The island of Barthelemy Saint is located in the French West Indies, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
Geographical situation of the island:
Map of the West Indies :
Located 25 km from the south of Saint Martin's island and at 175 km in the North-West of the Guadeloupe, Saint-Barthelemy presents a lot of small valleys never exceeding 300 m of altitude. For the anecdote, the merchants of bicycles have never made fortune there although one starts to see some mountain bike.
The absence of water source on the island gives an arid ground where one finds quantity of cactus and the small shrubs.
Practically no one piece of
ground is cultivated today. The walls made of stone, Breton tradition,
delimit only wild arpents of grass (often corresponding to properties).
Prosperity from now on is ensured by the soft and so white sand which covers
the beaches.
Weather :
A lot of sun, few rain also, an everyday wind, the tepid
twilights and the calm nights: Life is easy in the West Indies. If the
West-Indian tradition retained the straw hat, it is that the sun hits hard.
Fortunately, the sea is tepid: it can exceed 29°C (84°F) from July to
October and does not go down below 24°C (75°F) during the dry season. All
the year, the sun rises between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. and lies down between 6
p.m. and 7 p.m.
Two seasons. From February to
April, the dry season, called the "Lent", is the most pleasant season, it is
the TOURIST SEASON. During the summer holidays, from July to October, on the
other hand, it is the wet season: the "wintering", June and October being
months of transition which can be pleasant. The air (30°C-86°F) is heavy,
even choking when trade winds - "kings of the West Indies" -, fortunately
frequent, do not refresh the atmosphere, and the rainy afternoon.
- August and September are the preferred months of the hurricanes, but their dates are however not provided by the tourist office.
- Think about sun lotions
before the departure. They are essential.
Water:
Neither river, nor brook on the
island... Water is thus a rare food product and is worth gold: 12,2 €
(14 USD) the cubic meter! This is why you will see only seldom a bath-tub in
the hotels and even less in the villas.
To get there :
The local airport is small and airplane bigger twenty places cannot land and is not equipped either for the night flights; consequently, you will have first of all to pass by Saint Martin's day or the Guadeloupe.
From Europe, Air France, Corsair/Nouvelles Borders
and KLM ensure flights towards the island of St-Martin. The flight takes
approximately 8 hours.
From the United States, American Airlines, Continental Airlines and US Airlines propose flights since Miami, New York JFK, Philadelphia and Charlotte.
Once arrived at Saint Martin, you can take an air correspondence towards Saint Barth (15 minutes) or choose the maritime way (1h30). An incomplete list of the airline companies ensuring the correspondence: Air The Caribbean, Winair, Air Guadeloupe (Air France).
If you have a boat, please note
that the port of Gustavia can accommodate up to 40 yachts.
