Can you do Pinel Island in half a day?

As a cruise yes, for lunch ashore no. Forty minutes of running is enough to pick up a buoy at Pinel, swim and head back, but on a 9:30 to 13:00 slot the restaurants start serving at the hour you have to leave. If you want to eat at Karibuni or Yellow Beach, take the full day.

Do you need a buoy to moor at Pinel?

By day, mooring inside the nature reserve is free and needs no prior request. Yellow buoys are open to everyone, white ones are reserved for commercial operators. Our boats are under ten metres, so if every buoy is taken you may anchor on bare sand more than twenty metres off the beach, never on coral or seagrass.

Are there restaurants on Pinel Island?

Two, both at the water's edge. Karibuni does grilled lobster and creole cooking; Yellow Beach does grilled meat and fish. Both rent loungers and parasols, which is what makes a whole day on the islet work. There is no running water on site, though, so bring something to drink.

Is Pinel Island good with children?

It is the trip we suggest when children are aboard. The route follows the north coast and stays sheltered nearly the whole way, and the lagoon on Pinel's west side is shallow and calm. The islet's east beach faces the Atlantic: you walk there, you do not swim.

What does a trip to Pinel Island cost?

€650 a day on ONE LIFE 29 and €750 on PALOMA, up to ten people. €400 and €450 for a half day, which is a cruise with no lunch ashore. Fuel is extra at €1.60 per litre, so €40 to €70 for Pinel.

Pinel Island by boat from St Martin

A lagoon that comes up to your waist, white sand, two restaurants at the water's edge and turtles under the boat. This is the trip we suggest when there are children aboard.

The run from Nettle Bay to Pinel Island, along the north coast. In sand, the departure point.

First route: the north coast, Pinel to finish

Grand CaseYou run along the bay of the island's gourmet village, twenty minutes out.
Creole RockMask and snorkel inside the nature reserve. The drop-off is a few metres down and the fish are used to company.
Anse MarcelA closed bay, calm in any weather, where you often come across turtles.
Pinel IslandYou moor on the west side, in water that comes up to your waist. Lunch on the beach, then the snorkelling trail that starts at the jetty.

Fuel: about €40 to €70

Longer version: This one is a full day. If the sea allows, carry on to Tintamarre, ten minutes past Pinel: a deserted island, turtles in the seagrass, and nothing else.

Second route: the whole day on Pinel

Straight to PinelForty minutes from Nettle Bay, no stops. You are on a buoy before half past ten, while the islet is still quiet.
The lagoonWaist-deep water fifty metres out. The snorkelling trail starts at the jetty: mask, snorkel, and fish that do not swim off.
Karibuni or Yellow BeachThe islet's two tables, on the same beach, a few steps apart. Grilled lobster and creole cooking at one, grilled meat and fish at the other. Loungers and parasols at both: that is what makes a whole afternoon there work.
Home along the north coastAn easy hour past Anse Marcel and Grand Case, late in the day, when the light is good.

Fuel: about €40 to €60

Worth knowing: This route needs the full day. On a half day there is no time to eat ashore: lunch service starts at the hour you have to leave.

Getting there

You leave from Marina Boat'On, in Nettle Bay. Forty minutes of running to Pinel if you go straight there, twice that if you take your time along the north coast, which is rather the point.

The route is sheltered nearly the whole way. It is the gentlest trip we offer, and the one that suits children best.

Mooring and the reserve

Pinel sits inside the Saint-Martin National Nature Reserve. By day, mooring is free and needs no prior request. Yellow buoys are for everyone, white ones are reserved for commercial operators.

Both our boats are under ten metres: if every buoy is taken, you may anchor on bare sand, more than twenty metres off the beach. Never on coral, never on seagrass.

The rest comes down to three bans: do not feed the fish, take nothing away (coral, live shells, sand), carry your rubbish out. Fines run to €1,500 and the reserve patrols with the maritime gendarmerie. We go through all of it at the briefing, chart in hand.

What it costs

€650 a day on ONE LIFE 29, €750 on PALOMA, 9:30 to 16:30. €400 and €450 for a half day, 9:30 to 13:00 or 13:30 to 16:30.

One thing worth settling first: eating on the islet takes the full day. On a half day, lunch service starts at the hour you have to head back. A half day is a cruise: the north coast, Creole Rock, a swim, Pinel from the water or long enough to pick up a buoy, and home.

That is the price of the boat, whether you are two or ten. Fuel is extra, read off the engine meter and billed at €1.60 per litre, so €40 to €70 for Pinel.

What to bring

There is no running water on the islet, the reserve has no facilities. Bring water, sunscreen, and closed shoes if you want to walk across to the east beach: ten minutes of path through the scrub.

That beach faces the Atlantic and the swell breaks on stones. You go for the view, not for a swim. In season, book your restaurant table in the morning, the islet fills up quickly.