Les Saintes Sailing & Snorkeling: Small Group from Basse-Terre

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/18

Duration9h

GroupUp to 9

LanguagesEN · FR

Mobile ticketAccepted

Sail to Les Saintes, Snorkel a Shipwreck, Eat Creole Lunch Onboard

You sail across open water with a professional skipper who teaches you the basics, snorkel at two spots including a shipwreck, and eat a homemade Creole meal onboard in the shade. The group stays small (max 9 people), the day lasts nearly nine hours, and everything—transport, food, snorkeling access, the motorized village tour—is included, so you only need to show up at the marina in Gourbeyre.

Step-by-step itinerary

Sailing and snorkeling in Les Saintes

Sail across the channel (2.5 hours)
Snorkel at UNESCO-listed bay
Enjoy snack, aperitif, and Creole lunch onboard
Motorized tour of Les Saintes village
Swim at shipwreck snorkeling spot
Sail back with option to steer (1.5 hours)

The Experience

The boat leaves Rivière-Sens Marina in Gourbeyre at first light, and within minutes you're on open water heading toward the Les Saintes archipelago. The skipper—professional, patient, and genuinely friendly—walks you through the basics of sailing on the Inko, an 11.5-meter monohull, so you can take the wheel yourself if you want to. The crossing takes about two and a half hours, and it's the kind of sailing where you feel the boat move beneath you without the chaos of a crowded catamaran tour. Groups stay under nine people, which means you're not jostling for space or waiting in a queue to do anything.

Once you reach Les Saintes, the water shifts to that almost-unreal turquoise that makes you understand why people come back to this part of Guadeloupe. The first snorkel stop is at Pain de Sucre, an accessible spot inside a UNESCO-listed bay where the reef sits close enough that you don't have to swim far. After that, you motor over to a shipwreck—still shallow, still manageable—where the wreck itself becomes the reef and the fish have moved in. Between stops, the skipper brings out a Creole lunch prepared onboard: chicken colombo made with fresh turmeric and ginger, rice, homemade fruit salad. There's coconut punch and mango punch made from fruit grown in the skipper's garden, coffee afterward, and a shaded outdoor seating area where you can sit without burning. A motorized tour of the village of Les Saintes happens in the afternoon, so you see how people actually live there, not just the postcard version.

The whole day runs nearly nine hours. You'll find a deck shower and a restroom onboard, which matters when you're wet and salty for most of the day. The sailing back takes about an hour and a half, and by then you're tired in the good way—the kind of tired that comes from being on the water, moving, paying attention, eating well. Non-swimmers should let the skipper know before you leave the marina; the swimming stops are in accessible spots but unsupervised, so you're responsible for your own comfort in the water.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup from Basse-Terre area (confirm with the operator), all sailing and snorkeling equipment, two snorkel stops at Pain de Sucre and a shipwreck, a homemade Creole lunch with chicken colombo and fruit salad served onboard, aperitif with coconut and mango punch, coffee and tea, snacks (bananas and madeleines), bottled water, a motorized tour of the Les Saintes village, use of the deck shower and onboard restroom, and instruction from a professional, friendly skipper.

Good to know

Easy physical levelNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problems

Operated by Reve de Nav

Is this one for you?Book this if you want a full day on the water without the noise and crowd of a big group tour—the small size and the sailing itself (not just motoring) are what make the nine hours feel like an actual escape rather than a checklist of stops.