This was essentially a provisioning stop for us, we only planned to stay two nights, so we didn’t have a lot of time to explore the town of La Marin, or other towns on the island such as the capital Fort du Prince. Like all the islands of the Caribbean, Martinique is a popular holiday and cruise liner destination which attracts visitors from across the globe.
On our approach to the town and marina by sea we were dwarfed by lush green majestic hills. Houses high on the hill top overlooked the bay, the views from within must be magnificent. The town itself revolves around yacht chartering and tourists during the high season. Most of the restaurants, bars, cafes, shops and activities line the main thoroughfare which hugs the edge of the bay. A group of shops (at a stretch you could call it a shopping plaza) is about a 40 minute walk away from the marina. Turn left on exiting the marina and just follow the footpath along the bay, you can’t miss it. You’ll pass a burger place, fish and chip shop and a couple of local bars along the way. The guys enjoyed a beer at one of the bars on the way back to the marina. The town square with a central monument and church on the perimeter is about a 15 minute walk from the marina.
General Information
Wifi: Free wifi is available at the bar/café located in the marina. Alternatively you can pay a flat fee of €10.00 for 7 days at the marina office.
Transport options: These are limited to bus and taxi. We walked everywhere so we can’t provide any information about costs or service.
Shopping: The marina has a newsagent, souvenir shop and clothing shop onsite. There is no one major central shopping centre in the town, groups of shops, cafes and take away eateries are located on either side of the main thoroughfare and dotted along local streets.
A small supermarket is located within the marina, this is actually a Carrefour outlet. You can arrange for a delivery van to pick up from here and drop you at the main Carrefour supermarket. We took advantage of this service for provisioning, arranging a pick up day and time at the marina supermarket. It took about 20 minutes to reach the main Carrefour store by van, and the driver waited and post shop returned us to the marina. To the right of the marina is another supermarket, not as large as Carrefour but has a reasonable selection of groceries, meats, fruits and vegetables. In fact, we were disappointed by the lack of fruit and vegetables at the Carrefour store, and headed there on our return. The range and freshness of fruit and vegetables was far better here than Carrefour, however this could be just a day to day thing.
Restaurants: In La Marin we checked out a few local eateries, for our review click here http://seagoddessadventures.com/france-to-australia-la-marina-du-marin/
ATM: the nearest one is located next to the Post Office within the marina complex.
Chandlery: there is one on site at the marina. There is also a fishing store round the back, and depending on what you are looking for may be worth checking out.
La Marin provided an ideal place to rest, relax, reprovision and re-engage with our loved ones back home.
PS – From Sandra: I’ve been learning conversational French via podcast while on this trip, and while in La Marin I took the opportunity to practice my French language skills with some of the yachties and locals. There was lots of smiles and laughter, and people took time out to listen and help me refine my pronunciation. To each of you my sincerest thanks. Can’t wait to get to Tahiti and practice my French conversational language skills there.