WorldFrance › Martinique › Pelle à Tarte

Pelle à Tarte 52.0

#3890 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇫🇷 France · Martinique · near Fort-de-France

Works almost every day, wind is the enemy here, no off season.

Works all yearWarm waterIntermediate
Pelle à Tarte, France
Photo: Bastenbas · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Surf score52.0 /100
Surfable days100% of the year
Clean days1% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell9% period 11 s+
Typical size1.5 m 4.8 ft median
Water28°C boardshorts

Best time to surf Pelle à Tarte

The best time to surf Pelle à Tarte is April, September, October. It rarely works. In September the water sits around 30°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 1.2 m. The nearest airport is UVF (116 km) and the nearest town is Fort-de-France (27 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%0%1.6 m27°Cboardies
Feb100%0%1.8 m27°Cboardies
Mar100%0%1.6 m26°Cboardies
Apr100%1%1.4 m27°Cboardies
May100%0%1.4 m28°Cboardies
Jun100%0%1.4 m28°Cboardies
Jul99%0%1.5 m28°Cboardies
Aug100%0%1.3 m29°Cboardies
Sep99%14%1.2 m30°Cboardies
Oct100%3%1.3 m29°Cboardies
Nov100%1%1.5 m28°Cboardies
Dec100%1%1.6 m28°Cboardies

What is under Pelle à Tarte

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is still shallow, 16 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 26 m against 16 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out16 m
Depth 4 km out18 m
Channel beside it26 m

Measured, not estimated: NOAA ETOPO 2022 global relief at 15 arc-seconds, about 460 m per cell, sampled along this spot’s own swell window. At that scale the survey sees passes and channels; it cannot see a reef ledge, so nothing here is said about how the wave breaks.

Why 52.0

Seven parts, each normalised 0 to 1 and multiplied by its weight; the sum is scaled so the best spot in the world scores 100. Wave quality and what the spot does on its best days carry more than half of it, which is what separates this from a ranking of where the water is warm.

Wave quality 34.7%
11.7
Best days 22.4%
9.8
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
6.1
Access 4.1%
3.1

The detail

Faces 35° with 64% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 12% of days. Mean peak period 8.7 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.9 m, with a peak period of 10 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 20%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 14.774, -60.894 (OpenStreetMap).

Live here

1 homes for sale within 30 km of Pelle à Tarte, up to 60,000 euro. Houses and flats you can move into, never plots of land. Cheapest right now €55,000. Checked 2026-09-13. Listings from Bien'ici and the agents themselves; we take no part in the deal.

€55,000House · 62 m² · 4 roomsLe Lorrain17 km from the spot →

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,620/ month
typically €1,430 – €1,810
Rent, one bedroom€855
Groceries€340
Eating out€195
Getting around€115
Phone + internet€120
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,170/ month
typically €2,790 – €3,550
Somewhere to stay€1,870
Eating out€665
Car, transfers, fuel€430
Data + extras€205
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for France (2025, United States = 1.00) applied to a fixed surfer basket, then adjusted for how remote the spot is. Your own number moves with the season and how you live.

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