Martinque Beach Day Grand D' Anis D'Arlet

Just back from Summit. Like many was stumped for info on Martinque. Here is what we did.

First, got Euros from AAA. $1.19 exchange rate. Got 200 euros, can return unused ones. No wasting time looking for an ATM.

Got off ship, walked to ferry terminal right next to the pier. ( VERY long pier here) waited in shade for the 8:45 ferry to Pointe du Bout. 3 ferry piers, one in the middle, clearly marked with a posted schedule. Boat in and left exactly as stated. 7 euros for rt trip paid on board.

20 mins accross harbor to Pointe du Bout. Walked off and took a left onto the main drag. 2 min walk up the street, Avis and Budget on the right, on a corner, very easy. Had reserved in advance the only mid size in the lot. Many, many smaller ones which in retrospect would have been fine and cheaper and easier to park! We paid 66 euros for a very fancy car. Smaller ones under 40 euro for day. Got a great map and off we went by 9:30.

Roads great, clearly marked. Drove to grand Anis. Arrived in about 20 minutes. Parking was on the side of the road. Go as far south as you can. Road runs along the beach for a while and then goes inland. Park as close to the inland part as you can. The best part of the beach is to the south of the long pier, keep going past the pier. There is shade from trees. Towards the end of the beach there are a few restaurants with chaise lounges. We inquired about renting the lounges and were asked if we wanted to eat. ( this all inour very bad h.s. French and much pantomining) we recognized the universal word " mange" to eat! We said yes, then were asked when. This was harder to understand and answer but we managed to get to 12:30. Smartest thing we ever did!

We set up our 4 chaises under the tree and 2 of us went to snorkel. The rocks on the southern side looked like they may be interesting - and they were! Beautiful, unspoiled coral right out to and around the point. The best our whole trip. Lots of fish- hundreds, visibility fabulous. Warm water, very calm, little current. We were so entranced that we were out for nearly 3 hours and decided to go back to shore because we were hungry! Kicked straight back to our friends with weary legs!

It was nearly 1:00 and our table was waiting. Toes in sand, umbrella, for shade, wine glasses. Place was full and many turned away- thank goodness for our reservations! We regonized " coq" as being a chicken dish and ordered it and wine and a bottle of water. Got a fabulous salad, bread, the chicken stew which was very tasty and fries, banana, and a vegtable none of us could identify. We left before dessert ( much to our waitress' concern- apparently it was included) in order to catch our ferry. The bill was under 50 euros per couple including tip.

Drove back up to Pointe Du Bout, filled up the car (5 Euros) and dropped it off. Did a little shopping, used the very clean public loo (20 cent coin) and got the 3:15 ferry back to Fort Du France.

Fabulous day.

Thanks for the update we are going on summit in Jan. I see there are two ports one by point simone west of the fort st louis and the other port tourisme east of the fort. Which did the summit use?

thank you for posting this. I was so stumped as to what to do at this port in April. You have exactly what my husband and I would love to do. Beach time and a little snorkeling.

where do you have rent the car,are there many taxi?I prefer take a taxi than rent a car..

is the Grand anse crowd and chaotic?are there public showers?

Sorry, I am not sure of the name of the Pier. If you look on a map it is the one at the end of Rue des Gabares. I remember seeing the fort, but not sure if it was east or west.

There were no showers at the beach, or public restrooms. Nor did I see any taxi cabs in either Pointe du Bout or Grand Anis. In fact I don't recall any cabs waiting by the ship either, certainly not like other ports where they are lined up and waiting. However we were right in the middle of rush hour on a week day.......

Grand Anis D'Arlet was very quiet. A few families. A little busier on the northern end but still pretty empty. Weekends may be very different.

Blueberry, that was great information. Thank you. I think you mean Anse d'ilet on the west coast on the same promontory as pointe du bout. But there are also some anses near St Anne. We want to go to Les Salines near St Anne and it would be helpful to put the beach you went to in context.

Thank you so much for posting what you did! Sounds like you had a really great time!

While not as adventuresome as your day I will give a quick post on what we did when I get a spare moment. There was so little info on this port when we were planning that I figure every little bit helps!

Lonedaddy,

Summit docked at the Pointe Simon Pier right near the ferry dock.

Hi , did you have a reservation at the restaurant and do you remember the name of the restaurant ? I know you said it got crowded after you had been there but it sounded like you didnt have the reservation until after you arrived there. this sounds like it would be right up our alley ,especially the snorkeling but we would like to know exactly where we are going and this is our first time to Martinique . really excited to hear you had good snorkeling because i have seen alot of diving tours but no snorkeling ones. Thanks