French Antilles: Beaches in Martinique

Martinique

The island of Martinique was colonized by France in 1635 and remained a French possession since then (excluding brief periods of foreign occupation). The name “Martinique” is probably an adjustment of the Indian name “Madiana” (“Island of flowers”) or “Madinina” (“Fertile island with rich vegetation”), and the island definitely lives up to its name! (Off-top: now I cannot resist but think about my friend Madina, who is also living to that blossoming, beautiful, flowerful name!)

In this post I will uncover the most beautiful beaches in Martinique we have visited on our trip.

Beaches in Martinique

The beaches in Martinique are one of the reasons you should come to this island. They are gorgeous, the water is so clean and warm that you would not want to go out of the water.

The beaches in the north of the island are mostly offering fine black sand, influenced by the volcano eruptions. The Atlantic side is rather wild, featuring bigger waves, which are even surfable, in comparison to the calmer, more tranquil Carribean white-sanded beaches.

Our favorite beaches were the following:

Anse Michel (Sainte-Anne, in the South) is a small secluded beach which you will reach by 10 minutes hiking from the parking through the mangroves forest. The beach is surrounded by the huge picturesque palm trees (but beware of the coconuts) and the color of water is stunning clear-light-turquoise. There is also a private shop selling drinks and food for reasonable money.

Anse d’Arlet (Les Anses-d’Arlet, in the South-West) – here you can go for a great snorkeling round. They say, you can even see a turtle. Unfortunately, we were not that lucky, but we’ve seen an octopus, a murene and many cool colorful fish. At that beach there are many restaurants offering you decent local cuisine for affordable money.

Anse Mabouya (Sainte-Luce, in the South) is a beach which is gladly visited by locals on the weekends. Indeed, the water is clean and calm and there is a lot of shade from the trees on the shore.

Plage de l’Anse Mitan (Les Trois-Îlets in the South-West) features several small bays where you can snorkel and even explore a sunken boat. Besides, there is a cool cafe serving drinks and ice cream at the end of the pier.

Plage de Pointe Marin (next to the Club Med, Sainte-Anne, in the South) – here the snorkeling under the pier and around the beton construction on the right side of the pier if you look toward the sea was pretty exciting.

La Francaise – the beach of Fort-de-France which proves that a city beach can be beautiful.

Plage de l’Anse l’Etang (Presqu’Île Caravelle in the North-East) – calm, clear, warm water, long beach with fine yellow sand, but many toxic trees on the coast.