Backpack and Snorkel Travel Guide for St. Pierre - St. Pierre and Miquelon Purple Travel Guide

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Today is a busy day - we explore St. Pierre on the water, and then learn more about its history. We provide detailed information and a self-guided tour with the best things to see and we show lots of photos so you know what you can expect.

We start the day with a boat tour to explore the coast and wildlife of St. Pierre and Langlade, then we visit Ile aux Marins, which is one of the major tourist attractions in St. Pierre, and then we learn more about St. Pierre’s and Miquelon’s natural and human history, especially the cod fishing and alcohol smuggling history.

Zodiac Tour

The Saint-Pierre Sailing School (L'École de Voile de Saint-Pierre) of various zodiac boat tours. All tours explore cliffs, coves, marine mammals, and a bird colony on the Grand Colombier island and some even cross over to explore Langlade island.
Unfortunately, the sea conditions during our visit were not favorable and thus, there were no tours.

Self-guided tour of the Île-aux-Marins

The visitor center arranges one 2h guided tour of Île-aux-Marins per day from mid-May through mid-October. You can either sign up at the visitor center or do the trip yourself. There are placards on Île-aux-Marins that briefly explain many of the things you will see, but a guided tour will, of course, provide much more information.

The ferry to Île-aux-Marins does not depart from the ferry dock. As a matter of fact, the ‘ferry’ is really a boat that only carries pedestrians. It departs from the dock near the Antenna Ifremer De Saint-Pierre Et Miquelon building (map) and the trip lasts about 10 min.
You can walk right up to the boat, enter, and then wait for a staff member to approach you to pay the 6 Euro (cash-only) per person, at the time of writing, for the return trip.
The ferry departs about every 2h between 8:30am and 6pm, but not during lunch time. Contact the St. Pierre and Miquelon visitor center (phone: (+508) 41 02 00, email: saint-pierre@spm-tourisme.fr) for the departure times at the time of your visit.

The island was first settled in 1604. It was called Ile-aux-Chiens (Island of Dogs) and primarily used for drying fish. The population, which consisted of fishermen and their families, peaked at more than 600 people at the end of the 19th century and then started declining. The last inhabitant left the island in the 1960s.

In 1931, the name was changed to Île-aux-Marins (The Island of the Sailors). Today, the island is seasonally occupied from May through October.
In 1945, the island was annexed by the city of Saint-Pierre.
In 1971, the ship Transpacific grounded near the islands and a part of the bow can still be found on the beach.

Île-aux-Marins can be easily explored within 2-3h.

1. Boat Dock on Île-aux-Marins

When you arrive at the boat dock, get on the island, and follow the path until it ends after 400 ft (120 m) and then turn left and walk up the hill for about 0.3 miles (500 m) until a trail to the Old Fort branches off to your left.

2. Old Fort on Île-aux-Marins

The Crimean War was fought between Russia and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, Britain, and Sardinia-Piedmont from 1853-1856. To defend St. Pierre against a possible Russian attack, a fort with 4 cannons was built here between 1854 and 1856. The cannons were never fired in anger, they were only used on Bastille Day.

Now walk back to the trail, turn left, and follow it for another 750 ft (220 m) until you get to the beach.

3. Shipwreck of the Transpacific on Île-aux-Marins

In 1971, the ship Transpacific grounded near the islands and a part of the bow and other parts of the ship still lie on the beach.

On May 18, 1971, St Pierre was engulfed in thick fog. The 3,865-ton cargo ship Transpacific coming from Québec had a failing radar and ran aground on the Marie-Rose reef near the island.
Following several unsuccessful attempts to get the ship off the reef, the captain and his crew abandoned the ship. Soon, fearless locals started looting the ship, taking everything that wasn’t bolted down: hundreds of lawn mowers, juke boxes, engines, food, beverage, tableware, furniture, the ship’s compass, helm and bell.
To avoid pollution from the ship’s fuel and engine oil, the ship was partly burned afterwards.

Now walk back to the main trail and turn left towards the dock. When you get to the turnoff to the dock, don’t turn right. Instead, continue on for another 120 ft (40 m) and then turn left and walk for 300 ft (90 m) to your next destination.

4. Garage des Pompiers on Île-aux-Marins

In the old times, most houses were made of wood and they typically stood close together. Sparks from stoves, fireplaces or oil lamps could easily ignite and destroy entire towns and financially ruin their inhabitants.

In case of a fire, all residents rushed to help extinguish it. They were given buckets and used all available water (sea-, well-, and pond-water) to put the flames out as quickly as possible.

In 1938, a fire destroyed the cod-drying shed on the island, putting ‘a final end to the fishery on the island’.

The small building with the shed at the back is your next destination.

5. L’Atelier on Île-aux-Marins

L’Atelier is worth a look for its nice decorations.

The large building to the north is your next destination.

6. Ecole Archipélitude Museum on Île-aux-Marins

The island's first school was started by Miss Quémart in 1863. Children at the age of 6 to 12 were taught by her in the skills their parents required. Later on, other teachers joined the school.
With the decline of the population on the island, the number of students declined and in 1963 the school closed for good.

Your next destination is the church.

7. Eglise Notre Dame des Marins on Île-aux-Marins

Religion was important to the fishermen, who constantly encountered hostile seas and relied on their faiths to keep going.
The church was built from 1873 to 1874 and the construction of the presbytery likely occurred before 1897. The last priest lived there from 1934 to 1966.

The trail with the crosses that leads to the cemetery and the large white monument behind the church are your next destination.

8. Chemin de Croix on Île-aux-Marins

The trail continues behind the church towards the seaside cemetery.
With the help of his devoted parishioners, Father Lavolé built the Stations of the Cross in 1925. This place is dedicated to the processions of Corpus Christi. Each cross has the name of one of twelve victims. Two other stations are dedicated to the unknown soldier and the Virgin Mary.

9. World War Memorial (Monument aux Morts) on Île-aux-Marins

The World War Monument is dedicated to the victims of both World Wars.
world wars. Every year on June 18, a memorial service is held there.
Built in 1927, the monument has a list of the islanders who died for their homeland engraved.

Now walk towards the lighthouse, which is your next destination.

A. Lighthouse (Le Phare) on Île-aux-Marins

After approx. 50 shipwrecks between 1816 and 1840, it became clear that safer access to the Saint-Pierre harbor was necessary, so local merchants asked to build a lighthouse.
Pointe Lecomte, the point where you are standing now, was chosen in 1874 and the lighthouse became operational the same year.
The oil lamp that was used, was replaced with a fuel lamp in 1928. In 1949, the lighthouse switched to an Aladdin Lamp which worked on methane and later propane.
The original 7m diameter metal shaft was covered with concrete in 1928.
In 1973, the lighthouse was decommissioned.

Now walk back towards the dock where the ferry will pick you up, but don’t go there yet, as one of the highlights of the islands still awaits your arrival.

B. Maison Morel (Fisherman’s house) on Île-aux-Marins

This house, which belonged to Eugene Morel, originally stood in Saint-Pierre. In 1916, it was dismantled and rebuilt at its current location.
The wooden fishermen's house has four rooms on the ground floor, including a large kitchen. Next to the kitchen is a smaller back kitchen.
Morel's fishing shed originally stood closer to the shore, but was moved to its current location around 1950.
The stone fields in front of the buildings are drying grounds for cod fish. The island had many such drying grounds in the past.

Now walk back to the ferry dock and take the ferry back to St. Pierre.

L'Arche Museum and Archives

If you purchased a guided tour of the Île-aux-Marins, then admission to this museum is free, otherwise you have to pay 7 Euro per person (at the time of writing).

The museum has its permanent exhibition on one floor. It tells the story of human occupation from the first settlements about 3,000 BC until today. A special part of the permanent exhibition is about the Prohibition in the US and how people from St. Pierre and Miquelon found ways to smuggle alcohol into the US. At one time, the islands ran out of storage space for all the alcohol, so residents were asked to store it in their private homes.

P’tits Gravier restaurant

Unlike Miquelon, St. Pierre has more restaurants, and it is necessary to make a reservation in many restaurants. See more information about the restaurants here.

The P’tits Gravier restaurant opens at 7pm for dinner and serves French dishes. The restaurant was not sold out when we visited and we could have likely gotten in without a reservation. The food was good, but not as tasty as at the Feu de braise. Our server spoke good English.

This concludes your tour for today.

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Author: Rudy at Backpack and Snorkel

Bio: Owner of Backpack and Snorkel Travel Guides. We create in-depth guides to help you plan unforgettable vacations around the world.

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