages were vibrant, clean and had a couple of basic mini-markets for provisioning.
Superb snorkelling
An excellent day anchorage awaited us a couple of miles north, with superb snorkelling in Anse Dufour or Anse Noire. These small bays are separated by a low headland, and it’s simple to dinghy – or even swim – between the two. We saw lots of sponges, tubeworms and anemones, which are populated by a large variety of colourful small fish.
Our next destination was the