The French Connection

Tucked in the middle of the Caribbean's windward island chain, between Dominica and St. Lucia, Martinique is a favorite destination for European divers. By contrast, the island has long remained off the radar for the North American scuba community. But that's changing. The island's tourism bureau and dive operators are now reaching out to American and Canadian divers and working with us to showcase the island's underwater diversity.

When you touch down at Martinique's Aim Cesare airport, you are on French soil. Which means the governing body for underwater activities is the Confederation Mondale des Activates Subaquatiques, aka CMAS. Historically, there's been some misinformation about the ability of divers holding certifications from other international agencies to participate in CMAS dives. The short answer is there is no problem. Based on their experience and abilities, divers with crossover credentials can operate as level one, two or three CMAS divers, which in general terms equates to open water, advanced open water and beyond.

Martinique is a volcanic island, with a coastline that ranges from steep cliffs to coastal valleys. These landscapes continue below the surface. All diving takes place on the western shore, which is sheltered from prevailing trade winds and waves. To the north, the submerged shoulders of Mount Pele create steep, wall-like slopes and beaches of black sand. Mid-island, the underwater landscape becomes less vertical, often beginning with shallow boulder ridges that tumble onto white-sand plateaus, then transition to coral and sponge-covered slopes that continue into the depths. To the south, the broad bay of Le Marin encompasses acres of hard coral reefs and plateaus.

Martinique's waters are filled with the expected assortment of Caribbean marine life such as turtles, schooling fish and reef dwellers. A signature element of many sites is the diversity of small to mid-sized species that can be found in relative abundance. This includes a wide variety of juveniles, cryptic invertebrates and one of the Caribbean's most abundant and colorful collections of crinoids. Divers have ample time to linger and seek out these small treasures, using multi-level profiles that can easily extend bottom times beyond the hour mark, with no restrictions on schedules other than remaining within standard no-stop limits.

There are some 26 individual dive operators on the island of Martinique. Of these, a select few are now actively working to court the North American market, with dive masters and crew that speak at least basic English. As opposed to many destinations in the Caribbean, where morning two-tank dives are the norm, submersions are often a bit more relaxed, with a single-tank morning trip, and a second dive after a relaxed lunch ashore. That said some shops do cater to the US market with two-tank trips, along with all-day outings to more distant sites in the north.

Martinique's western coast is a place of sheltered beaches, scenic fishing villages and waterfront cafes offering savory blends of French and Creole flavors. This setting makes for a memorable vacation that is made all the more memorable by the addition of daily diving.

To introduce North America to Martinique, we have created a number of stay-and-dive packages with the island's premier dive operators and hotels. To learn more and start planning your own diving adventure, talk to our dive travel specialists at 800-330-6611 or send a note to sales@caradonna.com.