St. Maarten help

[neonpink]

I need some help if anyone has been to St. Maarten. My BIL and my FSIL are going there on their honeymoon at the end of April early May. They are staying on the Dutch side of the island.
My H and I wanted to get them something that they could use while there, a gift card to a restaurant, scooter rental or something else fun to do there. I have never been. Something that will add to the great memories they will have there.

They are both going through a stressful time besides just wedding planning and I wanted to give them something awesome. Any help would be appreciated. TIA

[protozoa]

Hi, I would think that purchasing an activity for them would be fun. Some good ones include Rhino Riders, 12 Metre Race, zip lines, and lots of day long boat rides. Also there are a ton of great restaurants. What type of food do they like? About how much are you looking to spend?

Are they renting a car do you know? And do you know the hotel they are staying at?

[neonpink]

protozoa

They are staying at the Flaming Beach Resort.  I don't think they are planning on renting a car at the moment.  They are big restaurant goers. I originally thought a nice restaurant would be good.
They are doing this sort of on a budget, her parents gave them the hotel. They've only had to pay for airfare. Which is why I wanted to give them something awesome to do while there.

They are also pretty water loving adventure seeking people so I think they would be up for anything.

[protozoa]

Here are some restaurants that get great reviews that are convenient to the Flamingo:

www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147350-d4054737-Reviews-Crave-Simpson_Bay_Sint_Maarten_St_Maarten_St_Martin.html

www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147350-d3522748-Reviews-Panlaan_Thai_on_the_Bay-Simpson_Bay_Sint_Maarten_St_Maarten_St_Martin.html

www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147350-d1853000-Reviews-IZI_Ristorante_Italiano-Simpson_Bay_Sint_Maarten_St_Maarten_St_Martin.html

If they are adventure types, they might really like the Rhino Riders excursion (I found it rather terrifying, but DH loved it).

If they can find the budget, renting a car for a few days to explore the island would be a great idea. There are so many neat restaurants and beaches and car rental is pretty cheap there. We use Unity Car Rental, but the resort might offer car rental as well.

[Moe]

Get them a visa GC, and demand that they go to Grand Case.

They absolutely have to drive a car. scooters are not preferable.

[G22]

Jan 24, 2014 15:43:50 GMT -5 Moe said:

Get them a visa GC, and demand that they go to Grand Case.

They absolutely have to drive a car. scooters are not preferable.

This. We went here on our honeymoon and rented a car for a day and drove over to the French side for the day. Also, insurance on the rental isn't a bad idea. A local rear ended us because she was texting and driving :?

[Moe]

Jan 24, 2014 16:09:35 GMT -5 G22 said:

Jan 24, 2014 15:43:50 GMT -5 Moe said:

Get them a visa GC, and demand that they go to Grand Case.

They absolutely have to drive a car. scooters are not preferable.

This. We went here on our honeymoon and rented a car for a day and drove over to the French side for the day. Also, insurance on the rental isn't a bad idea. A local rear ended us because she was texting and driving :?

And there's less cars in the French side!  So imagine!
So sorry this happened to you

[G22]

Jan 24, 2014 16:25:44 GMT -5 Moe said:

Jan 24, 2014 16:09:35 GMT -5 G22 said:

This. We went here on our honeymoon and rented a car for a day and drove over to the French side for the day. Also, insurance on the rental isn't a bad idea. A local rear ended us because she was texting and driving :?

And there's less cars in the French side!  So imagine!
So sorry this happened to you

This happened on the Dutch side. Like literally 15 minutes after we rented the dang car. Thankfully there wasn't any damage (that we could see) but we were thankful we had the insurance, just in case.

It happens. It didn't ruin our day.

[Moe]

Jan 24, 2014 16:29:02 GMT -5 G22 said:

Jan 24, 2014 16:25:44 GMT -5 Moe said:

And there's less cars in the French side!  So imagine!
So sorry this happened to you

This happened on the Dutch side. Like literally 15 minutes after we rented the dang car. Thankfully there wasn't any damage (that we could see) but we were thankful we had the insurance, just in case.

It happens. It didn't ruin our day.

Oh yeah, the Dutch side is chaos when it comes to traffic.  I don't understand with Link 1 and all the roads that have been built, how many cars are made to fit in such a small island.  Is unacceptable that it often takes an hour to just go from town to Simpson Bay.  Cay Hill is a mess.  

And yeah, driving safety is still.... Shall we say, a bit lax?

I still love it. Glad it didn't hamper your trip!

[D2M]

Great present! One of our friends did this for us when we were on honeymoon, which was also in St. Martin (the French side). Our friend called our hotel and the hotel gave restaurant recommendations. The hotel folks then somehow arranged the gift card and surprised us with it at check-in. The restaurant, Le Tastevin,was on the water, really gorgeous and the food was amazing. It was almost five years ago, though, so I bet there are other great places now, too. The French side of St. Martin is known as the culinary capital of the Caribbean, so if your BIL and FSIL are big foodies, really encourage them to rent a car and explore the restaurants there. (I imagine they could also take a taxi there, but a rental car would also allow them to get to the different beaches around the island.)

[G22]

Jan 24, 2014 16:35:07 GMT -5 Moe said:

Jan 24, 2014 16:29:02 GMT -5 G22 said:

This happened on the Dutch side. Like literally 15 minutes after we rented the dang car. Thankfully there wasn't any damage (that we could see) but we were thankful we had the insurance, just in case.

It happens. It didn't ruin our day.

Oh yeah, the Dutch side is chaos when it comes to traffic.  I don't understand with Link 1 and all the roads that have been built, how many cars are made to fit in such a small island.  Is unacceptable that it often takes an hour to just go from town to Simpson Bay.  Cay Hill is a mess.  

And yeah, driving safety is still.... Shall we say, a bit lax?

I still love it. Glad it didn't hamper your trip!

I take you live there? Its a beautiful island. We loved it. I'd love to come back someday!

[Moe]

Jan 24, 2014 16:38:01 GMT -5 G22 said:

Jan 24, 2014 16:35:07 GMT -5 Moe said:

Oh yeah, the Dutch side is chaos when it comes to traffic.  I don't understand with Link 1 and all the roads that have been built, how many cars are made to fit in such a small island.  Is unacceptable that it often takes an hour to just go from town to Simpson Bay.  Cay Hill is a mess.  

And yeah, driving safety is still.... Shall we say, a bit lax?

I still love it. Glad it didn't hamper your trip!

I take you live there? Its a beautiful island. We loved it. I'd love to come back someday!

Grew up.

Left to go to college. 

Parents still live there

And yes yes, return!

[neonpink]

Thank you guys so much for all the advice. I'm hanging out with them tonight so I will bring it up and talk to them about if they will rent a car or what their plans are.

I think I need to go here now, H and I almost went on our Honeymoon here but headed to Barcelona instead.

[littlemisssunshine]

The most fun thing I've ever done is the Extreme Zipline Treetop course at the Loterie Farms. I thinks its 70 euros. If they are adventurous this is so fun! Two hours up in the trees ziplining and doing an obstacle course.

[wanderlustfoodie]

You can take the ferry from St. Martin to Anguilla for a day trip to visit some of the most gorgeous beaches in the Caribbean. A great gift would be some sort of boat charter they could use for the day to make stops on Anguilla wherever they want.

[Alyssa]

Yes! Catamaran trip out to Anguilla.

We took this one out to Prickly Pear and it was a blast!  They play music, serve drinks, take you snorkeling over a reef and serve you lunch.  I would do it again in a heartbeat.  This was the company we used.

www.bluebeardcharters.com/

[neonpink]

They will have a car. I asked over the weekend to see what their plans are. You all have given me such great ideas.

[patches31709]

Yes they must go to Grand Case to eat. We adore La Villa and the Sunset Cafe (at the Grand Case Beach Club, which we also adore and go to every year now).

One of the best excursions we did while there was take a ferry to an island Saba. It is not a beachy island, it's really just a volcano, but it was fascinating to see. We hiked to the top of the mountain, the tallest point in the Netherlands.

We also love taking the ferry to Pinel.