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The Civilized Explorer

Getting Online in the French West Indies

Many of us like to stay in touch while we are on vacation. An easy and often inexpensive way to do this is through cybercafes. We have visited a few in the French West Indies, and we give you some information on their location and hours. We also provide a link to cybercafes.com, which provides links to cybercafes all over the world.

Martinique

We found a handful of cybercafes during our visit in April, 1999. Chez Gilles (Telephone: 66 11 07) is at the Marina at Pointe du Bout. Chez Gilles is open every day from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm. We had a nice lunch (salads, pizza, ice cream) and the 3 PCs were easily available. Fifteen minutes online cost 30 FF, 30 minutes costs 50 FF, and an hour costs 80 FF.

In Marin, access is available in the first floor office of the Harbormaster (Telephone: 74 91 21). Fifteen minutes costs 20 FF, 30 minutes is 35 FF.

In Forte de France, we passed Le Web Cyber Cafe, but it was closed. It is on Rue Blénac, about a half block off La Savane.

Guadeloupe

See Cyber Cafes. (Updated 2005)

St. Barth

Centre Alizés is not a cafe, but it has computers available for internet access. It is located on Rue de la République in Gustavia. You may sign up for an email account there, or use their computers to access your Web- based email account. If you have a laptop and you want your own account from your villa or room during your visit to St. Barth, drop by St. Barths Online for links to local service providers (weekly accounts are available), or check with your hotel to see if they offer access.

The new thing in St. Barth (well, as of February 2006) is WiFi. We were able to connect our iBook to the Internet at Le Square (no password), L'Oubli (no password), L'Entracte (get password from waiter), and Bacardi Café (no password). It made for a pleasant stop in the heat of the day to have a cool drink in the shade and upload photos to Flickr or to ZotoFoto which sends them out as postcards from Fort Worth, Texas. (For the ham radio operators reading this, ZotoFoto is the public arm of eQSL.cc, which we like to support.)

We have a list of other sites offering WiFi at the time of our visit; we did not try these others, so we cannot confirm that they work nor whether there is a password. We also cannot guarantee that even if they did work in February of 2006 that they will work when you arrive.

• Guanahani
• Le Toiny
• Hotel Baie des Anges
• Le Repaire
• Le Taïno (at Hotel Christopher)
• El Sereno
• Do Brazil
• Kiki e Mo
• The parking lot at L'Oasis Shopping Center
• Hot Stuff

Cybercafes

Internet cafes guide provides links to cybercafes all over the world. We have checked for accuracy, and as always, the changing face of the Web means no one can keep up. So check the page, but remember to follow links and confirm the cafe listed is still online, and remember that there are likely new cybercafes available and not yet listed. Help out and report new cybercafes as you find them.

The Internet Cafe Guide, not to be confused with the previous guide, also contains links to cybercafes but in handy book form you can take with you in your travels. Because of the frequent changes, we recommend checking online sources instead.

The CyberCafe Search Engine claims to be updated daily. It contains a searchable database for cyber cafes, kiosks, and other public internet access points.

Cybercafe World News has a site that is a little messy, but full of links: add your own cafe, news about cybercafes, search for cybercafes, rate cybercafes, and more.

Don't forget WiFi; see our links to wireless access.

Staying Online Abroad

For those who wish a more nearly permanent connection while abroad, the following Web sites provide information on points of presence, accessories, and other matters needed to get a connection to the Internet from places other than Cybercafes.

• 110220Volts.com sells multi-voltage devices, along with code-region-free digital players, PAL/NTSC conversion, multi-system TVs and VCRs, GSM telephones, small appliances, universal plug-adapters, voltage converters, and more. One item we found interesting is a 120/220VAC five-outlet strip with universal sockets that let you plug in any shape electrical plug; the strip comes with a US three-prong male plug plus an adapter of your choice.
• Steve Kropla's Help for World Travelers has guides for hardware for telephone hookups, dial tone oddities, and electric plugs and voltages around the world.
• TravelArts has adapter plugs for power, adapter plugs for modems, and voltage converters (if you really need one).
• Walkabout Travel Gear offers a selection of power adapters, telephone adapters, airline power adapters, and other adapters. They also have links to pages by people on long treks and tips from travelers of wildly varying quality.
• RoadNews is a breezy site with a very long first page -- be sure to scroll down for more links to getting online overseas, getting your laptop through customs, how to use payphones with your computer, securing your laptop, and connection providers and gadget sellers.
• iGo -- we have started using an iGo on our travels instead of taking our laptop's converter. Our model has a plug for the laptop plus an additional power source which can be used to recharge such other devices as a cell phone or PDA. It can be used with power from a wall outlet, a cigar lighter, and the power source available in some airline seats. If you have power at your seat in the airplane, you may also want to adapter that lets you run your DVD player.
• AOL and Compuserve have world wide telephone numbers for you to dial into. Their coverage varies, so pick the one which most nearly meets your needs. AOL and Compuserve provide coverage in Pointe-a- Pitre and Forte-de- France, so pick the plan which gives you the best rates.
• iPass has alliances with other ISPs; this allows their customers to use local telephone numbers of ISPs in other countries. To use iPass, you must sign up with a local service provider that is an iPass partner; you are billed for your use of the iPass network through your local ISP. iPass has local numbers in Point-a- Pitre and Forte-de- France. You may find that iPass provides better service for you than AOL or Compuserve, depending on your major areas of travel and use of services while abroad.
• MCI International Plans has a helpfup page on how to configure your Windows laptop to call home from overseas using MCI's WorldPhone access.

Help Us Keep This Page Current

If you find public Web access points in the French West Indies, please let us know. We will gladly add information to this page, giving credit to the intrepid explorers who report new finds and tell us of the disappearance of old finds. Doing business as a cybercafe is not easy.

Web-based calendar for your travels

We now offer a Web- based calendar that you can access from any Internet connection with a recent graphical browser. Drop by The Civilized Explorer Calendar and sign in.

Additional Resources

Calling the US from the French West Indies

Access numbers to get English speaking operators and using your credit card from local telephones; web-based internet telephony for free calls.

Before You Go

Online assistance before you leave: locate ATMs, get weather reports, sign up for Web- based email and a personal calender, find out the conversion rate for your currency, and the inevitable more.

The Wireless Access Page

Wireless access to the Web around the world.