Christmas in Martinique
- Tim Rhodes
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
We caught up with the fleet in Sainte-Anne, Martinique, anchoring in a bay that was busy but close to the beautiful little small town of Sainte-Anne. To the west of town lies an undeveloped coastal trail that wraps a long way around the peninsula, making it a nice place for hiking or running. In the opposite direction is a more industrial area, home to boat services and supply stores.
We reconnected with families we had met earlier in Grenada, shared a few sundowners, enjoyed morning hikes, and took part in social Christmas festival gatherings in the main square of Sainte-Anne.
At the western edge of town, where the coastal trail begins, there is a water park designed for both kids and adults. It consists of an inflatable obstacle course set just offshore, and it immediately brought to mind a chaotic game show. In the UK, it would resemble It’s a Knockout, while it felt even closer to the Japanese show Takeshi’s Castle, where contestants navigate towering obstacles above water, inevitably falling in after mistimed steps and bouncing off inflatable surfaces.
The most entertaining section was the counter-catapult cushion. A heavier person, usually a parent—jumps from a raised platform onto a large inflatable pad while a smaller participant, typically a child, lies at the opposite end. With precise timing, the adult lands on the right spot and launches the child into the air and into the water. One father-and-son team executed this perfectly time and again. More than once, I heard a clear American accent call out, “Son, you in position?” “Yes, Dad.” “Okay, three, two, one, boom!”
I only wish I had captured it on camera, but I was too preoccupied attempting the second-most amusing challenge: crossing the inflatable cylinder. The goal is to run or walk across a rotating, slippery tube without falling. Momentum is essential, and only one teenage boy managed it successfully. He mastered it to such an extent that he was the only person I saw reach the other side. It reminded me of children sprinting in a 100-metre race, leaning their torsos dramatically forward. It looked awkward, but in this case it worked—he finished with a dive that allowed him to land on the far platform.
I tried repeatedly and failed every time. Eventually, I became genuinely concerned about injuring myself. On more than one attempt, an outstretched arm was uncomfortably hyperextended during an awkward fall as the cylinder rolled away beneath me.
After restocking our supplies, we left the busy bay and sailed five miles to the quieter anchorage of Petite Anses d’Arlet to spend Christmas. There, we joined another family for Christmas dinner, and it felt like the perfect place. A reef lay just 300 metres from our anchor, with another reef a further 200 metres from shore. On Christmas morning, we simply put on our snorkelling gear and jumped straight off the boat. We towed our paddleboard behind us so other boats could see us and to make the return swim easier.
From there, we headed to the capital, Fort-de-France, primarily to visit the infamous Decathlon, similar to MEC in Canada or Go Outdoors in the UK, where you can find almost anything needed for outdoor life in the Caribbean. We were then thoroughly sidetracked by a huge supermarket filled with items we hadn’t been able to buy for quite some time.
Our final stop was the northern port of Saint-Pierre. We enjoyed more social time with our cruising friends, especially for the kids, and even managed a hike up Mount Pelée, the 1,400-metre volcano. We were genuinely surprised that everyone made it, almost to the top. On the descent, we joined another family, making it a shared experience. Altogether, it was a a great way to end 2025.
A few days ago, we crossed to Dominica for a quick propane stop before continuing on to Marie-Galante, an outlying island of Guadeloupe. We plan on staying in Guadeloupe for another 2 weeks before continuing north. Our aim in to get to the Dominican Repblic by February.
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