Description:
This sheltered bay is at the northern end of Basse-Terre Island. The popular UK television series “Death in Paradise” is filmed here.
Entrance Notes and Cautions:
Deshaies is surrounded by high hills which can mean katabatic winds funnelling down in blasts, so make sure your anchor is well set.
Cruiser Highlights:
Moorings available for yachts. Entry and departure clearance possible here. Water dock. Dinghy dock. The Botanical Gardens - a small but extremely well-laid out oasis of exotic plants at the top of a steep hill, about a mile away from the dinghy dock. A one-way walking path winds through the gardens. Restaurants ashore.
Position:
16° 18.40' N, 61° 47.79' W (anchorage)
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When we were there in February 2024, Le Pelican was indeed not available for checkout but the police station was closed all weekend. There is a customs container in the harbor which is closed on Weekends (and the day of, before and after Mardi Gras). Checkout in the Municipal Police station was avaiable on Monday from 9 am but they don’t have a computer. All paper, in triplicate!
From the beginning of 2021, buoys are charged. Up to 10 metres 20 euros, up to 12 metres 22 euros, up to 15 metres 25 euros. Anchoring can be done behind the line formed by the red and green buoys that mark the entrance to the canal towards the small harbour.
Water is available at the jetty of the small port. 4 euros for 1 m³.The harbor master is present until 14:00. In April there were already a new petrol and diesel pump on the jetty. When they would become functional was not yet known.
A signposted walk to the next bay starts between the school and the cemetery.
As of this year, you can process your clearance (required within 2 days) at either Le Pélican or the Police Municipale (someone mentioned the Gendarmerie in a different post, but it isn’t the Gendarmerie or their office in Le Haut you would go to… It is the local police station up the street from Le Pélican). Le Pélican is south of the dinghy dock on Blvd des Poissonniers (http://www.lepelican-guadeloupe.com).
The Police Municipale has added as a second option a few months ago and is in a building across from Le Mairie north of the dinghy dock also on Blvd des Poissonniers. As of this moment, there are no private boat services for laundry, grocery delivery, etc. (there used to be Boat Services-Deshaies but they are not currently in operation).
Deshaies:
Heading up north on the west coast there are many lobster pots, but they are quite well marked. The winds are very flukey along this coast and although we sailed very well for an hour, the wind eventually came all the way around and ended up ahead of us to the north. The mooring balls in Deshaies are the same as in The Saintes, white with a big metal loop on top.
They are still free to use as of April 2018. When the wind dropped, the metal ring was banging on our boat. Our boat also spun around and around and we had to untangle the lines. Many boats were anchored to the left and right of us and all the boats spun all the way around several times during the day and night. This caused many boats to be very near to each other, some had to move.
The dinghy dock is damaged towards the end – no slats to walk on, but the remainder is ok. Rubbish bins are down the street to the left of the dinghy dock or right and there are recycling bins for plastic and glass (although these were overflowing). You can walk to the Grande Anse beach: Turn left from the dinghy dock, follow the road past the petrol station, up the hill, turn left just after the municipal stadium. About 35 min walk. There are bars and restaurants here.
We hired a car for approx 10 Euros per day from National, unfortunately, it’s a bit further out from Deshaies! Roads are windy and steep. We also made the mistake of parking our car in the church car park. Ready to take the car back at 8.30am on a Sunday, we were completely blocked in, cars all around us. The service must have started at about 8.00!
A local found the drivers and they came out and moved their cars.
We had to walk back from the car hire place (nearly 5 miles – took 1.5 hours) as the bus didn’t pass us. Apparently, it’s difficult to get taxis to come out, especially on a Sunday.
For the “Death in Paradise” fans, they will start filming at the end of April. The Inspector’s beach house is on the Plage de la Perle. Catherine’s bar is in Deshaies and it’s to the left of the dinghy dock, two minutes walk. The “Saint Marie” Police station is the community centre next to the church.
I have talked to the guys in the Gendarmerie (left from the dinghy dock) and they told me they have a computer with wich you can clear in or out. They have roughly the same opening hours as the Pelican store, and it’s free.
Car hire from Lascar, 3 Centre Commercial du Marais, BOURGE – 97126 DESHAIES, 0590 28 55 98 gpcar.loc@wanadoo.fr. Just past the Petrol station at the North end of town but has no visible signs of being a car rental outlet until you get close enough to see the signs on the window.
Good bus service with connections to most places you might want to go. Map here – http://horariodebuses.com/EN/gp/.
Chris – S/Y Akouavi
Following Hurricane Maria – the anchorage, beaches, and restaurants here are all fine and open. The dinghy dock was damaged, but is expected to be repaired before the start of the season.
Excellent WIFI in the bay from L’Amer. Buy a drink and they give you free access, very fast.
Nov 2016: spent two nights here. The majority of the moorings are now taken by local boats, including a couple of large day charter boats (they are first come first served, but they leave their dinghies to reserve their spot). I managed to sneak onto the only one available, I think only one or two are not permanently occupied.
Many boats are trying to anchor right up against the moorings using a very low scope to fit into small gaps. As a result, I watched three boats drift away in the night, two hitting other boats and causing what looked like superficial damage.
I would suggest coming prepared to anchor a bit further out to avoid that mess and get a room for good scope. Likely you’ll have to anchor in 30 to 40 feet, depending if it is a busy season or not.
Josh and Laura (s/v seahorsecow)
Moorings are very well maintained and are still free to use as of Dec 2015. Anchoring is permitted outside of the moorings once they are all full. Mix of sand and grass, so holding can be poor in some areas. Freshwater can be filled by jerry can from the tap near the tennis court.
Either take the dinghy up the small river, tie near the footpath bridge, and walk over it towards the tennis court. You will see the tap on the wall of the white building. If there is no one using the boat ramp, it is possible to bring the dinghy into the marina and layup on the ramp, which makes it a shorter distance to carry the water.
Travis and Joanne
s/v Calico Jack