Last winter's dengue rise hit Martinique's resort beaches. Guadeloupe stayed calm.

Yes. Both islands have Aedes aegypti, the day-biting mosquito that spreads dengue, and dengue is endemic on both. Last winter Martinique had a rise centered on the resort coast at Les Trois-Îlets while Guadeloupe stayed calm, so for a December–April trip the useful steps are a daytime repellent habit and a look at the current dengue phase before you fly.

Last winter's rise on Martinique's south coast

Santé publique France, the French national public health agency, publishes the dengue bulletins for both islands and rates each one on an alert scale. Phase 1 means sporadic cases, phase 2 isolated clusters and phase 4 a confirmed epidemic. In Martinique, confirmed cases climbed from about 25 a week in October to December 2025 to 40 to 60 a week from January to March 2026, mostly in the south. Les Trois-Îlets had the island's highest incidence in January and 34% of its cases in March, with two clusters of nearly 30 cases each at Anse à l'Âne and Anse Mitan.

Visitors made up a large share. In February and March, 38% of Martinique's confirmed cases were in people who don't live on the island, and 283 confirmed cases diagnosed in mainland France between November 1 and March 19 were traced to Martinique, against 45 to Guadeloupe. The agency also said a late-February rise in dengue consultations might partly reflect people seeing a doctor after Carnival. Cases fell from April, and hospital activity stayed low throughout.

Check the phase before you go

Santé publique France's September 10, 2026 bulletin still had Martinique at phase 2, with about 10 confirmed cases a week and four clusters in the previous four weeks, in Trinité, Le Diamant, Les Anses-d'Arlet and, again, Les Trois-Îlets. Guadeloupe was at phase 1, with 5 confirmed cases in the four weeks to early September and no dengue emergency visits since July. Over the winter it had low-level spread on Grande-Terre and more on Marie-Galante. Neither island has a CDC travel notice or appears on the CDC's global dengue list.

December to April is the drier season, but recent winters haven't been quiet. Both islands had epidemics through the 2023–24 winter, Guadeloupe had another from November 2024 into mid-2025, and Martinique's south coast had last winter's rise. A week or two before you fly, look up Santé publique France's latest Antilles dengue bulletin and note each island's phase. Chikungunya has only arrived with travelers so far, though the agency warns that more imports are a real risk, with epidemics in Cuba and active spread in French Guiana.

Aedes mosquitoes bite in daylight, with peaks after sunrise and in the late afternoon, so repellent goes on over sunscreen in the morning, again after swimming and again before sunset. Our dengue & Zika routine has the full schedule. Breezy beaches tend to be light on bites by day. Mangroves, standing water, still evenings and wetter Basse-Terre bring more mosquitoes, and some beaches have sand flies, the tiny midges our Barbados sand fly guide covers. Pick an air-conditioned or well-screened room, and check for ticks after hikes through grass and brush, since the CDC lists African tick-bite fever for both islands.

Where you're going

Here is how the main areas on both islands compare for a December–April trip.

Adding another island? Our St. Lucia and Dominica briefings cover the neighbors.

What travelers report

Paraphrased from forum threads and linked so you can read them in full. None is dated, and wind, rain and where you stay change the picture from one trip to the next.

• Le Diamant, Martinique · daytime and evening

  Asked whether there were mosquitoes in the Le Diamant area, a longtime visitor replied that by day there is virtually no risk of being bitten except in the mangroves or near stagnant water, and that mosquitoes are around in the evening but not in great numbers. TripAdvisor ↗

• Sainte-Anne, Guadeloupe · morning and late afternoon

  A visitor staying about 1 km from the beach in Sainte-Anne described tiny, hard-to-see biters active mainly in the morning and late afternoon, with bites that turned into large burning welts; only DEET helped. Replies were mixed: one found the insects manageable thanks to the ocean breeze, and another said bites worse at night and on still evenings suggest midges rather than mosquitoes. TripAdvisor ↗

• Grande-Terre and Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe

  A forum reply said the south coast of Grande-Terre (Le Gosier, Sainte-Anne, Saint-François) is the driest area and so the best for avoiding bites, that Basse-Terre gets more mosquitoes because it rains more, and that Port-Louis on the north coast is known for sand flies. TripAdvisor ↗

Two last notes. The CDC lists Zika for both islands, so if you're pregnant, review the CDC's Zika guidance with a healthcare provider before you go. And any fever during or after your trip means a doctor visit, and you tell them you were in Martinique or Guadeloupe. Dengue usually shows up within two weeks of the bite.

Traveler questions