Tintamarre Island 2026: Turtles, Reserve Rules & Boat Trips

Booking choice: The Eco Tour around the island, from $149 per person. Check dates Compare the options below

Tintamarre has no road, no village and no ferry. It sits inside the Réserve Naturelle Nationale de Saint-Martin, on the French side, together with Pinel Island and Creole Rock, and the only way there is by boat.

Here is what the island is, how the reserve protects it, what you are likely to see in the water and which trips take you there.

The quick answer

Tintamarre is an uninhabited island of about 0.8 km², 3 km off Saint-Martin's east coast, inside the nature reserve created in 1998. Guests report sea turtles on most snorkel stops, though no trip can promise them. The Eco Tour ($149) spends about an hour there before Creole Rock; Captain Alan ($99) adds Pinel in four hours. Expect a $5 to $6 cash reserve fee.

A green sea turtle swimming over a sandy seagrass bed in clear shallow water — Green turtles feed on the seagrass beds around the reserve islets.

Where is Tintamarre Island?

About 3 km off the east coast of French Saint-Martin. It is also known as Flat Island.

The island covers about 0.8 km² and nobody lives there. Pinel Island lies closer in, off Cul-de-Sac, and Creole Rock sits off Grand Case on the north-west coast. All three are French and inside the same reserve.

A small sandy islet with palms and a reef, a catamaran anchored off it and green hills behind — Small islets with fringing reefs sit just off the main island.

Can you swim with sea turtles at Tintamarre?

Often, yes. Guests on the Tintamarre trips report green and hawksbill turtles over the seagrass, but sightings are never guaranteed.

A Captain Alan guest wrote in October 2026: "We saw dozens of turtles, a beautiful reef and a beautiful beach." Hawksbills are critically endangered and greens endangered on the IUCN list, per The Daily Herald. The reserve's own Tintamarre page does not talk about turtles. The sightings come from crews and guests, which is honest enough: they are there most days, and on some days they are not.

A green sea turtle with its flippers spread, swimming above a reef in blue water — Float still and let the turtle set the distance.

Want the turtle stops? Captain Alan's 3-island trip goes to Tintamarre and Pinel in a group of twelve at most.

Check dates for Captain Alan's 3-island trip

What are the rules in the Réserve Naturelle de Saint-Martin?

Boats tie up to yellow moorings, nothing is taken, and the wildlife is left alone. Touching a turtle is forbidden.

Tintamarre has 17 yellow moorings for boats up to 50 ft; small boats may anchor only on sand.
Mooring is banned in North Curve Bay, which has total protection.
Removing clay from the island is forbidden.
Tintamarre is the only nesting site of the brown noddy, so boats keep the noise down.
Sea turtles are protected on both sides of the island; on the Dutch side, harassing or touching them can be prosecuted.

The details are on the reserve's regulations page. Speeding boats kill turtles, so the Nature Foundation asks skippers to keep a lookout and slip into neutral when one is ahead.

How much is the Tintamarre nature reserve fee?

Operators collect $5 to $6 per person in cash on the day: $6 on the Eco Tour and Boomerang, $5 on Captain Alan's trip.

Commercial boats need an annual permit from the reserve and pay a fee for every passenger they bring in. A 2013 reserve newsletter said the passenger fee covered about 15 percent of its budget. It is not in the Viator price, so bring small bills. It helps fund the reserve that protects these reefs.

Eco Tour Catamaran: Tintamarre & Creole Rock

Going round the island? The Eco Tour spends about an hour at Tintamarre, then snorkels Creole Rock.

★ 4.9 585 reviews · 8 hours · from $149

Explore the Eco Tour around the island

Is there an old airstrip on Tintamarre?

Yes. A 500 m airstrip served small planes in the 1940s and early 1950s, and wrecked plane hulls and motors still lie on the island.

Wikipedia dates the airline flights of Compagnie Aérienne Antillaise to 1946 to 1950; the reserve's Tintamarre page gives 1944 to 1952 and says some of the wrecks belonged to smugglers. You will also hear that German U-boats refuelled here in the war. No written evidence backs that up, so enjoy it as a sailor's yarn.

What about Creole Rock and Pinel Island?

Creole Rock is the best reef snorkel near Grand Case; Pinel is a beach islet with a short ferry from Cul-de-Sac. Both are in the reserve.

Creole Rock has shallow, sandy water around a reef. Climbing the rock is banned, and so is landing on its beach, where boobies and tropicbirds nest. Pinel has 15 yellow moorings, no jet skis and no fishing. A small cash ferry crosses from Cul-de-Sac in 5 to 10 minutes. An Eco Tour guest wrote: "Snorkeling near Creole rock and Tintamarre was incredible.. we saw several fish, stingrays, & sea turtles."

A southern stingray gliding over pale sand with a silver fish swimming above — Rays rest on the sand between the reefs.

Which boat trips go to Tintamarre?

Five of the trips on this site: the Eco Tour, Boomerang, Captain Alan, Flagship II and the private charter, though the last two depend on the weather.

Trip	From	Stops	Length	From price
The Eco Tour	Bobby's Marina	Tintamarre, Creole Rock, Grand Case, Long Bay	8 hours	$149
Boomerang	Simpson Bay	Creole Rock, Pinel, Tintamarre, Mullet Bay	7 hours	$159
Captain Alan	Oyster Bay	Tintamarre, a beach, Pinel	4 hours	$99
Flagship II	Bobby's Marina	Happy Bay, Long Bay, Tintamarre	9 hours	$255
The private charter	Bobby's Marina	Little Bay, Tintamarre	6 hours	$1,750 per group

Short on time? Captain Alan reaches the turtles from the east coast and is back by mid-afternoon.

Check dates for Captain Alan's 3-island trip

What should you bring to Tintamarre?

Reef-safe lotion sunscreen, a towel, water shoes for the rocks and small bills for the reserve fee and the tip.

Neither side of the island bans any sunscreen by law, but the Nature Foundation asks visitors to use reef-safe products. An Eco Tour guest put it simply: bring "sunscreen ( not the spray kind". Boomerang does not supply towels. There is no shop and no fresh water on the island. Take all your rubbish back to the boat.