Martinique is one of the eastern Caribbean's great charter bases, a French overseas department in the heart of the Windward Islands where the boat of choice is overwhelmingly the cruising catamaran. Most charters begin at Marina du Marin on the south coast — one of the largest and best-equipped mari...
Martinique is one of the eastern Caribbean's great charter bases, a French overseas department in the heart of the Windward Islands where the boat of choice is overwhelmingly the cruising catamaran. Most charters begin at Marina du Marin on the south coast — one of the largest and best-equipped marinas in the Caribbean, with full provisioning, chandlery, repair yards and a supermarket, and home to Dream Yacht Charter, Sunsail, The Moorings, Star Voyage Antilles and Tropical Yachts. The fleets skew heavily catamaran (Dream Yacht alone runs roughly 34 cats to 11 monohulls), reflecting the island's family-friendly, sun-soaked sailing. Fort-de-France adds a capital marina with around 150 berths and a crewed-yacht hub, while Pointe du Bout at Les Trois-Îlets offers a secondary base across the bay.
The cruising fans out from Le Marin in two directions. The classic south-and-west loop runs to Sainte-Anne's white-sand national-park beaches (about 30 minutes out), then to Les Anses d'Arlet for turtle snorkelling on mooring buoys and beachfront restaurants, past Diamond Rock and Cap Salomon, and up the calm "millpond" leeward coast to Pointe du Bout, Fort-de-France and volcanic Saint-Pierre below Mont Pelée. The signature international run is the 25–30 nm passage south to St Lucia — Rodney Bay, Marigot Bay and the Pitons at Soufrière — a roughly 180 nm, 27-hour round trip over a week. More advanced crews push north to Dominica's Prince Rupert Bay and on toward Les Saintes and Guadeloupe.
The wind is the steady NE/E easterly trade, blowing year-round. Peak season (December to February) brings roughly 15–20 knots with 1–2 metre swell, gusting 20–25, and both wind and current strengthen through the afternoon — so early departures are the rule. The sheltered, flat-water leeward bays of the south and west coasts make for genuinely beginner-friendly sailing and good practice ground. The open inter-island channels are another matter: the crossing to St Lucia and especially the northern run to Dominica involve exposed, Atlantic-fed seas and acceleration zones, better suited to experienced crews or a hired skipper. Spring winds ease to around 10–15 knots.
The high, dry season — the Carême — runs December to April, with December to February the most stable and reliable. Hurricane and wet season spans June to November, peaking August to October, when charters carry real weather risk and tend to stay coastal. The water is warm all year, roughly 26–28°C in season, dipping to 23–28°C in winter and climbing above 30°C in high summer.
Le Marin is a major provisioning hub, so stocking up is easy before you slip the lines. As a French territory, clearance between French islands is essentially free, with an online check-in/check-out system since 2024; crossing to St Lucia or Dominica requires customs clearance and modest fees, and skippered charters often ask for a cash float (around $500) for customs and mooring balls. Bareboat charter is the norm and requires a competent skipper; if you'd rather not sail, a skippered or crewed catamaran is straightforward — and leaves you free to watch the Pitons rise from the rail.
