Île Pinel — Local services in Saint Martin (France)

Update: Still great as of May 2025. Crowd was small and snorkeling was fantastic. Seeing two Green Turtles over the grass beds, trumpetfish, file fish, four eyed butterfly fish and many more along the slope of Petite Clef.

You can get to Pinel Island either on a boat, kayak or by ferry.  We took the Pinel Ferry out of Rue de cul de Sac, Saint Martin for $12 or 10 euros (cash only).  The ferry typically runs between 10 am and 4 pm daily.  However if the tides and winds bring heavy sargassum (seaweed) into the bay, the ferry may shut down as the sargassum clogs the inboard motors. The ferries run about every half hour. On the short ride to Pinel, you will pass to the left of a rocky island called Petite Clef.  Upon arrival you disembark this time at the dock in front of Yellow Beach. You can rent 2 chairs and an umbrella for $30per day (credit or cash) from either of the two restaurants. Food and drinks are available for purchase with beach service.  Near the rest rooms, you will be able to view and feed the iguanas with any leftovers from your lunch.

Previous storms had changed the beach and swimming area some, so the water depth this time was no deeper than 3 1/2'  in the roped swimming area.  There are several smaller beaches on the island that require hiking to. These other beaches are covered with sands and stones.  Snorkeling was great again this time over the grass beds between Yellow Beach and Petite Clef. In May I saw 2 spotted eagle rays, several green turtles and many conchs. The side of Petite Clef that faces Orient Beach has many fans, corals and sponges covering the slope which drops to a depth of 20'.  There are blue tang fish, parrotfish,french angelfish, great barracuda, wrasses, bar jacks and other fish as well as a small green turtle among the fans, coral...

We took a 5 minute ferry over from the cul de sac near Anse Marcel. Once on the island we were able to rent some beach chairs and get right into the water. It is a bit pricy but the water was good. It was not too deep so kids able to swim around easily. We snorkeled here and were able to see some fish but felt we have been to better snorkeling places. We had some virgin drinks while lounging in the water. We did not eat food here so can’t comment on that. We also hiked to other sides of the island and saw the sharp contrast in the island. Once done we waited like 10-15 minutes and were able to take the ferry back. Overall this was a great addition to our Saint Martin trip. One caution there is no water system on the island so keep that in mind especially when it comes to the bathrooms...

One of the highlights of Saint Martin is this small islet off the main coast of the French side. Small in size, but very interesting to roam around and explore it by yourself or with a company. You can go to the highest point or simply stay on the single beach where you can swim. The others are rocky and not so clean with "wilder" waters. The ferry that takes you there costs 10 EUR per person round trip and it goes either every half an hour or every hour, depending from the season. No snakes, simply a lot of friendly iguanas that would like for you to feed them, so bringing some fruit for them is always recommended. Visiting it will not make you...