Please Help!!

[KilikDrav]

What to do???

Going in mid march. I have never been there so I thought I would ask others. What should I do while I am there???

[thatbloominplace]

the real key here is to get out of the port area. this is a beautiful, green island and deserves to be explored. i would suggest that you do some research of the sites you would like to see and map it out. when you get off the ship ask for an english speaking taxi driver, unless you speak french. negotiate the price before you accept and speak to the driver himself to be sure he can communicate with you easily. i do suggewst that you go beyond st. piere to the rainforest and to a small beautiful town called ajuppa. most drivers will balk at this route, but we have done this before and the driver said he had a great time because he never went there before. also ask them to bring you to a seaside restaurant for lunch. did this trip with my family and everyone enjoyed it.

[sceptic]

Unless you're very uncomfortable driving, I'd suggest to rent a car. The roads are excellent - not just for the Caribbean, but for the US or Europe. The signs are excellent also (again, not just for the Caribbean). Decide what you want to do as the meta-theme - rainforest/volcano or beach, for instance, do a little homework, and take off. We had a blast - so much that we'd like to go back to this island for a while and enjoy it on its own.

 

I really like the options of your own car, and having both superb infrastructure and driving on the right is not common in the southern Caribbean, so please consider this option.

[Purplecajun]

the real key here is to get out of the port area. this is a beautiful, green island and deserves to be explored. i would suggest that you do some research of the sites you would like to see and map it out. when you get off the ship ask for an english speaking taxi driver, unless you speak french. negotiate the price before you accept and speak to the driver himself to be sure he can communicate with you easily. i do suggewst that you go beyond st. piere to the rainforest and to a small beautiful town called ajuppa. most drivers will balk at this route, but we have done this before and the driver said he had a great time because he never went there before. also ask them to bring you to a seaside restaurant for lunch. did this trip with my family and everyone enjoyed it.

 

Bloom,

 

Is there a beach in Ajuppa or close by ? Thanks for any help given.:)

[Purplecajun]

the real key here is to get out of the port area. this is a beautiful, green island and deserves to be explored. i would suggest that you do some research of the sites you would like to see and map it out. when you get off the ship ask for an english speaking taxi driver, unless you speak french. negotiate the price before you accept and speak to the driver himself to be sure he can communicate with you easily. i do suggewst that you go beyond st. piere to the rainforest and to a small beautiful town called ajuppa. most drivers will balk at this route, but we have done this before and the driver said he had a great time because he never went there before. also ask them to bring you to a seaside restaurant for lunch. did this trip with my family and everyone enjoyed it.

 

Bloom,

 

Is there a beach in Ajuppa or close by ? Thanks for any help given. Would a rental car be better than a taxi ? :)

[winesfine]

I would strongly suggest that you do NOT rent a car. The roads in Martinique are extremely windy and twisty. Living on an island myself, I thought the roads couldn't be much worse than what we encounter here - WRONG!

 

I would strongly recommend contacting Kleber http://monsite.wanadoo.fr/etclub/ to arrange a tour. We just returned from a visit and he made our day! Everyone that returned to the cruise ship complained that there was nothing to do and were disappointed. You will not be disappointed with this tour. Kleber speaks very good English, though at times he does stumble (speaks better English than I could French!) over some phrases. His knowledge of the area is incredible. He picks you up at the end of the pier and drops you off at the local market (or the ship if you prefer). We left a hat and some postcards in his cab and he went looking for us in the shopping mall. Amazing service.

 

He has a S class Mercedes and provides a tour of a church (beautiful), the rainforest, a botanical garden, a rum distillery, and the town destroyed when Mt. Pele erupted and several other senic spots. My only caution is that he only allows 30 minutes for the botanical garden. You need at least an hour and plan on getting lost LOL The cost is $50 pp and is worth every penny!

 

Enjoy your trip.

[thatbloominplace]

no beach in ajoupa (sp?) area but i would recommend martinique as an island to explore inland. there are many other islands that are known for their beaches. the "loop" offered in the previous post is the most commonly used tours by tour companies. it is very nice. the one i offered is only if you have a full day and are a little more adventuresome.

[sceptic]

with all due respect, winesfine, I really don't know what you're talking about when you state, "The roads in Martinique are extremely windy and twisty. Living on an island myself, I thought the roads couldn't be much worse than what we encounter here - WRONG!"

 

The roads of Martinigue for the Caribbean or elsewhere - are excellent. They are standard width, well marked, with fine pavement. Yes there are curves. But to suggest they are subpar or in any way dangerous or bad is simply not true. The Trace road down the center of the island was remarkable! Yes, curves. But smooth, wide and gorgeous.

 

Granted, if you are a shaky driver (someone who white-knuckles a basic mountain road or, for instance, Hwy 1 in CA) you might find a steady diet of curves unnerving. But if the prospect of driving on a gorgeous island on good roads with the traffic on the right side of the road sounds interesting, go for it.

 

I'm no superdriver. We've visited many islands in the south Caribbean. Martinique is the ONLY island that i would consider renting a car, and I'm absolutely delighted that I did.

 

Perhaps it's just a matter of comfort level. Some folks really don't like the idea of going out on their own on an island. They like the idea of a guided tour (in a Mercedes, no less!) Others prefer doing it more freestyle. That's cool.

[gizmo]

I would strongly suggest that you do NOT rent a car. The roads in Martinique are extremely windy and twisty. Living on an island myself, I thought the roads couldn't be much worse than what we encounter here - WRONG!

 

I would strongly recommend contacting Kleber http://monsite.wanadoo.fr/etclub/ to arrange a tour. We just returned from a visit and he made our day! Everyone that returned to the cruise ship complained that there was nothing to do and were disappointed. You will not be disappointed with this tour. Kleber speaks very good English, though at times he does stumble (speaks better English than I could French!) over some phrases. His knowledge of the area is incredible. He picks you up at the end of the pier and drops you off at the local market (or the ship if you prefer). We left a hat and some postcards in his cab and he went looking for us in the shopping mall. Amazing service.

 

He has a S class Mercedes and provides a tour of a church (beautiful), the rainforest, a botanical garden, a rum distillery, and the town destroyed when Mt. Pele erupted and several other senic spots. My only caution is that he only allows 30 minutes for the botanical garden. You need at least an hour and plan on getting lost LOL The cost is $50 pp and is worth every penny!

 

Enjoy your trip.

 

I been to Martinque 3 times. For those wondering what to do this tour sounds like it is worth every penny. I have not used Kleber but have done bits and pieces of this tour at different times. I cannot vouch for Kleber but the itinerary is excellent.

[shabcruzn]

I would strongly suggest that you do NOT rent a car. The roads in Martinique are extremely windy and twisty. Living on an island myself, I thought the roads couldn't be much worse than what we encounter here - WRONG!

 

I would strongly recommend contacting Kleber http://monsite.wanadoo.fr/etclub/ to arrange a tour. We just returned from a visit and he made our day! Everyone that returned to the cruise ship complained that there was nothing to do and were disappointed. You will not be disappointed with this tour. Kleber speaks very good English, though at times he does stumble (speaks better English than I could French!) over some phrases. His knowledge of the area is incredible. He picks you up at the end of the pier and drops you off at the local market (or the ship if you prefer). We left a hat and some postcards in his cab and he went looking for us in the shopping mall. Amazing service.

 

He has a S class Mercedes and provides a tour of a church (beautiful), the rainforest, a botanical garden, a rum distillery, and the town destroyed when Mt. Pele erupted and several other senic spots. My only caution is that he only allows 30 minutes for the botanical garden. You need at least an hour and plan on getting lost LOL The cost is $50 pp and is worth every penny!

 

Enjoy your trip.

 

Thanks for the tip. I checked out the site. I am assuming because we have six, we are going to have to break off into two groups:confused:

[Walterswife]

My husband and I were in Martinique in April of this year and took Kleber's tour. He likes to be called Cliff. He was a wonderful guide and the tour was great. Although it was my fourth trip to the island, it was the first time that I had the opportunity for an island tour. It was well worth the money. We saw all of the highlights and sights, with twice the time, for half of the cost as compared to the cruise ship tours.

 

I would not rent a car there because of limited time, cost and the language barrier. Kleber's tour is a much better value. The S Class Benz was a real treat!

[Jill and Jo]

My husband and I were in Martinique on The Sun Princess on March 16th. Prior to the cruise, we contacted Elite Taxi Service aka Kleber Gontran Magdelein. He is known for his tours in a Mercedes Benz. His website is: http://monsite.wanadoo.fr/etclub/page2.html and his email is: kleber-gontran.magdeleine@wanadoo.fr. Kleber was very friendly in his email and everything was confirmed for the 16th. The tour was booked for 2- just my husband and I. He confirmed in his email "1 or 10 people, I promise a good time". Our tour was scheduled for 9 am. We arrived on the dock at 8:45 am and about 5 minutes later, a well dressed man (Kleber) walked up with a sign with my first and last name on it. He had another sign in his hand that just said "Theresa"...no last name, which struck me as odd but I didn't worry about it. He told me that we were waiting for one other couple to get off the ship. As my husband and I were sitting there waiting, we watched two crew members carrying golf clubs discussing taxi fare with a cab driver. The cab driver wanted $100 per person each way for a golf course that was 20 minutes away. The crew members declined and went back to the ship. At 9:20 am...still no "Theresa". Kleber stood at the gate as passengers disembarked from the ship. A group of about 10-15 people approached Kebler and they talked for a few minutes. Kleber then handed his "Theresa" sign to the cab driver that was talking to the crew members earlier and approached us. He stated that he needed to take the large group because they needed to get back to the ship early and that this other gentleman would take us and the other group. He assured us that it would be a fun tour and that we would catch up with his group. At 9:40 am, I approached the cab driver,that obviously didn't work with Kleber ,and asked how much longer we would wait for the other party since the tour was supposed to leave at 9:00 am. He told me "10 more minutes". Not once did I see this cab driver hold up the sign with the name "Theresa" on it...nor did I see him approach anyone to see if they wanted to do the tour. At 9:50, another man approached us that was now holding the "Theresa" sign and said that we would be going with him. At this point, we were waiting over an hour and I was quite annoyed and he knew it. He assured us that he would take care of us and said that he "needed to find another couple to take us on the tour". I told him he had 10 minutes and we were done. He also stood at the gate as passengers disembarked, but never held up the sign with the name "Theresa" on it. We talked to a couple as we waited and he ran up and asked, "Are they willing to go on the tour with you"? At that point, we KNEW there was never another party going on the tour with us and Kleber dumped us for the larger party that obviously did not book with him prior to arriving in port. He saw the dollar signs from the large group and just passed us on to the next cab driver. At this point it is 10:15 am and there was no chance for us to get a tour of the island. We were left to just take a water taxi to the beach. Although the beach was nice, nothing special, we were really looking forward to the highlight tour of Martinique since we had never been there. I did email Kleber when we returned from our trip. He stated that he told us that there would have to be 4 in order to take the tour. This was a bunch of bull. I asked why he didn't just put us with the large group and he never responded to the question. I still have the email correspondence with him. If anyone is interested, email me, and I will forward it to you. Thanks to Kleber's unprofessionalism and greed for more money, our day in Martinique was ruined. Please beware of this scam. I would be curious to know if anyone who goes to Martinique sees him standing there with his "dummy" sign. I would not chance ruining your day in Martinique by using this guy....BEWARE!!!!