St Maartin recmmendations

[stinkyfeet]

I'm heading there in a month.  Any must see/ do recommendations would be appreciated!

[neonpink]

Orient bay beach is gorgeous. It is I think my favorite beach ever. You can rent a chaise and hang out all day under the umbrellas drinking drinks and soaking up the sun. It's on the French side of the island.

Drink a Guavaberry colada. It's made with a liquor made on the island. They are delicious.You can get the drink almost everywhere. I enjoyed a few at Maho beach watching the planes come in. It's touristy beach but such a cool experience to watch the planes land so low over the water. It's one of the few places in the world you can watch planes land so close.

Have breakfast at Zee Best. They have a goat cheese omelette that I am still dreaming about. While just all of the food really. www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147350-d1083761-Reviews-Zee_Best_Restaurant-Simpson_Bay_Sint_Maarten_St_Maarten_St_Martin.html

I took a Catamaran tour while there that someone on here recommended. Blue Beard Charters.
www.bluebeardcharters.com/
We spent the day on the Catamaran, snorkeled and had lunch on Anguilla and sailed home. It was one of my favorite days on there.

I've traveled to a lot of places and St. Marteen is on the list of a place I will return to when I can. I have never had such a relaxing and fun trip before.

It's also a really friendly place. They people are very welcoming on both the Dutch and French sides.

[tres3]

We were only there for 1 day cruise stop but we did this www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147347-d2083816-Reviews-Soualiga_Destinations_Boat_Tours-Philipsburg_Sint_Maarten_St_Maarten_St_Martin.html and it was a lot of fun

[Alyssa]

Mar 1, 2016 11:58:30 GMT -5 neonpink said:

Orient bay beach is gorgeous. It is I think my favorite beach ever. You can rent a chaise and hang out all day under the umbrellas drinking drinks and soaking up the sun. It's on the French side of the island.

Drink a Guavaberry colada. It's made with a liquor made on the island. They are delicious.You can get the drink almost everywhere. I enjoyed a few at Maho beach watching the planes come in. It's touristy beach but such a cool experience to watch the planes land so low over the water. It's one of the few places in the world you can watch planes land so close.

Have breakfast at Zee Best. They have a goat cheese omelette that I am still dreaming about. While just all of the food really. www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147350-d1083761-Reviews-Zee_Best_Restaurant-Simpson_Bay_Sint_Maarten_St_Maarten_St_Martin.html

I took a Catamaran tour while there that someone on here recommended. Blue Beard Charters.
www.bluebeardcharters.com/
We spent the day on the Catamaran, snorkeled and had lunch on Anguilla and sailed home. It was one of my favorite days on there.

I've traveled to a lot of places and St. Marteen is on the list of a place I will return to when I can. I have never had such a relaxing and fun trip before.

It's also a really friendly place. They people are very welcoming on both the Dutch and French sides.

This

I highly recommend the catamaran trip.  I did this ages ago....in 2000, so it's been awhile BUT it was a memorable excursion.

[Tacocat]

Ditto Orient Beach. I loved it there and wish I could go back.

[UnderProtest]

Always eat on the French side. The Dutch side food isn't worth it.

[neonpink]

Mar 2, 2016 12:21:02 GMT -5 UnderProtest said:

Always eat on the French side. The Dutch side food isn't worth it.

The Dutch side feels more like chain places that you would find in the US to me while the French side is more unique.

[gigem]

It was a few years ago that we were there (2013 March) but we went twice during our 6 night stay to a place in the Cul De Sac area called Le Taitu which was a cosy little tucked away restaurant with simple but amazingly delicious food, in a quiet laid-back setting. I think in that part of the island there's a popular place called Le Ti Bouchon.

I remember there being something about euros vs dollars, like on the French side the taxi drivers only wanted euros or you had to go at their exchange rate. I can't remember exactly what was the issue and not sure if this is still an issue. Also we always asked the taxi in advance how much it would be, and when he took us to dinner we set a time for him to get us (or kept his number and the restaurant called when we were ready) and made sure we had agreed on the return fare. We tried to use the same taxi driver most nights that we went out, and then the hotel would just call him when we were ready to go somewhere.

[protozoa]

Try out a bunch of different beaches! Orient is a must-do, other favorites are Pinel Island, Baie Rouge, Mullet Bay, Happy Bay (short hike to get there), Simpson Bay.

The Celine 2 is a good choice for a boat tour as their food is AMAZING.

Check out Maho to watch planes come in but I'd go later in the afternoon since the place is mobbed with cruise shippers during the day. And if you want beach chairs during the day head to Driftwood since SSBG chairs are expensive and it is a total zoo. Head to SSBG after the cruise shippers leave.

Definitely hit up some nice restaurants in Grand Case. My recent favorite is La Villa, but lots are good.

Also make sure to get some local food. The lolos in Grand Case are good, Yvette's in Orleans is good and a little more formal than the lolos.

[gigem]

Yes Pinel and get fresh lobster! I couldnt remember the name, so i was happy to see that pp mentioned it!

[stinkyfeet]

thanks everyone!

[patches31709]

We go every year and always stay in Grand Case, on the French side.

Definitely take the boats over to Pinel. Try not to go on a weekend though.

Eat in Grand Case. We love La Villa and the Sunset Cafe, which is at the Grand Case Beach Club. The bbq at the lolos is also amazing, and so darn cheap.

We also loved our sunset cruise on the Passaat, we've done it twice now.

Last time we were there we did the Bluebeard Charter to Anguilla that someone else mentioned, it was so pretty.

If you're the adventurous type, take the ferry to Saba. It is this tiny little island that is basically just an old volcano, and it is the highest point in the Netherlands. Definitely a unique stamp in the passport. When you get there, you just pay a taxi driver a ridiculously cheap fair to drive you around and show you the sites. We hiked to the peak even though our cabdriver insisted we didn't have time. I think I lost about 20 pounds that day, but it was so much fun.

[bonnie]

Ditto Orient beach. Also, go get pastries at Sarafina's!