We LOVE Martinique !!
Can’t believe we have been in Martinique for almost a week… it has been a real pleasure ! The mountain scenery is beautiful, the beaches are stunning, the water crystal clear, superb diving and wonderful friendly people! We would definitely recommend checking out Martinique if you are looking for a vacation spot. No big all-inclusive resorts here though… except for Club Med… so nice not to see big resorts crowding the beaches! And NO vendors constantly bugging you to buy trinkets.
We are currently anchored in St Anne at the very south end of Martinique near the larger town of Marin. It is a super huge anchorage… probably well over 200 boats here and 5 minutes away in Marin probably another 200 at the marina there. But it does not feel crowded… the area is quite shallow for miles and sheltered nicely from the wind. There are quite a few Canadian boats down here… mostly from Quebec or Ontario, but the boat anchored next to us is from Edmonton.
Yesterday we spent most of the day in the town of Marin, picking up groceries and a few boat things. The first time we did a major grocery haul since the other side of the Atlantic and we stocked up on some of the basics… beer & oj !! Prices weren’t too bad and we figured we’d stock up while we could.
Also got a new “toy” yesterday.. a spear gun! Tried it out today while diving & got 5 lion fish! Quickly turned those into chevice and lion fish burgers…. Mmmmmm!! Lion fish are an invasive species in the Carribean with no known predators… they are very beautiful fish with 13 venomous spines on them and are native to SE Asia… so it is encouraged for divers to take as many as you can in the Carribean.
We “checked out” of Martinique this morning… so easy to do here… just sit down at the computer at the customs “office” (here it was in a cafe).. fill out 5 mins of paperwork, pay 3Euro and you have 24 hours to leave the country. Nice and easy… some places can take over an hour and costs can vary… St Lucia is about $20.
Early tomorrow we will set sail for St Lucia… we’ll check in at Rodney Bay on the north end, then head down to Soufriere where we will meet our guests Jessica & Julie! Can’t wait to have 3 girls on the boat !!! If Jessica & Julie are able to make it to Soufriere by 4:30 we will quickly check out of the country before customs closes for the day & set sail for St Vincent & Bequia! If the girls don’t make it by 4:30 we will have to stay overnight there and check out after 8:00am. The plan is to sail to Bequia which is just south of St Vincent.. should take us anywhere from 15-20 hours.. spend a couple of days there, then make our way back up the west coast of St Vincent. Really looking forward to it as the scenery & diving is supposed to be fabulous!
Hi, so happy for you guys! A well deserved vacation! Looking forward to view some pictures of your great journey, and hear all about it some day, hopefully in the near future. We’re making plans for a road trip to NewFoundland and Labrador sometimes this summer, a bucket list wish, been dreaming about this destination for a while, so this summer where doing it. Looks like where taking the whole month of August, no rush, and plenty of time to enjoy the beautiful scenery.
In the mean time, continue enjoying your very special journey!
Denise xo
Glad to hear you’re all doing well. I just saw a show on TV the other night that talked about lionfish, and how good eating they are. They showed how to cut off the spines with a kitchen shears, and go ahead and cook! Stay well, keep on enjoying yourselves while we watch the snow outside. LOL
Yes, the shop that we bought the spear from told us how to do it… and then we also watched a quick youtube video to make sure… don’t want to get stung by one of those !!\
Well…are you having fun yet? What an adventure. Although you can drown just as easy as the Atlantic it feels better from my perspective. Enjoy the rest of the trip. We will celebrate when you get back.