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Sailing in Pointe-a-Pitre
Guadeloupe's main port and marina city, at the hinge of the archipelago's two wings.
Why here
Pointe-a-Pitre gives you two very different Novembers. In 2026 the Route du Rhum leaves Saint-Malo on November 1 and the solo transatlantic fleet arrives here across the following fortnight, turning the waterfront into a finish village and the best place in the Caribbean to watch ocean racing land. That is spectating, not sailing. December is when you get on the water yourself. The cruising school at Marina Bas du Fort runs small-group courses on a 14 meter monohull and a Bali catamaran, and the archipelago is varied enough to teach on for a week without repeating itself: Les Saintes, Marie-Galante, and the mangrove channel of the Riviere Salee.
Best months
Guadeloupe sits inside the Caribbean insurance hurricane box through November 30 inclusive, so November sailing carries the same seasonal risk as the rest of the Lesser Antilles regardless of what is happening at the race village. From December the trades settle in from the east at 15 to 20 knots. The archipelago offers real variety, from sheltered water inside the Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin lagoon to open channel crossings to Les Saintes that build passage experience. The Riviere Salee has a bridge with fixed opening times, which is a planning exercise in itself.
Getting there & around
Fly into Guadeloupe Pole Caraibes International. The school operates from Marina Bas du Fort, ten minutes from the airport and the largest marina in the archipelago. Guadeloupe is French and uses the euro. Instruction is in French, and the school is a one-instructor operation built around a BPJEPS-qualified skipper, so English teaching should be confirmed rather than assumed. Guadeloupe's Federation Francaise de Voile clubs are concentrated at Saint-Francois on the eastern end of Grande-Terre, roughly an hour away, so do not expect club sailing on the doorstep at Bas du Fort. If you come for the Route du Rhum finish, book accommodation months out.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate
Schools & guides (1)
Voile Aventure
SchoolItinerant cruising school at Marina Bas du Fort, built around a single BPJEPS croisiere qualified instructor. Teaches on a 14 meter Hanse 470e monohull and a 12 meter Bali 4.0 catamaran, plus a small dinghy for absolute beginners and children. Groups capped at six, with courses running from half-day introductions to five-day intensives.
Also good for sailing in December:
Torn between Pointe-a-Pitre and Tobago Cays for December?
A plan settles it for your skill and budget, same-day.