A 7-day Windwards yacht charter itinerary across St Lucia, Martinique and Dominica: the Pitons, Rodney Bay, Fort-de-France and clearance between islands.
A 7-day Windwards charter itinerary runs between Martinique, Dominica and St Lucia. It is the most dramatic scenery in the Caribbean — the Pitons rising straight out of deep water, Dominica's rainforest running down to the shore, Mount Pelée behind Martinique's black-sand north coast — and the least crowded of the well-served grounds.
A St Lucia yacht charter is a natural start for a Windwards week, pairing the Pitons with Martinique's French harbours and Dominica's rainforest.
It is also the most demanding. The passages are two to five hours in open water between islands, each island is a separate clearance, and one of them is France. This is a ground for charterers who have done the Virgins and want something with more substance. This guide covers how crews plan it, and where Guest Trip removes the spreadsheet stage.
The season is December to April, with February the most settled. The channels between these islands are open Atlantic water and the trades funnel through them, so a passage that reads as 25 miles on the chart can be a livelier two hours than anything in the Virgins. Plan the crossings for the morning and set the expectation with guests that this ground involves actual sailing.
The compensation is variety. In one week guests get French pâtisserie and rum distilleries in Martinique, a rainforest island with almost no development in Dominica, and the Caribbean's most photographed anchorage in St Lucia. Few grounds anywhere offer that range in 100 miles.
1. Plan the direction from the trades and the flights
Martinique (Fort-de-France, Le Marin) and St Lucia (Rodney Bay, Marigot Bay, Castries) both have international airports, so most weeks run one-way. Running north to south — Martinique, Dominica, St Lucia — is the usual direction, though Dominica sits north of Martinique, so a full three-island week generally starts in Martinique, runs north to Dominica, then turns back south for St Lucia. Accept one longer day rather than trying to make every leg short.
2. Remember that Martinique is France
Martinique is an overseas department of France and part of the EU, with the Euro, French customs and a Schengen-adjacent immigration position. Clearance is straightforward and inexpensive — often a computer terminal in a chandlery or café — but it is an EU border, which matters for crew visas and for any yacht managing its own VAT and temporary admission position. It also means the best provisioning of the week by a wide margin.
3. Use PAYS in Dominica rather than working around it
In Portsmouth, at the northern end of Dominica, the Portsmouth Association of Yacht Security runs the moorings, the security patrol and the river tours, and it transformed the anchorage's reputation. Take a PAYS mooring, use their boat boys as the guides they are, and book the Indian River tour through them — it is rowed, by regulation, and it is the best two hours in the Windwards. Roseau to the south has its own mooring operators.
Dominica is the least developed island on the route and the excursions are the point: Trafalgar Falls, the hot springs, Champagne Reef where volcanic gas bubbles up through the snorkelling, and the edge of the Morne Trois Pitons national park.
4. Know the SMMA rules before you reach the Pitons
The Soufriere Marine Management Area on St Lucia's west coast covers the Pitons, and anchoring is forbidden throughout it except in designated areas for which a permit is required. There are five yacht mooring zones: between Anse Chastanet and Anse Mamin, Rachette Point, Soufriere Jetty, Malgretoute Beach and the Beausejour area. Fees run $20 a night or $120 a week for vessels up to 70 feet, $100 a night for 70 to 120 feet, and $200 a night above 120 feet, with an annual crewed-charter permit at $500. Permits are bought from uniformed SMMA rangers on the water, who can be verified on VHF 16, and there is a small per-person daily entrance fee. The Hummingbird Beach area is a fishing priority zone closed to anchoring.
In Guest Trip: save the SMMA mooring zones as custom locations with the fee band for your yacht noted against each, and reuse them every season.
5. Budget St Lucia's charter licence and clearance fees
St Lucia charges modestly but in several places. Port Authority clearance runs EC$5 for boats under 40 feet and EC$15 above, with pratique from EC$10 to EC$40 depending on size and time of day, navigational aids at EC$15 and departure tax of EC$33. Customs overtime is EC$100 on Saturdays and after hours on weekdays, EC$150 on Sundays and holidays. Commercial and charter yachts need an occasional licence valid up to six months: EC$200 up to 40 feet, EC$300 for 41 to 70 feet, EC$400 above 70 feet. None of these is large, but together with the SMMA fees they belong in the APA conversation.
6. Layer the onboard programme onto the route
Provision in Martinique — Le Marin has the best supply in the eastern Caribbean and French produce at French prices. Plan the ashore evenings for Fort-de-France or Les Anses-d'Arlet and Marigot Bay, the excursions for Dominica, and the spa for the day under the Pitons. The passages are long enough that the chef should plan for at least two days when lunch is served under way.
7. Publish it as a live page
A Windwards week has three clearances, a mooring-permit regime and channels that can move a passage by half a day. Publish the itinerary as a guest site the crew can edit so the plan on the guests' phones is the current one.
Day 1. Embark Le Marin or Fort-de-France; Les Anses-d'Arlet for a swim; dinner aboard. About 2 hours. Day 2. North to St Pierre under Mount Pelée; rum distillery and the volcano museum ashore. About 3 hours. Day 3. Crossing to Dominica: Portsmouth and a PAYS mooring; evening ashore. About 4 hours. Day 4. Dominica: Indian River by rowed boat, waterfalls and hot springs; second night. None. Day 5. South to Roseau or straight to St Lucia; Champagne Reef snorkelling en route. About 4 to 5 hours. Day 6. Soufriere: SMMA mooring under the Pitons, sulphur springs, botanical gardens. About 2 hours. Day 7. Marigot Bay and Rodney Bay; Pigeon Island; disembarkation brief. About 2 hours
Total steaming is around 130 nautical miles — significantly more than any other Caribbean week in this section. A two-island version (Martinique and St Lucia, or St Lucia and Dominica) suits guests who want the scenery with less passage-making.
Both work. St Lucia gives easy flights and the Pitons; Martinique gives French food and a good base for Dominica. Each island is a separate country, so allow time for clearance whenever you cross.
No. Anchoring is forbidden throughout the Soufriere Marine Management Area except in designated permitted areas. There are five yacht mooring zones, and permits are bought from uniformed SMMA rangers on the water, verifiable on VHF 16.
Around $20 a night or $120 a week for vessels up to 70 feet, $100 a night for 70 to 120 feet and $200 a night above 120 feet, with an annual crewed-charter permit at about $500. A small per-person daily entrance fee also applies.
Yes, each is a separate jurisdiction. Martinique is an overseas department of France and therefore an EU border, with straightforward and inexpensive clearance often done at a computer terminal ashore. Dominica and St Lucia have their own procedures and fees.
Usually not. The channels between the islands are open Atlantic water with the trades funnelling through them, and passages run two to five hours. The Virgin Islands or the Grenadines suit first-timers better; the Windwards reward charterers who want longer passages and more variety.
Three clearances, the charter licence and SMMA permits attached to the days they belong to.
Custom pins for the SMMA mooring zones, PAYS moorings and the anchorages you trust.
Channel crossings drawn on navigable water, with an overview chart for guests.
Move a crossing when the channel builds, and the guests' plan moves with it.
Caribbean Clearance and Paperwork: An Island-by-Island Crew Guide
Hold three clearances and the mooring permits against the day, pin the zones you use, and publish a guest-ready site under your own brand.