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Ferry Info 101: Fort De France to Pointe De Bout/Anse Mitan Beaches


chschn87
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Just a FYI to those considering Anse Mitan. We took the ferry there on our Jan 2-14 2017 cruise and were warned that there are "dog worms" in the sand. (Pardon my literal translation from French, I don't know the right English words.) Essentially there is a problem with stray dogs defecating on the beach at night. The feces have worms that live in the sand that purportedly burrow into your feet and legs. She warned my children to only play in wet sand, as several long-stay tourists had been infected this year from lying on towels in the sand.

I never came across this issue when researching Martinique and saw no warnings on the beach. We were careful to minimize our time on the dry sand, showered thoroughly once back on the ship and had no issues.

 

 

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  • 5 weeks later...

We will be docking april 12th and we were supposed to use ferryboat for a day at the beach.

But these sad news about poor quality of the beaches ( Dogs actualy doiing #2 problem ) kinds of scaring us a bit

 

Is there some fresh news about it since .

And is this only affecting one beach or both ?

 

So if someone has more details.

Thnx

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Are all of the beaches on the island now infected with skin burrowing dog worms?

 

 

I went to the beach in Anse Mitan January 8 2017 and didn't see any dogs on the beach or anywhere on the streets near Anse Mitan, where I took a 15 mins. walk around the town. The beach was clean and I wouldn't hesitate to go back again.

 

Since the ferries that go to Anse Mitan are smaller than the ferries that go to Pointe Du Bout, I would line up at the dock at least 10 mins. before ferry arrival as some people lined up at the last minute and had to wait for the next ferry. We were there on a Sunday and the ferries ran every hour. I found it helpful to take a picture with my phone of the ferry schedule showed on the ferry. The ferry schedule will have the days of the week listed in French, they are:

 

Lun 'a Deu------is Monday thru Thursday

Ven------- is Friday

Sam------is Saturday

Dim------ is Sunday

Edited by Life is Good Cruising
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  • 2 months later...
Thank you so much for this great information! I think this is exactly what we'll do while in Martinique. :)

Does anyone know if there's a restaurant that accepts US$ so we can maybe have a snack and drink while we're at the beach?

If not, I'll bring some Euros but I'd rather not have to go through the hassle :rolleyes:

I used my Capital One credit charge which the beach restaurant accepted & that charge card has no transaction fees.

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I went to the beach in Anse Mitan January 8 2017 and didn't see any dogs on the beach or anywhere on the streets near Anse Mitan, where I took a 15 mins. walk around the town. The beach was clean and I wouldn't hesitate to go back again.

 

Since the ferries that go to Anse Mitan are smaller than the ferries that go to Pointe Du Bout, I would line up at the dock at least 10 mins. before ferry arrival as some people lined up at the last minute and had to wait for the next ferry. We were there on a Sunday and the ferries ran every hour. I found it helpful to take a picture with my phone of the ferry schedule showed on the ferry. The ferry schedule will have the days of the week listed in French, they are:

 

Lun 'a Deu------is Monday thru Thursday

Ven------- is Friday

Sam------is Saturday

Dim------ is Sunday

 

 

 

Some pictures of the beach in Anse Mitan

79e5e08fa55e054df9555a74c3075ba4.jpg

 

6c896e6c5b43949335fd932ff2836db9.jpg

 

d43294750178c361a10634bd56b295e7.jpg

 

a402c6ef6dc5fa360856e2aeeb189d52.jpg

 

 

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  • 5 months later...

Help!

Our cruise for Jan 2017 was just changed to stop in Martinique instead of Dominica.

We will be tendering to Anse Mitan so I'm trying to set up a tour of the island for my group.

Christelle with Karambole tours said we would need to take the ferry to Fort Du France for the tour start...wondering how challenging this would be with a group of 10-12 persons?

And should we try to do an island tour or just stay on the beaches???

Any advice from those who have been to the island recently is appreciated!!!

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  • 4 weeks later...

With 5 ships in port the day we'll visit Martinique, we decided not to do the ferry. We are taking the North tour, but have to say, I'm worried about traffic and crowds there as well.

 

From what I read Martinique never had this many ships in port and the ferries and traffic can be pretty bad with two ships.

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Help!

 

Our cruise for Jan 2017 was just changed to stop in Martinique instead of Dominica.

 

We will be tendering to Anse Mitan so I'm trying to set up a tour of the island for my group.

 

Christelle with Karambole tours said we would need to take the ferry to Fort Du France for the tour start...wondering how challenging this would be with a group of 10-12 persons?

 

And should we try to do an island tour or just stay on the beaches???

 

Any advice from those who have been to the island recently is appreciated!!!

 

 

 

Are you on the pride cruise from Baltimore??

 

 

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We are in Martinique right now at Anse à l’Âne. This is a really nice sandy beach. We are using lounge chairs at La Case à Glace. They are free if you order food. The beach is clean. There are no stray animals. The vendors do not bother anyone. This is a really enjoyable beach to spend the day.

 

i-xdxGTTX.jpg

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We are back at Anse à l’Âne again this week. We are doing B2B cruises. Last night, Captain Kate on Celebrity Summit announced that our St Lucia stop is replaced with Martinique today due to too many ships in St Lucia, no berth space available.

.So we decided to come back to Anse à l’Âne.

 

A couple of follow up notes from last week. The ferry runs a triangle route anti-clockwise: Ft de France, Anse à l’Âne, Anse Mitan, and then back to Ft de France. The ramifications of this are Anse à l’Âne passengers returning to their ship get to board the ferry BEFORE the ferry goes to Anse Mitan. There was a long line of people last week at Mitan that wanted on the 14:00 ferry. They all got on, but the ferry was quite full. If you are concerned about the ferry being full, Anse à l’Âne might be the better beach to visit.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
We are back at Anse à l’Âne again this week. We are doing B2B cruises. Last night, Captain Kate on Celebrity Summit announced that our St Lucia stop is replaced with Martinique today due to too many ships in St Lucia, no berth space available.

.So we decided to come back to Anse à l’Âne.

 

A couple of follow up notes from last week. The ferry runs a triangle route anti-clockwise: Ft de France, Anse à l’Âne, Anse Mitan, and then back to Ft de France. The ramifications of this are Anse à l’Âne passengers returning to their ship get to board the ferry BEFORE the ferry goes to Anse Mitan. There was a long line of people last week at Mitan that wanted on the 14:00 ferry. They all got on, but the ferry was quite full. If you are concerned about the ferry being full, Anse à l’Âne might be the better beach to visit.

 

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We were going to go to Anse Mitan for swimming. Do you think Anse a L'Ane would be a better choice? Is the ferry $8 round trip? Can you get drinks at Anse a L'Ane?

Thanks

Tony

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We were going to go to Anse Mitan for swimming. Do you think Anse a L'Ane would be a better choice? Is the ferry $8 round trip? Can you get drinks at Anse a L'Ane?

Thanks

Tony

Yes, I think Anse a L'Ane is a better choice. It has an excellent swimming beach. The sand drop off is very gradual - you can walk quite a ways out before being in over your head. It was not crowded at all, even when both Summit and Adventure OTS were in port. The round-trip fare is $7 USD or 7 euro. So you save money if you pay in USD. They provide change in USD too.

 

There are about 3 cafes on the beach. We bought all our food and drinks at La Case à Glace

https://www.tripadvisor.fr/Restaurant_Review-g147329-d3907479-Reviews-La_Case_a_Glaces-Trois_Ilets_Arrondissement_of_Le_Marin_Martinique.html

 

They have a full menu with lots of seafood choices - see the pictures on Tripadvisor. They serve alcohol. And they have home made ice cream.

 

If you take the 900 am ferry, you will have first choice of beach chairs at Case à Glace. They fill up by about 1030am (weekday). There are more beach chairs at the other end that are rented by a vendor.

 

Post 56 shows pictures of Anse Mitan. I thought it looked more crowded, and had a smaller beach area. The concrete retaining walls give it an "industrial" look. It also has the disadvantage of being the second stop on the ferry ride back to the cruise port. Anse a L'Ane is the first stop, meaning those passengers get on first. That could be important if the ferry fills to capacity.

 

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Question, we will be tendering into Anse Mitan (onboard Windstar) and I have a group of 12 that needs to get to Ft. de France to meet our tour guide...do you suggest catching the ferry in Anse Mitan or Anse L'Ane? We arrive at 9 and need to meet the tour guide at 10...hoping at that time of the morning the crowds are arriving into where we're leaving from?:confused:

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Question, we will be tendering into Anse Mitan (onboard Windstar) and I have a group of 12 that needs to get to Ft. de France to meet our tour guide...do you suggest catching the ferry in Anse Mitan or Anse L'Ane? We arrive at 9 and need to meet the tour guide at 10...hoping at that time of the morning the crowds are arriving into where we're leaving from?:confused:
From what I saw, two weeks in a row, the ferries have relatively few passengers in the morning. Your group of 12 should have no problem getting on at either location. Anse Mitan should work fine since you are already there.

 

When you buy the $7 return ticket, they give you a small purple ticket that will be needed for the return. Make sure your group members dont lose the ticket, or they will need to buy another for the trip back to Anse Mitan.

 

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From what I saw, two weeks in a row, the ferries have relatively few passengers in the morning. Your group of 12 should have no problem getting on at either location. Anse Mitan should work fine since you are already there.

 

When you buy the $7 return ticket, they give you a small purple ticket that will be needed for the return. Make sure your group members dont lose the ticket, or they will need to buy another for the trip back to Anse Mitan.

 

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Thank you so much and Happy Holidays!

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  • 5 weeks later...
With 5 ships in port the day we'll visit Martinique, we decided not to do the ferry. We are taking the North tour, but have to say, I'm worried about traffic and crowds there as well.

 

From what I read Martinique never had this many ships in port and the ferries and traffic can be pretty bad with two ships.

 

 

How do you know how many ships are in port that day.

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From what I saw, two weeks in a row, the ferries have relatively few passengers in the morning. Your group of 12 should have no problem getting on at either location. Anse Mitan should work fine since you are already there.

 

When you buy the $7 return ticket, they give you a small purple ticket that will be needed for the return. Make sure your group members dont lose the ticket, or they will need to buy another for the trip back to Anse Mitan.

 

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Is the surface in water sandy or do we need water shoes?

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  • 1 month later...
I think that you can avoid the problem by taking the boat back to the ship from the Anse Mitan pier instead of Pointe de bout. It was a mistake to walk back to Pointe de bout and hopefully this thread helps others with this issue.

 

You mentioned the problems trying to return from Pointe de bout being terrible and to use the Mitan for return instead but others have mentioned there could be a problem with that since the ferry stops at Anse L'Ane first and it could get filled up quickly before even making it to the stop at Mitan. :confused:

 

I'm just trying to figure out the best route.

 

When you buy the $7 return ticket, they give you a small purple ticket that will be needed for the return. Make sure your group members dont lose the ticket, or they will need to buy another for the trip back to Anse Mitan.

 

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If you was to stop at Anse L'Ane first and catch the ferry when it picks up again, can you get off at Anse Mitan? Would you have to use your return ticket for this trip and purchase another return ticket to get back?

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  • 1 month later...
You mentioned the problems trying to return from Pointe de bout being terrible and to use the Mitan for return instead but others have mentioned there could be a problem with that since the ferry stops at Anse L'Ane first and it could get filled up quickly before even making it to the stop at Mitan. :confused:

 

I'm just trying to figure out the best route.

 

 

If you was to stop at Anse L'Ane first and catch the ferry when it picks up again, can you get off at Anse Mitan? Would you have to use your return ticket for this trip and purchase another return ticket to get back?

 

The ferry I took on 2 different dates and times from FDF took me straight to Anse Mitan first, it may have had Anse L'Ane as a second stop and there may have been a third ferry at FDF going to Anse L'Ane first.

There is a gentlemen on the ferry dock at FDF who speak English and there to assist tourist using the ferries.

 

Your ferry ticket fare of $7 pp is for a round trip, children may be less $ or free. If going back to FDF from Anse Mitan, line up at the ferry dock at least 10 minutes before the arrival of the ferry to ensure you'll be able to get on, which depends on how many people are returning the same time as you to FDF.

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