The best provisioning in the Caribbean and a properly French island, with rum distilleries, black sand and a volcano at the north end. Stay on Martinique’s lee coast and it is an easy week. Leave it and you cross a real ocean channel, not a sheltered sound.
Who a Martinique charter suits
Crews who care about food and do not need a beach bar at every stop. A Martinique-only week suits a confident BVI graduate. Add St. Lucia or a one-way to the Grenadines and you want real offshore miles behind you.
Where you start
Everything runs from Le Marin in the south, one of the biggest yacht harbours in the Caribbean, with hundreds of charter boats, mostly from French and European companies. Aimé Césaire airport (FDF) is about 45 minutes away by taxi. Supermarkets deliver to the dock and the choice is as good as in France. Bring euros, and a little French goes a long way.
The 7 night route on a map
Gold pins are the nights, numbered in order. Light blue pins are day stops on the way. The longer passages are marked in nautical miles.
- Charter base: Le Marin
- Sainte-Anne
- Grande Anse d’Arlet
- With more time: Petite Anse d’Arlet
- Day stop: Anse Noire
- With more time: Anse Mitan
- With more time: Fort-de-France
- With more time: Saint-Pierre
- Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
- Marigot Bay, St. Lucia
- Soufriere and the Pitons
Not for navigational purposes. Positions are approximate and the route line is a sketch that keeps off the land. It ignores depth, reefs and shoals.
- Charter base
- Night stop, numbered in order
- Day stop
- With more time
- Typical route
7 nights from Le Marin: day by day
The classic week from Le Marin crosses to St. Lucia and back. If your crew does not want two open-water channel crossings, stay on Martinique instead: Sainte-Anne, the Anses d’Arlet, Anse Mitan, Fort-de-France and Saint-Pierre fill a week without leaving France.
Le Marin to Sainte-Anne
Out of the marina and round the corner, two miles. A huge sand anchorage off a proper French village. Swim, settle in and get an early night.
Sainte-Anne to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
The St. Lucia Channel: about 22 miles of open ocean with the trades on the beam. Reef before you leave the lee of the island. Clear in at Rodney Bay marina.
Rodney Bay, St. Lucia to Marigot Bay, St. Lucia
An easy ten miles down the lee coast to the most sheltered bay in the Windwards. Take a mooring inside and eat ashore.
Marigot Bay, St. Lucia to Soufriere and the Pitons
South to the Pitons. It is a marine park, so you take a park mooring, and a boat helper will meet you to run the lines. Agree the price before he touches a rope.
Soufriere and the Pitons to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
Back north in the lee. Clear out this afternoon so you can leave early tomorrow.
Rodney Bay, St. Lucia to Grande Anse d’Arlet
On the way: Anse Noire
Re-cross the channel on a reach, aiming at Diamond Rock, and carry on to the Anses d’Arlet. Clear in on the computer ashore. Turtles graze under the boat in the morning.
Grande Anse d’Arlet to Sainte-Anne
The only real upwind day: back along the south coast past Diamond Rock. Motor-sail close inshore where the sea is flatter.
Sainte-Anne to Le Marin
Two miles up the channel to Le Marin. Fuel on the way in. Most bases want the boat back on the dock by mid morning.
Going north instead? From Saint-Pierre it is about 37 miles across the channel to Dominica, the most beautiful island in the chain and the one with the most rolly anchorages. It is a lot of miles for seven nights. See the Dominica route from Martinique.
The stops in more detail
Sainte-Anne
The staging anchorage just outside Le Marin: acres of sand, shelter from the east and a pretty village. Most weeks start and end here.
Grande Anse and Petite Anse d’Arlet
Turtle bays with beach restaurants. The organised mooring zone has been closed by the local authority through the end of 2026, with anchoring restricted inside it, so ask your base what is allowed before you go.
Anse Noire
A tiny black sand cove with good snorkelling. Room for a handful of boats.
Trois-Ilets and Anse Mitan
Resort side of the big bay, with ferries across to the capital.
Fort-de-France
Anchor under Fort Saint-Louis, clear of the ferry channels, and walk into a real city.
Saint-Pierre
The old capital under Mont Pelée, destroyed in 1902. Anchor on the narrow shelf north or south of the wreck zone, where anchoring is banned.
Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
Across the channel: a big marina, customs and an easy anchorage.
Marigot Bay and the Pitons, St. Lucia
A mangrove-lined hurricane hole, then paid park moorings under the Pitons at Soufrière.
Where the work is
The channel
Le Marin or Sainte-Anne to Rodney Bay is about 22 miles across the St. Lucia Channel: trades of 15 to 25 knots on the beam, two to three metre Atlantic seas, current setting west and stronger wind at each end of the islands. With Christmas winds blowing it is a wet, hard day. Reef before you leave the lee.
Clearing in and out
Martinique is France. Clearance is a free online declaration, with computers in marinas and shops as a backup. Print it, because St. Lucia will ask for it. St. Lucia is a second country with modest fees plus marine park and mooring charges at Soufrière.
Moorings and anchoring
Almost all anchoring, mostly in sand. Anchoring is banned near the Sainte-Anne islets, over the Saint-Pierre wrecks, in the marine reserves and in parts of the Fort-de-France bay, so check the chart notes.
The windward coast
Reef passes and open Atlantic. Most fleets keep bareboats on the west coast.
Security
Petty theft is the main problem in both islands. Lock the boat and lift and lock the dinghy.
When to go
December to April gives north-east trades of 15 to 30 knots, strongest in January and February. May to November is lighter and wetter. Under the mountains the wind dies and then arrives in gusts. Hurricane season is June to November, and a one-way south puts you in the Grenadines, which Hurricane Beryl hit hard in July 2024.
How Martinique compares with the BVI
| BVI | Martinique | |
|---|---|---|
| Longest normal leg | About 8 nm sheltered | 22 nm or more across an ocean channel |
| Overnight moorings | In most anchorages | Very few |
| Clearances in a week | None | None on Martinique, two with St. Lucia |
| Provisioning | Good, expensive | Excellent, French supermarket prices |
| Language and money | English, US dollars | French and euros |
New to all of this? Start with the BVI bareboat basics and see why most people start in the BVI.
Martinique charter questions
How far is it from Martinique to St. Lucia by boat?
About 22 nautical miles from Le Marin or Sainte-Anne to Rodney Bay, three to four hours in the trades across the open St. Lucia Channel.
Do you need a licence to charter a bareboat in Martinique?
The big fleets work from a sailing resume and no licence is required by them, but some French operators may ask for an ICC or an equivalent certificate. Check with your company before you book.
Can you use the moorings at Anses d’Arlet?
Not at the moment. The local authority has closed the organised mooring zone until at least 31 December 2026 while the gear is inspected, and restricts anchoring inside the zone. Ask your charter base for the current position.
Is Martinique harder than the BVI?
Staying on the sheltered west coast is comparable, apart from anchoring every night. Crossing to St. Lucia or sailing one way to the Grenadines is a clear step up: open water, bigger seas and customs at each end.
Thinking about Martinique?
Tell us your dates, crew and experience and we will tell you straight whether it suits you, or whether another island would suit you better. Same price as booking direct.