Anchorage· St Martin (French side)· Leeward Islands
Marigot Bay Anchorage & Mooring Field
18° 4.0′ N · 63° 5.5′ W
The French capital's big open bay below Fort Louis - free anchoring off a town of markets, bakeries and lolos, with the Sandy Ground bridge into the lagoon at its southwest corner.
Practical
Position is the charted anchorage mark in OpenStreetMap seamark data. Depths about 7-20 ft. Protected from E to ESE; becomes swelly with any northerly component. Private yachts do not pay anchoring fees (2026 cruiser report and Yachting St Maarten: the Marigot Port Authority may try to collect anchoring fees, which apply only to commercial vessels); mooring balls are available and are paid at the Port Authority in the Marigot ferry terminal, though fellow cruisers advise against relying on them. Anchor well clear of the ferry route (big wakes) and the unmarked lagoon channel (tour-boat traffic). Wrecks litter parts of the bay and it shoals in places (2018) - a wreck is charted at 18.0747, -63.0937. Public dinghy dock into town; Super U is just over 1 km walk. Night boardings and dinghy theft have been reported - lock everything.
Best for
Free anchoring at a French market town
Season
Nov-Apr trades; untenable in northerly swell (winter cold fronts)