Map › Guadeloupe › Îlet à Caret

Basse-Terre · small islet off Mourne-Rouge, near Sainte-Rose · Sainte-Rose

Îlet à Caret

also known as Isle a Caret, Îlet Caret

beginner-friendlylow crowds

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

On this page

Wind
- Month by month
Forecast
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
- Rescue
Hazards
Rules & access
Schools
Tips
Getting there
Photos
FAQ

Nearby La Saline (Le Gosier) 26 km · Sainte-Anne 30 km · Le Moule Beach Park 31 km · straight-line distance

SeasonJan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Decthe months riders and schools name How windyunder Typical strength, belowtrade, cross-shore Launchokaccess rules on record, below Watermixed29°C in summer · 9 things riders flag LevelBeginner to advanced

Schoolsnone named here

From the airportno transfer time publishedRaizet International Airport (PTP)

On the clock

08:00 · 17:00

The trade blows through the day and the night, so there is no fill-in to wait for. What sets the window is the boat: the organised lagoon day trips run roughly 08:00 to 17:00. Afternoon reinforcement off the Basse-Terre relief is reported for this coast but unconfirmed at the islet itself.

The marks are the clock times the record names, laid on a 24-hour day. The bar between the first and the last covers those hours; it is not a promise of wind.

Îlet à Caret is a sandbank with a few palm trees on it, off the Basse-Terre coast near Sainte-Rose, and you get there by hiring a fishing boat at the small harbour of Mourne-Rouge for about 15 EUR per person (undated).

The island is so small that you can have onshore wind on one edge of the sand and offshore on the other, with sideshore somewhere between; where you rig decides what you ride. Inside the reef about 400m to the north the water is flat and clear. Outside it the waves run to 2m.

There is no tide to plan around. The trades are steadiest from December through April, peaking in February, in the Force 3-5 range and building through that window. Nothing is on the islet: no facilities, no rescue and no lifeguard, so cover means the boat you brought with you.

Tour boats unload day trippers on the same strip of sand, which can leave you nowhere to land.

The wind

locals call it trade winds (Alizés)

Direction

cross-shoreNE/ENE/E

Kite sizes

78910111213141516

metres · typical quiver highlighted

Character

trade

fills in: The trade blows through the day and the night, so there is no fill-in to wait for. What sets the window is the boat: the organised lagoon day trips run roughly 08:00 to 17:00. Afternoon reinforcement off the Basse-Terre relief is reported for this coast but unconfirmed at the islet itself.

Typical strength

12-22 (Force 3-5), stronger later in the Dec-Apr season

generally steady trade-wind flow, strongest and most reliable Dec-Apr, peaking in February

Trades blow close to year-round, but the reliable kiting window is December-April; the Caribbean rain season runs June-December.

Thermal or synoptic

synoptic

The quiver, in words

11-12 m is the everyday trade-wind size for a 75-85 kg rider in Guadeloupe, with 9-10 m for the days the trade sits above 20 knots and 13-14 m at the light end near 12. Indicative and island-wide; nothing is measured at the islet.

Forecast

Month by month

Jan, riders' month72
Feb, riders' month62
Mar, riders' month73
Apr, riders' month72
May75
Jun86
Jul95
Aug71
Sep48
Oct53
Nov71
Dec, riders' month65

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Dec.

13Jan27°
12Feb27°
12Mar27°
12Apr28°
12May30°
13Jun30°
14Jul30°
13Aug30°
11Sep31°
11Oct31°
12Nov29°
12Dec28°

avg knots per month · water °C below · season highlighted

Month	Force 4+	Knots	From	Air	Water
Jan	72%	12.6 kt	E	25.5°C	27°C
Feb	62%	11.9 kt	E	25.3°C	26.9°C
Mar	73%	12.4 kt	E	25.8°C	27.4°C
Apr	72%	11.8 kt	E	26.3°C	28.3°C
May	75%	12.4 kt	ESE	27.8°C	29.5°C
Jun	86%	13.4 kt	E	28.3°C	29.9°C
Jul	95%	14.2 kt	E	27.8°C	29.8°C
Aug	71%	12.5 kt	E	28°C	30.3°C
Sep	48%	10.8 kt	ESE	28.1°C	31°C
Oct	53%	11.4 kt	ESE	28°C	30.6°C
Nov	71%	12.4 kt	ESE	27.1°C	29.3°C
Dec	65%	12.1 kt	E	26.2°C	28°C

modelled

A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.

Modelled from weather reanalysis on a 10–25 km grid (2022-2024), not a ground station: reliable for trade and synoptic winds, understates thermal sea breezes and valley winds. The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.

ERA5 reanalysis grid point (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical weather API — ECMWF ERA5/ERA5-Land reanalysis, not a ground station · 2022-2024

The water

Type

mixed

Standing depth

very shallow in places near the reef; deeper further out

Tides

tide-independent (negligible Caribbean tide)

Temperature

29°C summer · 26°C winter

Wetsuit

not needed - warm year-round tropical water

27–31°C waternot needed - warm year-round tropical water

Flat inside a reef about 400m north of the islet, with waves to 2m outside it. The water is clear. The island is small enough that riders can face onshore, sideshore or offshore wind at once, depending on which side of the sand they launch from.

Your level

beginnerintermediateadvanced

The record rates the levels and says nothing more about what this spot asks of a rider.

The scene

What riders come here for

all-direction riding (tiny island exposed to on/side/offshore wind at once)

Boat-only, and still busy. Day trippers land on the same small beach, so the crossing does not buy solitude.

Launch and rules

three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you

With a school or a boat

No school names this spot

Nobody has been recorded teaching or running a boat here.

On your own

Room to launch: ok

access rules on record

Somewhere else

La Saline (Le Gosier), 26 km

La Saline (Le Gosier)Sainte-Anne Le Moule Beach Park

Every spot within 40 km is on the map at the top of this page, with its distance under it.

Rescue

Nothing on the islet: no lifeguard, no centre, no facilities. On an organised day trip the boat stays with the riders on shore and on the water for the whole session, and that is the only cover there is. Going out privately means bringing your own.

Launch

A sandbank with a handful of palms, and it is closed: coming ashore has been banned since 2023 and the last order ran to 30 June 2026, so the sand is not a launch. What is left is a water start off a boat.The kite day trips that work this lagoon leave from the Gosier marina, cross the Rivière Salée mangrove and drop riders in the flat water around Caret and the neighbouring Îlet Blanc, with a downwind run between the two.

Space

Hazards riders report 9

Reefs
shallow water in places near the reef
no on-site rescue - arrange a support/rescue boat before launching
reefs (roughly 400m north of the islet)
small sandy launch area can get crowded with day-tripping tourists at times
Reefs and coral heads
You have to hold your ground upwind: drift off a lagoon sandbank and there is a long way of open water downwind of you
Landing on the islet is banned, so coming ashore to sort out a problem is itself an offence
The sandbank is eroding and its outline shifts; do not plan on the beach matching an old photo

Rules & access

Landing and access have been prohibited since 2023 under successive Sainte-Rose municipal orders, the most recent running to 30 June 2026: no coming alongside, no moving beyond the signed zones, no leisure activity on the sand, no pets, no group events, enforced with the national park because the sandbank is a breeding site for protected species and is eroding.

Whether the order was renewed after 30 June 2026 is unconfirmed as of September 2026. In practice riding here means staying off the sand and water-starting from a boat.

Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.

Rider tips

Arrange a support boat before you cross; there is no lifeguard and no kite centre on the sand.
Confirm the price and the departure point at Mourne-Rouge before the trip: the 15 EUR per person figure on record is undated.
Walk round the islet before you rig and pick the side where the wind is cross rather than straight off the sand.
Keep inside the reef, roughly 400m north of the islet, for the flat water; outside it the waves go to 2m.
Aim at February if you can choose the month, when the trades peak.
Check the Sainte-Rose access order before you plan anything: landing has been banned since 2023 and the last extension ran to 30 June 2026.
Ride it off a boat. The lagoon day trips leave the Gosier marina in the morning and drop riders around Caret and Îlet Blanc.
Book for a north-east forecast; that is the sector the lagoon operators want.
Rig 11-12 m for the usual trade and carry a 9 m for the days it sits above 20 knots.
Watch the coral heads and stay upwind of the sandbank; there is nothing downwind but lagoon.

Getting there

Airport

Pointe-à-Pitre Le Raizet International Airport (PTP)

Route

Boat only. An organised kite day trip leaves the Gosier marina at 08:00 and comes back at 17:00, crossing the Rivière Salée into the Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin lagoon, listed at 535-550 EUR in 2026 with fuel, guide and cool box included and riders expected to hold their own insurance or federation licence.The old option of hiring a fishing boat at Mourne-Rouge, east of Sainte-Rose, for about 15 EUR per person was a way of landing on the sand, which is no longer permitted.

Photos

Ilet Caret Guadeloupe — Nickes967971, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

How do you get to Ilet a Caret?

Only by a short boat crossing from the small harbor at Mourne-Rouge, east of Sainte-Rose.

What is the water like?

Flat water inside a reef about 400m north of the islet, with waves up to 2m outside it.

When is the best time to kite?

January through April and December, on NE to E winds.

Can beginners ride here?

It is listed for all levels, though the tiny islet is exposed to onshore, sideshore and offshore wind at the same time.

Last updated: August 2026