St Martin & the Leewards: Recommended routes & tips

Johan Maier

A concise guide to your sailing trip around St Martin, St Barths and Anguilla, featuring a detailed itinerary, practical tips and key information about the area. You’ll find out what you need to bear in mind when clearing customs, which spots are well worth a visit and where caution is advised. Ideal for planning a two-week sailing trip in the Leewards.

Suggested route (excluding the southern part of St Martin):
Anse Marcel – Île Tintamarre – Colombier – Gustavia – Île Fourchue – Road Bay – Rendezvous Bay – Meads Bay – Prickly Pear – Crocus Bay – Dog Island – Road Bay – Anse Marcel

We also spent two weeks on the southern side of St. Martin (Sint Maarten), but we didn’t particularly like it. I would recommend spending more time around St. Barths, the French part of St. Martin and Anguilla.

Internet:
You should definitely get a Starlink. In this area, there are major issues with network coverage and the mobile masts of the various countries. This can sometimes get very expensive if you’re using tariffs from other countries. In some bays, there’s no network at all or only very poor coverage (e.g. Île Fourchue). Global eSIM providers also often cause problems.

Clearance:
You’ll need to clear customs very frequently here: the north side of St Martin is French, the south side Dutch. St Barths is also French, but is considered a separate territory – you’ll need to clear customs here too. Anguilla belongs to the UK. Saba, Statia and St Kitts and Nevis are independent countries; the effort involved in clearing customs there is very high, particularly in the latter.

The authorities can be strict in some cases: in St Barths, you can still spend the night before in one of the bays (Île Fourchue or Colombier) before you have to clear customs the next day. In the Dutch, British and French territories, this usually has to be done on the same day. For stays of 24–48 hours, you can often clear out again straight after clearing in – check this in advance and plan your route accordingly.
When checking in, also make sure you have all the flags of the countries you intend to visit on board, including the yellow flag.

Clearance and re-clearance can be carried out here, amongst other places:

French St Martin:

- Marigot Bay

- Marina Anse Marcel

Dutch Sint Maarten:

- Great Bay

- Simpson Bay

St. Barths:

- Gustavia

Anguilla:

- Road Bay

- Blowing Point (more for emergencies, and less attractive for mooring than Road Bay)

Prices:
Generally speaking, prices are relatively high, especially in St. Barths: T-shirts rarely cost less than €50, two scoops of ice cream around €9, and a drink the same. There is practically no upper limit – swimming trunks for €320 are not uncommon. Saint Martin and Anguilla are a little cheaper; you can eat very well in Anguilla, but it costs a fair bit too.

Swell and shelter from the wind:
St. Martin, Anguilla and St. Barths are comparatively open and significantly less sheltered from wind and swell than the western coasts of the Windward Islands. During the season, north-easterly to south-easterly winds prevail, usually accompanied by corresponding swell from the same direction. As a result, the northern coasts of St. Barths, for example, are often inaccessible. The north-eastern side of Anguilla is also frequently exposed to swell, and the eastern side of St. Martin is not always suitable as an anchorage.
Swimming stops such as Île Tintamarre or other offshore islands to the north are not suitable for staying overnight.

Rules & Nature:
Large parts of the islands are nature reserves with strict rules: speed limits, fishing bans and restrictions on water sports, drones, etc. There are also clearly marked areas where anchoring is prohibited.

Furthermore, many of the fish there are not suitable for consumption.

I hope this helps you with your planning and wish you a really great trip.