Explora Journeys in Devil's Island

The Îles du Salut are three small granite islands off French Guiana that France ran as a penal colony from 1852 until the 1940s, the system the wider world remembers as Devil's Island. You tender to Île Royale, the administrative island, and walk through the prison ruins, the museum, and the chapel under old coconut groves; the actual Île du Diable, where Alfred Dreyfus was held, stays off limits to landings because of currents and sharks. It is a rare, sober history stop on an otherwise tropical itinerary, and Explora calls in February.

What to do on a day in Devil's Island

• Île Royale's prison complex: the cell blocks (some intact, some roofless), the warders' cottages, the hospital ruins, and the children's cemetery, all linked by jungle paths
• The small museum in the former director's quarters, with documents and photographs explaining the colony and the Dreyfus affair
• The island church, decorated with paintings made by the convict-artist Francis Lagrange
• The walking loop around the island under old coconut palms, where introduced monkeys, agoutis, and macaws are easy to spot
• The view across to Île du Diable from the auberge's open-air terrace, where you can pick out Dreyfus's stone cabin and the brick stump of the old ropeway that once connected the two islands

Getting ashore

The ship anchors off the islands and tenders to a small landing on Île Royale; some operators circle the islands first, which brings you fairly close to Île du Diable for photos even though you cannot land there. Île Royale's loop and ruins fill a comfortable half to full day on foot, so one day covers the main island well, with the smaller Île Saint-Joseph and its solitary-confinement cells the part you have to leave for another time.

When to book the ship's excursion vs your own →

Weather and when to visit

• February (Explora's call, short rainy season). Hot and humid, around 24 to 31 C, with frequent showers and high humidity in the December-to-February wet stretch. Trade winds can make the open-water tender crossing choppy, so a calm-window landing is not guaranteed.
• Mid-July to November (dry season, for reference). The driest, most comfortable window, with September and October seeing rain only about 15 to 17 percent of days. Calmer seas make the tender landing more reliable, though cruise calls here are uncommon outside the winter season.