Ile Sainte-Marie, or St. Mary's Island as it is known in English, became a popular base for pirates throughout the 17th and 18th centuries due to several reasons: it was not far from the maritime routes along which ships returning from the East Indies sailed in transit, their holds overflowing with wealth, it was provided with bays and inlets protected from storms and finally, it had abundant fruit and was situated in quiet waters. Legendary pirates like William Kidd, Robert Culliford, Olivier Levasseur, Henry Every, Abraham Samuel and Thomas Tew, lived in the île aux Forbans, an island located in the bay of Sainte Marie's main town, Ambodifotatra. Many of them would found a family line. Numerous vestiges of this history remain at Sainte Marie. For example, several authentic pirate vessels still lie within a few meters of the surface in the Baie des Forbans. One of these has been tentatively identified as Captain Condent's ship, the Fiery Dragon.
The utopian pirate republic of Libertalia was also rumored to exist in this area, although the republic's existence, let alone its location, has never been proven.