Pointe A Pitre is a some what gritty, industrial town and the capitol of Guadeloupe. There are chandleries and a huge market but the town, on the whole, just lacks charm. A North/South transit of the waist of the "butterfly" that is Guadeloupe is no longer [possible in a sailboat as they are no longer opening the bridges. There are mooring balls on each side of the Riviere Salee and I imagine you could tie up there and explore the Riviere Salee by dinghy It used to be where you waited for bridge opening at 0 dark hundred. You quickly corssed under the bridge (cutting off acess to the airport - no dawdling) and (noting the reversal of the cans and nuns) and traversed the shallow, twisting channel and to the second bridge in the dark before it closed for the day. The last step was to take a mooring ball on the other side and wait for the sun to come up there.It was really fun gliding through the mangrove swamp in the dark. The north side has some nice anchorages and snorkeling for when the sun comes up, the south side is in Pointe a Pitre and somewhat industrial. Our favorite place there is across the bay behind the reef which marks the entrance to the bay called Ilet de Cochon . There is a marina here which we have med moored in once. The experience was so traumatic for us, we have since only dinghied in for water or fuel. We rented a car near the marina in Pointe a Pitre and had a fabulous time driving across Bas Terre through the national park, hiking up to see the volcano and the rainforest. We then made a loop around the southern tip of Basse Terre to visit the waterfalls and stopped for a fabulous lunch at

Market Pointe a Pitre

Ruins on the shore at Pointe a Pitre

Bridge over the Riviere Salee, Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe

Old navigation buoys, Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe

Building in Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe

Hiking to the volcano Soufriere in Guadeloupe

Approach to the Riviere Salee in Grande Cul-de-Sac Marin in Guadeloupe