Guadeloupe is located at the bottom of the Leeward Islands chain, midway between Puerto Rico and Venezuela, and covers 1 700 km². The island consists of two smaller land masses joined by a draw-bridge over a narrow channel, called Rivière Salée. Grande-Terre to the East typifies the French Antilles with its rolling hills and sugarcane fields. Basse-Terre to the west is a rugged, mountainous island dominated by the volcano La Soufrière. Guadeloupe is a department of France since 1946. Pointe-à-Pitre is the capital. Guadeloupe, who’s Capital is Pointe-a-Pitre, is a department of France. There are five other islands that are part of this French department including la Désirade, Marie-Galante, les Saintes, Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin.
There is a big choice of sailing in this area, between the mild archipelago
of les Saintes and the beautiful Marie-Galante with her sugarcane fields, producing the famous rhum
« Père Labat ». Further to the north, an extraordinary natural reserve, Petite Terre where the only living
are the Chameleons. Continuing further to the north you will be confronted with a lot of unique places,
that will surely do not disappoint you.
Guadeloupe enjoys tropical weather and easterly trade wind. The Winter season is generally dry.
It is more humid from the end of August to the end of October. Mean air temperatures
vary between 22 and 30°C and sea water stays between 24 and 28°C. Tropical days are short.
Sun rises at 6am and sun sets around 6pm. The winds are blowing from North-East to South-West
and are between 10 and 20 knots in summer, 15 to 25 knots from November to May. Sailing in the Caribbean
is easy, but you have to look out for corall reefs and rocks as soon as you approach the coast.
The sea is in general smooth but a little rougher in the channels between the islands.
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