the heavenly saints

The Îles des Saintes, also known as Les Saintes, is small archipelago encircled by shallow reefs composed of two very mountainous inhabited islands, with seven other uninhabited îlets. The total surface is 12.8 km2 (4.9 sq mi) and has a population 3,418. Fishing was for a long time the main activity of les Saintes and is still an important employment sector although over the past thirty years, tourism has been growing.  It is yet another dependency of Guadeloupe lying south of Basse Terre and west of Marie-Galante.

Coming back to the Îles des Saints was like coming full circle for us.  It was the first destination of our first charter 16 years ago and remains our favorite place in the  Caribbean.  We obviously share this opinion with others as the bay of Les Saintes is now in the “Club of the Most Beautiful Bays of the World.” 

Arial view of Terre du Haut and our anchorage in La Baie des Saintes, one of the most beautiful bays in the world. Photo courtesy of the Guadeloupe Tourist Bureau

Terre-de-Haut, the main town is the idyllic Caribbean seaside village of your dreams.  A mixture of restaurants and cafes interspersed with coconut palms and with gaily painted fishing boats ring the shore.  The village is small and its establishments are largely aimed at the tourist trade, but it does so in such a charming way that it does not offend.

We arrived in the bay mid-afternoon after a short sail over from Marie Galante and took our dinghy into town, anxious to visit the place that had so enchanted us 16 years ago. The place has grown since then, but thankfully it has largely retained its old world charm despite swarms of buzzing motor scooters careening up and down the narrow streets. 

At the center of the village is a pleasant town square and the ferry dock which discharges day trippers at an alarming rate during the day.   We arrived in time to witness the hustle and bustle of passengers embarking on the last ferry of the day back to Guadeloupe with vendors hawking beverages and the tourment d’amour tarts the island is famous for.  After reading Ann Vanderhoof’s tantalizing description in "The Spice Necklace," we were eager to try them.

'Le tourment d’amour' or torment of love is a small round tart made with puff pasty, stuffed with coconut, pinepple, mango or guava jam topped with a sort of sponge cake. These delectable pastries were prepared by the women of sailors to console themselves when their husbands went to sea and also to welcome their husbands back home when they returned from sea. Despite their rather lowly or shall we say, 'tormented' look, they taste pretty good! Photo courtesy of the Guadeloupe tourist board.

While munching on these delicacies, we watched the ferry depart and enjoyed the calm that descended upon the square.  As the sun begins to set, the locals, both young and old, gather here in the square to enjoy la fraiche, the cool of the evening.  It was truly a sublime moment.

As the next day was a Sunday and we were sorely in need of a good rest, we chose to to spend a lazy day on the boat enjoying the beauty and calm of the bay.  This did not last long however, as during the course of the day, several cruisers we know arrived in the bay and moored up nearby including our friends from the Juliana enroute from the BVI.  Although this signaled the end of our quiet day, the joy of being a part of a community of sorts, the cruising community, and catching up on the latest from our fellow cruisers more than compensated for its loss.

A cruiser in his dinghy shooting the breeze with a fellow cruiser.

We would’ve loved to linger there, but the end of the season approaches and friends await us in Antigua, so the next day, we pointed Taka Trois north and sailed out of that gorgeous bay vowing to return to those heavenly Saintes for a much longer stay.