Le Marin is located on the south coast of Martinique between the towns of Saint Anne and Saint Luce. We didn’t actually anchor in Le Marin, so we can’t attest to its anchorage, but we spent ample time driving in our dinghy back and forth from Saint Anne to Le Marin, and had plenty of opportunities to experience this active and popular seafaring city.
Le Marin has a massive modern marina, one of the biggest in the Caribbean, and attracts an international clientele. Surrounding the marina are a multitude of chandleries (shops selling nautical items for boats), sail-makers, electronics stores, mechanics, riggers, and a wide range of marine services. While in the Eastern Caribbean, if a captain needs a boat part, something repaired, or an addition to his boat, this is one of the best places to go.
On one occasion, we met our friends from Sea Breeze, Mona Kai, and Wild Rumpus and enjoyed lunch together at Le Mango restaurant. It was right on the water, and we were excited to all be together and enjoy a good meal overlooking the marina, great conversations, and lots of laughs. It’s always a special occasion when fellow cruisers meet up after having been apart. It was a joyful occasion.
(salad de poulet)
Marina Yacht Harbor is also surrounded by dive shops, restaurants, boutiques, grocery stores, and much more. This makes it a highly-prized destination for cruisers. This city, and Martinique in general, is quite the melting pot of people. The population is predominantly mixed-European and African ancestry, but we met people from Turkey, Greece, Lebanon, and South America, and they were all very friendly. We never felt like outsiders, and found it an easy place to like!
We made friends with the owners of Elite Kabob House, which turned out to be one of our favorite restaurants. It is owned by a sweet and welcoming couple who took time to sit and laugh with us. The man is originally from Turkey and his wife is French-Caribbean. They both speak English, in addition to their native tongues, so we were enthused to get to know them. They explained to us their process of making their chicken kabobs, and we can certify that they’ve got this marinade, roasting, and cooking method down.
Le Marin offers a of variety of water sport activities for the adventurous: chartering boats, diving, kayaking, water-skiing, windsurfing, fishing, and BBQ donuts. On one occasion, Kory rented two dive tanks from a local dive shop so he could clean the growth off the bottom of our boat. This was $30 well-spent!
As Martinique’s hub for yachting and nautical services, Le Marin was a great place to stop. We were able to get needed boat supplies and restock our cupboards and fridges before heading south to more remote islands. Le Marin has a large fuel dock with built-in fenders, so it was easy to get on and off. The fuel prices were a bit steep, but we hadn’t filled up our tanks since the US Virgin Islands, so it was time.
From Saint Pierre to Saint Anne, Fort-du-France to Le Marin, the cities of Martinique are some of our favorites in all of the Eastern Caribbean. We could spent a lot of time here and still not get tired of this beautiful, tropical island!