Martinique??
 

Has anyone been to Martinique? If so, how was your experience. We will be spending a week in St. Lucia and would like to spend the following week in Martinique but know little about the island. Any input would be greatly appreciated!!

French, beautiful beaches, topless (all ages from 2 - 72), not good snorkeling.

Thank you for the input!! How about St. Vincent and Grenadines? Any input. I would like to stay near St. Lucia but there are not a lot of choices...
thanks again!!

Martinique is a Depertment of France, with the usual French social services and good roads. It was our favorite of the French islands. Physically beautiful, better beaches than St.Lucia, interesting history, French flair. Great island to experience the cultural differences. We thought much more interesting than St.Vincent. The Grenadines are a string of tiny islands between St.Vincent and Grenada, some of them private island resorts, with not much beyond the resort. Grenada is another drop-dead-gorgeous island, and only a little further than flying to St. Vincent. It's helpful to know a little French for Martinique, but not critical. Grenada is English-speaking.

How does Martinique compare with St. Barths: restaurants, water sports, atmosphere, sight seeing, spas?

Rachel975, we thought St.Barths was overrated as a tropical island in the Caribbean. It is upscale, white, and French chic, but you can go to France for that. A dry island--not very tropical in feeling. A half day shopping in Gustavia and a drive around the island to look at some ocean views is pretty much it, outside of the beach. Martinique is more authentic Caribbean, with the Afro/French culture, lush and tropical in feeling, good sightseeing (gardens, tropical forests, the ruins of St.Pierre, Napoleon's Josephine's birthplace, plantations, variety of beaches. Worth at least several days.

Rachel 1975, having said that, you'll see many many posters here and elsewhere who love St.Barths for what it is. Depends what kind of island you're looking for.

We've been thinking of going to Martinique, too. Do you know of any upscale beach resorts there?

I worked for Club Med in Martinique many years ago [actually a few lifetimes ago ]...it is a terrific island. Beautiful beaches [Cousteau named it as one of his favorite], lush tropics. Great food!

Hope this helps...
Debi

Martinique is nothing (NOTHING!) like St. Barths--my fiance and I had a wonderful time and it is beautiful but it is most definitely not cosmopolitan in any way. The restaurants are awful and there's really not much nightlife, but there are some interesting things to do during the day (St. Pierre, rum factories, beach) and is in my opinion safer than St. Lucia. When we visited St. Lucia the people are very aggressive in asking for money and there seemed to be quite a bit of crime. On the other hand, the citizens of Martinique were all very pleasant, and we never felt unsafe even in towns/places where we were the only Americans--I would say there was a more interesting culture there and the people were very friendly. Cap est Lagoon is the nicest place to stay on Martinique but it is extremely expensive. We really liked Habitation LaGrange which is in the interior (out in the middle of nowhere near a beautiful banana plantation) and there are a ton of cute beachy places to stay right on the water as well. A week there might be a lot after St.Lucia if you're city-type people but if peace and quiet is what you're after you'll love it.