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Igal · 17-10-2019, 08:34

Hello
We´ll be chartering in St Lucia from May 20 til May 30 2020 and I´m not sure to go up to Martinique or down to the Grenadines... maybe both? we did a Grenada cruise and we've been to Tobago cays, so this time is the upper Grenadines mostly. What do you advise? should we split between Martinique and St Lucia, or St Lucia and down? we are more into sailing and snorkel than town visits or inland tourism (we will hike the pitons )
Thanks for the advise.

Flagman101 · 17-10-2019, 09:30

Martinique is nice and you coulx probably go all the way to Dominica.

Yellow bird · 17-10-2019, 10:12

You can do both,
especially if you have already cruise Grenada and Tobago keys, and so I supposed also Carriacou and Union.
Martinica and upper Grenadines in 10 days it will be a great cruise.

I think it's better go first to Martinica, then a long sail to south (Canouan or Bequia), then short daily sails to north till the come back to St. Lucia IMHO

Nicholson58 · 17-10-2019, 11:14

My preference is north to Dominica. Partly this is because we will not visit St Vincent due to its reputation. Some people do and have a great time.

Dominica is a favorite for us. Most people do not care for Roseau. Go to Prince Rupert Bay ( Portsmouth) and hail Alexis or the other PAYS boat boys. Nice island tours, BBQ at the PAYS dinghy dock, showers, snorkeling and diving. If you dive, make arrangements with Fabian in the dive shop at PAYS. Hiking around and above the fort, Laundry, Nice fresh market along the street. (Ask to check for the market day). Top your water tanks at the water buoy (call Rainbird)

PAYS, Portsmouth Area Yacht Security. We usually anchor but there are PAYS balls at reasonable rates. The boat boys will guide you and help you hook up. Ask about tours and activities. You can see the customs dock noted by the south end of the image. They offer check in/out at the same time so you don’t need to go back if your stay is just a few days. Have EC on you to pay.

Find Zuluwaterway.com (join free) and check out advice along your planned rout. Best weather coverage is in the NE corner by the Purple Turtle beach club and PAYS Dock. Click on icons to learn more. The closer you get to the customs dock, the rougher.

https://www.zuluwaterways.com/map/16...00003842180354

Martinique is also a great place, totally different than the other islands. We usually rent a car and shop/tour. There are 27 distilleries. St James is a good one with great aged rhum in bottles or 3 liter box.

Favorite anchorages are St Ann or Marin, Anse d’Arlet and Grand Anse d’Arlet, St. Pierre. Again, zuluwaterways describes anchoring or balls in these places.

St. Pierre is built from the ash pile of the 1907 Mt Pelee eruption. Lots of ruins. You can hike the volcano 4800 feet. Best to arrange a car rental the day before assuming clear weather. Best anchoring is 1/4 mile south of the town dock by the zoo and public beach.

If you chose to go farther north you can check in at Le Saints at the south end of Guadeloupe. I think that your ten days will disappear quickly without this extra trip.

wayne.b · 17-10-2019, 13:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Igal

Hello
We´ll be chartering in St Lucia from May 20 til May 30 2020 and I´m not sure to go up to Martinique or down to the Grenadines... maybe both? we did a Grenada cruise and we've been to Tobago cays, so this time is the upper Grenadines mostly. What do you advise? should we split between Martinique and St Lucia, or St Lucia and down? we are more into sailing and snorkel than town visits or inland tourism (we will hike the pitons )
Thanks for the advise.

===

I'd go north to Martinique. We've been there a number of times and like it a lot. There is much to see and do. We've either anchored or docked in Le Marin and used that as our base of exploration.

Our favorite port by far in St Lucia was Marigot Bay. Domenica has its attractions also but I think that's too much for a 10 day charter unless you want to spend much of your time under way.

Igal · 17-10-2019, 14:07

Thank you very much for the great info! It looks like north is the way to go, also
I´ve been reading about Dominica and looks great as a destination. We've rented a 52 monohull, so it should be fast. Sadly have a LOT of time till our trip to plan as best as we can. Again, thanks for all the info and tips.

singlespeed · 17-10-2019, 18:21

There is a great French cruising book for the Atlantic side of Martinique. Wish I could remember the title/author. Lent it to a fellow cruiser who never returned it be for heading west. You can source it in one of the chandeliers of Le Marin. Lots of great uncrowded secure anchorages behind reefs. Except for local fishing boats, you will rarely see another cruiser or charter boat. Great snorkelling, windsurfing and kiteboarding. Replacement provisioning is a bit cheaper as very few tourists visit this side. Don't even attempt it without the cruising guide, the passes can be exciting in a swell and anchorage appearances can be deceiving from offshore.

Nicholson58 · 17-10-2019, 20:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by singlespeed

There is a great French cruising book for the Atlantic side of Martinique. Wish I could remember the title/author. Lent it to a fellow cruiser who never returned it be for heading west. You can source it in one of the chandeliers of Le Marin. Lots of great uncrowded secure anchorages behind reefs. Except for local fishing boats, you will rarely see another cruiser or charter boat. Great snorkelling, windsurfing and kiteboarding. Replacement provisioning is a bit cheaper as very few tourists visit this side. Don't even attempt it without the cruising guide, the passes can be exciting in a swell and anchorage appearances can be deceiving from offshore.

We’ve seen some of these car touring. They do indeed look interesting and the towns were fun. Check your sea states and wind before you go. Consider the car option. One of the permanent citizen live aboard sin Marin tokes his air b&b clients around the island. Ten days.

**GordMay** · 18-10-2019, 03:17

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Igal.

Maple Leaf · 18-10-2019, 06:03

Here is my 2 cents on your quest for information.
I would recommend going north to Martinique and on to Dominica and possibly Guadeloupe. The French have got it right with their customs, clearing in and out. Simple procedures and inexpensive. Dominica has established a clearing in/out with one visit to the customs office. They are an independent country are have trained their boat boys to be helpful with very little hassle.
-I was really impressed with Martinique. Beautiful, easy anchoring in the south at Ste Anne. Diamond rock was full of history and you can sail quite close on the way north to St Pierre. St Pierre agace n has a tremendous amount of intrigue and history although the anchorage is deep but there is a shelf with good holding.
- My vote is to go North from St Lucia. One caveat to this is that I found the snorkelling much better south of St Vincent in the Tobago Cayes.
Whatever you decide, enjoy your trip and Fair Winds.

Jackz · 18-10-2019, 07:11

Having been to the Grenadines on four charters over the past 15 years, I can tell you that it is not as quiet and peaceful as it used to be. Many places are very busy and getting commercialized, although we go in high-season so the same may not be true in May.

TriggerHappy · 25-10-2019, 12:55

Following this thread with Great interest. I am also thinking of bare-boating in St. Lucia in mid April 2020 but was intending to head down to Bequia after an overnight at the Pitons. A couple of points: we will be 4 guys on a Sunsail 404 (probably), we want the beach bars, rustic feel, good snorkeling and diving. And we cannot do the one way to Grenada because of flight logistics. We will be arriving on Friday, getting off the dock on Sat and returning boat Sat morning. Flying out Sat or Sun pm.

I and another crew member have been to the Grenadines and have made it as far north as Tobago Cays from Grenada. Have not been to Bequia, Mystique, Canouan (I have heard from some don't bother with the later two.)

Can someone tell me: 1) how bad is the beat back to St Lucia from Bequia (keeping in mind we will probably have a 40 foot leopard Cat.) For reference, is it as bad as the sail from the northern tip of Grenada two Ronde Island and then to Carriacou? Not sure if we want to subject ourselves to 9 hours of that!

2) what kind of atmosphere will Martinique be? Is it more refined? how does it compare to the Grenadines? Really want to give the crew a sense of adventure and the unique feel of the different micro-cultures found in each of the different islands. Not sure if Martinique would fulfill this?

Thanks!
JD

Nicholson58 · 25-10-2019, 13:07

Martinique is very nice. Have you considered chartering in LeMarin, Martinique? Circumnavigate Martinique, rent a car, tour the distilleries. Dive and snorkel. Check out some of the sites on zuluwaterways.com