Sail Guadeloupe.

Guadeloupe is two islands joined at the middle, and they sail nothing alike. Basse-Terre is volcanic: rainforest to the ridge line, grey-sand bays, and a lee that goes glassy for an hour then throws 30kt down off the slopes. Grande-Terre is flat limestone, dry, reef-fringed and steadily windier. Between them the Rivière Salée splits the butterfly. Hang Les Saintes, Marie-Galante, La Désirade and Petite Terre off the south-east corner and you have a week of 20nm hops without ever leaving one archipelago. It is also France — euros, EU roaming, a chandlery that stocks what it says it stocks, and bread at 06:00.

Almost everything starts at La Marina Bas du Fort in Pointe-à-Pitre, a large, well-served basin with fuel, sailmakers and supermarkets within walking distance. East of it, the south coast of Grande-Terre runs behind reef: Îlet du Gosier, the shallow lagoon at Sainte-Anne, then Saint-François, where the entrance is buoyed, narrow and best taken in good light. Ten miles further east lie Petite Terre — a nature reserve with a handful of moorings, iguanas on the beach and a bar across the entrance — and La Désirade beyond it.

South, across the Canal des Saintes, Terre-de-Haut is the anchorage most crews remember: moorings under Pain de Sucre, Fort Napoléon on the hill, ferries stirring the harbour until dusk. Marie-Galante is a flat pancake of cane fields and rum distilleries with anchorages at Saint-Louis and Grand-Bourg. On the west coast of Basse-Terre, Deshaies is the classic northern stop, with the Cousteau reserve off Pigeon Island for the diving.

The Rivière Salée cuts through the middle, but its bridges open early morning on a limited schedule and the channel is shallow. Confirm openings locally; most crews route around the south instead.

The working season is December to May. North-east trades blow 15–20kt, with the late-December to February "Christmas winds" often 25kt and more. It is close-hauled going east along Grande-Terre and a fast reach coming back. Channel crossings — Canal des Saintes, and the passage to Marie-Galante — see accelerated wind and a swell that has come a long way; the lee of Basse-Terre does the opposite, and you will motor parts of that coast.

June to November is hurricane season, peaking August to October. Boats do sail through it, the anchorages are empty and the water is 29°C, but winds are lighter and squallier and you plan around the forecast. Check what your insurance and charter terms say about tracking storms. Tides are under 0.5m all year, so depth is about reef and swell, not timing.

Both bareboat and crewed boats sail from Bas du Fort through the year, monohulls and catamarans. Bareboat is the bulk of it, typically 40–46ft. If your crew is short on Caribbean miles, take a skipper for the week or just for the first two days to get the reef entrances and the Saintes moorings sorted — it costs less than one grounding. Crewed charters, with skipper and cook aboard, work well for families and mixed-experience groups who would rather not run the boat themselves.

Ranges, not quotes. A 40–45ft bareboat monohull runs roughly EUR 3,000–5,500 a week outside the peak and EUR 4,500–8,000 from mid-December to April. A 42–46ft catamaran is roughly EUR 5,500–12,000 depending on age and week. A skipper is around EUR 200–250 a day plus their food. Fully crewed: price on request.

Budget separately for end cleaning, the security deposit or damage waiver, fuel, outboard hire, tourist tax, reserve and mooring fees at Les Saintes and Petite Terre, and clearance charges if you sail on to Dominica. Provisioning in supermarkets near the marina is French-priced: allow EUR 30–40 per person per day if you eat mostly aboard. Message us on WhatsApp with your dates and crew and we will price the actual boat.

Day 1 — Board in the afternoon, brief, shop. Stay in the marina, or drop the lines and anchor two miles east off Îlet du Gosier.

Day 2 — Gosier to Terre-de-Haut, about 20nm across the Canal des Saintes. Reef down before you leave the shelter. Mooring under Pain de Sucre.

Day 3 — Les Saintes. Walk up to Fort Napoléon early, swim at Pompierre, eat ashore in Bourg.

Day 4 — Terre-de-Haut to Saint-Louis, Marie-Galante, about 22nm on a beam reach. Hire scooters for the distilleries and the north-coast cliffs.

Day 5 — Marie-Galante to Saint-François, about 22nm and the windward leg of the week. Enter with the sun high.

Day 6 — Saint-François to Petite Terre and back, roughly 10nm each way, or on to Sainte-Anne. Moorings at Petite Terre are few and go early.

Day 7 — Sainte-Anne or Gosier back to Bas du Fort, 8–14nm, fuel, hand back.

Prefer flat water and rainforest to open crossings? Run the other way instead — Deshaies, Pigeon Island and the Basse-Terre coast — and accept more engine hours.

Right for crews with a bit of sea time who want short passages, real landfalls and a different island most days. Right for families in the reef-protected water between Gosier and Saint-François. Less right for anyone who wants a marina berth every night — outside Bas du Fort and Saint-François this is an anchoring and mooring cruise — or for crews who dislike a windward leg.