Guadeloupe Anchorages with Access to the Airport

[svskyus]

We will need to pick up some guests in Guadeloupe. Would prefer not to go to Pointe-a-Pitre, as we really like Deshaies and even Basse-Terre.

How hard is it for someone to get from the international airport to either of those anchorages? At 10pm in a rental car? What is the distance/time?

Or must I go to Pointe-a-Pitre, and if so where to anchor? Never been there. In fact haven't been to Gualeloupe for 8 years....

thanks
Bruce

[osirissail]

There are several options, although P-A-P has several anchorages just outside the little bay that the huge marina is located in. One between the Marina and downtown P-A-P that is a favorite of mine and another just SW of the Marina at Ilet a Cochans.
- - The airport is about 3 miles from the Marina Bas de Fort - the big one - so car or taxi or limo should be reasonable. Then a five minute dinghy ride to your boat if anchored out. The huge marina is quite safe and quite nice.
- - The "Saintes" is another option as there is a fast and good ferry service between P-A-P and the "Saintes." But they only run in the daytime.

[svskyus]

Thanks Osiris, I google earthed the area, and I assume that the anchorage you prefer is just outside the entrance to the marina, and slightly to the north at 16 13.30N, 61 32W

What directions should the guests give to a taxi driver? It looks like there are 2-3 marinas in the area, what is the name of the main one??

Have you gone thru the connecting river? Issues? also, if I check in to Guadeloupe, do I have to check out and re check in at Martinique if I go direct?

Thanks,
bruce

[Hud3]

Bruce,

I agree with Osirissail--Pointe-a-Pitre is your best bet. Getting to Deshaies from the airport will likely be a real trek for someone in a rental car, unfamiliar with the roads and at night. When we visited Point-a-Pitre, we anchored in the spot near l'Ilet a Cochons, which is across the channel from the Marina Bas du Fort. That anchorage is a little further away from the path the ferries take. A taxi from the airport to the marina should be no problem.

I think you'll need to clear out of Guadeloupe before going to Martinique, but I'm not 100% sure of that. There's a Customs (Douane) office right there in the marina, so it's pretty convenient to find out. There are also some really good restaurants nearby.

I've not done the river route between the two parts of Guadeloupe. I believe you would have to start through very early in the morning, perhaps before dawn, because of the opening schedules for the bridges. Chris Doyle's cruising guide has good info on that.

[svskyus]

Thanks for the info, Hud, and for the info on Nevis. Looking forward to the restaurants! I'll probably anchor near l'Ilet a Cochons untill the night they show up, then maybe move to the nearer anchorage if I feel the dark dink ride with lots of gear would be easier from there.

I am so ready to return to the Carib!

Boatless Bruce

[Hud3]

You'll get to test the windward sailing abilities of the boat on the leg from Pointe de Vieux Fort up to Sainte Marie. If the Trades are blowing good, reef before you clear the point.

[ksalt]

The anchorage NW of the marina (circled in Hud's google earth image) is now a mooring field. There is a little room to anchor outside it, but you're not supposed to. We anchored there last spring for a few days before the marina noticed and then they came out and put a sticker on our transom telling us to visit the marina office. They made us move to a mooring and pay a small mooring fee. It is a lot closer than the other anchorage, so you might want to just pick up a mooring and then visit the marina office.

The area around the Pointe-a-Pitre marina has tons of restaurants, shops, a grocery store, car rental, even an aquarium. It's a great base to rent a car and visit the rainforest.

We did the River Salee northbound. It's a great timesaver and kind of fun. It shouldn't present any difficulties if you've spent any time on the ICW. Just read the navigation notes in your cruising guides to get familiar since you'll be doing it in the dark. The books mention moorings by the bridges which don't exist, so plan your arrival at the bridges so that you don't have to wait more than 20-30 minutes.

Yes, you do need to clear out of Guadeloupe before going to Martinique and vice versa.

[svskyus]

Good advice, Ksalt. since I will be picking up 2 guests and a lot of gear, seems best to use a mooring that night.

Haven't decided about coming down the river. I hope that the boat I will be delivering for friends has the guide! We traded ours as we headed to Guatemala.

Kinda surprising that you have to check out and in again going to Martinique, but at least the French are usually easy about it.

The Manta 40 was the first cat we were ever on, while we were sea kayaking thru the Exumas. A kind owner invited us aboard for a drink, much appreciated in the middle of a 2 week expedition. Later we bought a Crowther 42 cat that we lived on for 9 years.
Bruce

[Sandero]

I spent a lot of time in Guadeloupe. Depending on where you are coming from would make a different too.

The passage from the lighthouse at Basse Terre to PaP is upwind and can be a bummer... but once you get past the buoys you can anchor outside the Bas Du Fort Marina which has everything you need and is close enough to the airport for a taxi. I've dropped crew off there on one delivery and it was pretty smooth.

I suspect the trip from the Airport to Basse Terre is doable with a taxi or a rental car and I suspect it is well marked and most adults can find there way by car.

Deshais is closer to Antigua and a sweet anchorage but far from the airport. However Club Med has a place not far and they must be served by ground transport so perhaps it is a doable taxi run. But it would be expensive for your guests I suspect.

So my recommendation is that you reach down the lee coast which a super sail and then bite the bullet and beat to PaP and anchor outside Bas Du Fort where the holding is excellent and if you have a dink and OB you can pick up your guests at any number of locations and land your dink.

Don't even bother with a mooring - not necessary.

Do visit the Saintes though as they are one of the loveliest places in the entire caribe.

If you spend some time on Guadelouope, a trip to the rain forest on Basse Terre is well worth it.

[osirissail]

Just a comment on the new check-in/out in the French Islands. They are using computers now. There are usually 2 to 4 in the office. They are marginally bi-lingual with a French keyboard so you have to hunt for each letter as they are in different places. Usually the first/top selection gets you the form you must fill in. It takes some thinking to determine what they want in some entry blocks. Then you select print and a page prints out which you take to the officer who checks it and your passports, documentation, visas (if necessary) and stamps the form - "arrivee". To check out you do the exact same thing again to get a new paper which he stamps - "departee". Each island change requires a check-in/out. Ilse des Saintes does it the old way with paper fill in form at the police ofice in the city hall which they fax to P-A-P and then you get fax back after an hour or two. I believe you can check-in at P-A-P and then check out at Iles des Saintes for next island.
The French are seemingly very relaxed by the whole process but I was borded once by French oficials and all my papers checked - so don't try to "push" them to much on their laxness.

[svskyus]

Osiris, Thanks for the update on French check in. A bit different from when I simply filled out a small form that I found sitting on a chair outside a deserted office at Deshais, and then slipped under the door. That was 10 years ago....
Now just to try to remember how the darn French keyboard works.
Bruce