Fort-de-France - Docking
Fort de France is a lovely anchorage and the town is historic and quaint. There are large malls a short bus ride away providing a selection of products unavailable elsewhere in the Caribbean.
Anchoring:
Yachts should anchor away from the ferry dock as this area, just off the town, is very busy with ferries. The anchorage under the old fort is very popular and can get crowded. It can also be quite windy here for such limited space.
There is a prohibited anchoring area in front of the southern tip of the Fort St. Louis peninsula.
Yachts can also anchor in the north-east part of the bay or at any of the villages across the bay and take a ferry into town.
It may be possible to find a free visitor’s mooring.
Watch out if leaving your dinghy at the dinghy dock. The area is very popular for youngsters to dive and swim, especially after school, on weekends and holidays. Local youths are known to use unattended dinghies as diving platforms!
There is an alternative option for your dinghy in town, on the concrete wall just 50m west of the swimming dock. It has three ladders, about 2 metres high for convenient access to the concrete apron on shore. A stern anchor is recommended here as there are wake induced surges in this harbour. There are no swimmers in this area however it is recommended you secure the dinghy and outboard plus all loose objects in the dinghy and remove anything of value.
Marinas:
The new Marina Etang Z’Abricot is reported to be very reasonably priced but is a long walk from town.
Security:
Take care ashore as there have been reports of cruisers being mugged in the past. In June 2022 CSSN reported that a charter guest was held up at knife point on the dinghy dock at Fort de France.
Dinghies continue to be the focus of thefts and vandalism. The latest incident occurred in July 2022 at the main dinghy dock when a dinghy was stolen, despite being chain locked.
See Piracy and Security Reports for Martinique for the latest incidents.
Previous reported thefts include a dinghy stolen in July 2021 that was chain locked to the Maxmarine dock and in two separate incidents in 2017, two dinghies left on the long dock ashore at Fort de France had their fuel tanks stolen. The padlock/cable securing the outboard and fuel tank had been broken open/cut.
Another boat reported an attempted theft of a fuel tank and fuel line from a securely locked dinghy at the dinghy dock near the fort in December 2019. (see CSSN report).
Last updated: July 2022
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Port Navigation
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We were sailing down to Forr dd France yesterday when we were intercepted by the Police Maritime RIb. There’s an exclusion zone on the port until 27 November 2023 for the arrival of French transat sailor Jaques Vabres. We diverted to St Pierre. I can’t find any notice to mariners referring to this exclusion zone anywhere.
Navigation, anchoring or berthing is forbidden in the Baie de Flamands. This includes the normal anchorage for FdF under the walls of Fort St Louis.
Thankyou John for this info. We’ve added an alert to the port page.
The marina is great and efficient – what I am used from Europe. I agree it is a on the outskirts of FdF, with few facilities nearby. I am writing to recommend a great car rental company though: Cover Car. 2 minutes walk from the Marina along the main road, they have great customer service and good prices. For the same price as the bigger companies I get a better car (and you safe 2x 20 eur for the taxi to the airport). (example: a 5 doors sedan for 35 eur per day) It is true, that the challengers try harder, and this company succeeds. http://www.covercar.fr; they speak mostly french but can speak English as well.
Hello, the address and phone number of Customs shown above is wrong. Also Google map entries. We eventually found customs in the Express des Iles, inter-Island Ferry Terminal in Fort du France. This is where the Ferries leave to Dominica, St. Lucia, etc. They could help us with the import of a cat.
Good anchoring here, in sandy mud, but it was very rolly. This seemed more to do with swell than just the ferries.
A good place to the provision as Leader Price is just down the road and there is a fantastic Carrefour a little further into town. Also chandlers across the road from Leader Price.
Fuel in Fort de France
We got diesel and petrol from Baie de Tourelles, DCML WIPCO. It’s possible to get it on your boat or in the dinghy. Pass into the small marina and the fuel dock is signposted DCML in green letters. There are 2 moorings for boats to get diesel, we are 42ft and our tank is at the stern of the boat, the hose just reached. The dock is a floating pontoon and you have to tie your lines to the plastic rings, there is no one there to help. Wear your shoes as the plastic is scorching on your feet. Diesel was €1.20 a litre, petrol €1.41.
We stayed 6 nights in la Marina of Etang z’Abricots. A New port for sailing yachts. Superb! All facilities like shower, laundry. During the night there is a guard. The port is well organised and safe.
You can take bus 211 in the centre of Fort France. It takes 25 mins and costs €1.80.
We rented a car for two days for 50€ via the Port Captain. They bring the car to the port.
The bakery is at 200 meters.
We had a wonderful stay and liked it very much.
We stayed in the Marina Etang Z’Abricot for 11 EUR a night (12-meter boat) including water and electricity. It is a long walk to town (1,5 hour), if you have a fast dinghy it’s better to take that into town. The marina wasn’t on our charts as its pretty new. Follow the buoyed channel, give Pointe des Sables a very wide berth. Depths in the marina were 3 metres or more. Showers are horrible.
There is a Decathlon with an impressive assortment of water sports toys (even kitesurfing gear) near the freeway on a 45-minute stroll from the marina. We also tried to anchor off the Fort but it was way too windy and crowded.
From Martinique Cruisers Facebook Page:
When anchoring in Fort de France, we no longer consider that the regular dinghy dock is a safe place to leave your dinghy, even during daylight hours.
We’ve noticed that local French cruisers use the higher dock, slightly west of the main boardwalk dock. The boys do not seem to bother dinghies over there.
Reported on CSSN:
DATE: 2017-03-20 21:00
Owners returned to the Fort de France main dinghy dock at 9 PM and found that a thief used cable cutters to cut the single cable that had secured the fuel tank, outboard and the dinghy, then took only the fuel tank.
We tried the telephone number, but was told the number was not in use
Marina very safe and quiet, contact on channel 9 when in a channel. Gates to pontoons and main entrance are electronic. Staff very helpful and friendly. Showers, e-mail no laundry yet, 45-foot yacht €13 a night, electricity and water. Taxis not cheap. Mooring is stern to with pick up lines on the jetty for attaching to bow marina staff will assist. Tel local 0596.75.11.57
Marina is indeed operating (January 2016) and had basic facilities like wifi and showers. They don’t seem to have internet pages but there was plenty of room for guest boats. Price was 11 euros per day for a 40ft sailboat.
The marina is pretty far from everything. There is boulangerie on walking distance but provisioning is best done with a cab to supermarkets (Carrefour) which is just 10 minutes drive away.
What are the fees for mooring? Are there fees if the boat is anchored?