That's one reason I gave up on that variety. They split open too easily and even when I picked a perfect looking ripe one I wasn't impressed with the flavor or texture. Probably every melon lover plants them at least once to see what the hubbub is all about. Sticking to typical loaupes & muskmelons from now on, no fuss about when they're ready.

I also grew Charentais for the first time this year. I had read earlier that when the melon turns a slightly different shade, kind of a yellowish colour and smells good that it's ready to pick. So I picked all my melons once I noticed their colour had changed (they all smelled wonderful too). I wasn't disappointed by any of them, and had no problems with splitting at all either. Not sure about the dark area inside the fruit. My guess is It occurred after the melon split, but I'm no expert.

Maybe you could try this next time and see what the results are? It can't possibly be worse than splitting! Good luck! :)

Thanks for trying to help me out. That one melon is the only one I had, so it made it a little more special. I fed it to the chickens and the chicken house smelled wonderful for two days.
I saved the seed, plus I still have half the seed from the original packet. I plan on planting some of both seed next year along with some typical muskmelons (as suggested).

Can anyone give recommendations for any of the single serving cantaloupes?

Depends on how much you call a single serving. I don't know about you, but I could down a whole large cantaloupe in one sitting ;)

For a small cantaloupe, the only one that comes to my mind is Minnesota Midget. It's a very early muskmelon, and it's compact. I hear it will grow well in containers, and has good taste considering how early it is. I plan on planting it next year.

The Ambrosia (hybrid) muskmelons I grew this year were small. I know they're supposed to be a larger, typical sized cantaloupe, but boy were they good! The best muskmelon I've had to date. I see many others recommend them as well, even though they're a hybrid.

Other French melons such as Petit Gris de Rennes and Noir de Carmes are supposed to be relatively small cantaloupes too. I've only heard good things about those as well. Hope this helps!

You might check out the Asian melons, like Sakata Sweet or Golden Sweet. About the size of a baseball. Wast and eat the skin - too fine to bother peeling and scooping.

I live in a melon challenged zone, its just too cool at night to get them to reliably ripen in the short, 100 day season we have. I tried Charentais 5 years in a row. The first year, they were absolutely outstanding. That was also the year of the record drought and a summer of record high temps, rarely getting below 60º at night all summer. Next four years, it was cool again at night, and they never ripened, although a few were well enough along that I could pick them and have them ripen indoors. But nothing like what I'd had that first year.

Definitely check out the Asian Vegetable forum if single serving sized melons are what you want. I'm doing Korean Silver Line for the first time, and happy with the productivity and taste. A bright yellow fruit that weighs in at 1 to 2 lbs.

I'm going to expand my plot to try Korean Star next year.

I will check out the Asian site; I'd been intending to anyway because of some of the greens.
Taste is the most important quality, but I was also thinking size because my mom lives alone. I'm trying to keep her inspired to eat better which includes more variety.
So, LW, even the large melons are only half servings?

I'm reviving this thread for the ones who are asking about cantaloupe and muskmelon. I got some good answers.

I love my minn midgets and will be growing these again next year. I purchased a small melon the farmer called Sprite that I saved seeds from to grow this year also. It was small and very tasty. I also had good luck with sugar baby watermelon. My space is very small so I need to grow up instead of out so tend to grow the really small melons as well. Kim

Charentais melons can be excellent, when grown in the right conditions. You may have waited too long to pick. I pick them the day they turn color, or a day after(if they aren't full flavored on the day they turned).
I don't know what caused the darkened area inside. If the soil is moist, you may need to put something under the melons(like straw) to keep them from lying on moist soil. Rot could start, or burrowing insects/worms could get inside, otherwise.
Other small melons to consider are Noir des Carmes or Petit Gris de Rennes.