Saint Martin Tips

Please take advantage of these tips from people who have been to Saint Martin and are willing to share their best tips with you. My thanks go out to those who contribute!

September 2, 2002

From: Gus Freiha

Sunday, September 01, 2002 12:57 PM

Subject: Pic Paradise

We just wanted to let people know that it is NOT SAFE to go to Pic Paradise. We drove up to take pictures and we were then surrounded by 8-10 guys with knives and machetes. They surrounded our husbands and we ran screaming for help. Fortunately nobody was injured but they did get away with all of our money and cameras. We went to the police on the French side and they told us that it has become an everyday occurrence and they did nothing to help us. So Please post on your page that it is not a good idea to hike or drive up there. Other than that incident we had a great trip!!!!

From: GREGORY FOUST

Monday, December 04, 2000 8:54 PM

Subject: St. Martin trip quick thoughts

Rick; Just returned from St. Martin Saturday, our first visit. Had a great time! Some info for you:

- Tried to eat at Mike's cafe....closed on Mondays. Never made it back.

- Best meal of the trip: Turtle Pier on Wednesday night! Al was very cordial.

- Tried le Piccolo....just OK

- Same was true for Pelican reef....food OK, service terrible.

- Rick's in town was still closed for repairs

- Pizza Pasta was great. A zoo, but lots of fun.

Roads OK...weather perfect.

Visited Les Prune, Baie Rouge, Friars Bay (yes we got the free chairs with lunch), Happy Bay (super!) and of course Oriental. Stayed at Green Cay....pricey but very nice.

Thanks for all of the info and hints in your trip reports, it made our first (and not last) trip to St. Martin terrific!!! Thanks, Greg Foust

Subject: NEW BEACH CLUB
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 10:13:12 -0400
From: Joan Waldron
IT JUST OPENED LAST YEAR - NEAR LA PRESSOIR. CHAIR RENTALS ARE $5 UNLESS YOU EAT THERE & THEN THEY ARE FREE. LUNCH WAS GREAT, ACCOMMODATIONS FOR THE DAY WERE TERRIFIC. CAN'T REMEMBER THE NAME - CAN YOU? THANKS, ENJOYED YOUR WEB SITE.
JOAN WALDRON
MAXS@GARDEN.NET
[I only remember that the name sounds Mexican - any help out there? rick]

Interested in more information about Saint Martin? Visit Jeff Berger's site.

Check out Ray Mann's homepage for Saint Martin restaurant reviews, tips, and great photography.

Subject: St Maarten info/tips/etc.
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 1999
From: Amy Bick
Rick,
My roommates and I just returned from St Maarten 3 days ago. I had checked your website for info before going (appreciated it!! you've got lots of good stuff!) and wanted to let you know that Le Bistro Gourmand definitely is closed. There are for sale signs out and it's looking pretty ratty.
We were going to tryout Michael's Cafe in Grand Case for lunch, but, unfortunately, he was closed for painting. However, he recommended a place up the street, L'Amandier, which was excellent. The food was great (we had Caesar salads, steak, swordfish, chocolate mousse to name a few) and the service was superb. The waiters were friendly and the view could not have been beat. We also went to Capt. Oliver's at Oyster Bay one day for lunch and it ranked right up there with L'Amandier.

We agreed with alot of what you said (we seem to be more on your wavelength that other review/guides I've read). The Butterfly Farm was truly enjoyable (irregardless of age, you'll enjoy it) and Le Galion beach is definitely for little kids and people who don't swim well outside their bathtub. One beach you didn't mention was Mullet where the abandoned resort is located. We went there on our last afternoon and enjoyed it the most for simply swimming and chilling. I'm told the view from Pic Paradise is not-to-be-missed (I personally wouldn't know having issues such as a fear of falling) but I do know it is completely drivable (I watched enough cars come down the road waiting for my own party).

I completely agree with Kathryn's tips on sunscreen. The three of us went through a family size bottle of SPF 48 in 3+ days and wished we had more! (of the 48 that is, we still had plenty of SPF30's). Put sunscreen on first thing in the morning and keep reapplying. Don't forget about windburn too, especially if you out on a boat. We had a wonderful day on the Bluebeard catamaran with Capt. Toby, Gaynor, Glen and Sam to Anguilla but came back very burnt is some overlooked places (surfice it to say, you wouldn't dream how painful it would be to have your ear 'peel'...OUCH!).
Do not underestimate you need for water. We bought a 12 pack of the 1.5 liter bottle and finished all but a couple.

When renting a car (and it IS a necessity) get a SUV, Jeep, 4x4 type of vehicle. The reason: St Maarten roads are baaaddddd! And the ones to the beaches and 'picturesque' place are worse! You need this type of vehicle for clearance. If you are worried about sunburn in an open top vehicle, just leave to top on or get a hard top.

Anyway, this was probably more than you ever wanted to know. Let's just say we all loved are vacation and are looking forward to going back.

Happy traveling,
Amy (& Lottie & Marsha)

Here's a very nice site about Saint Martin - good overview of tourist activities and you can even order brochures.

Check East Caribbean Cellular to see how you can use your own cellular phone to communicate while you're on vacation in Saint Martin.

Paul's Picks: St. Martin/St Maarten contains about 50 links to sites about Saint Martin. An excellent resource.

A visit to Friendly Island.com is well worth the trip.

Want to know the weather at Juliana Airport?

Sint Maarten Saint Martin Island Info - with a name like that you should expect to find plenty of info...and you do.

Subject: thank you
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1999 22:06:34 -0700
From: Jeff & Ariel Bowlin

Dear Mr. Mollica:

My wife and I just returned from our out of states vacation - we were in St. Martin from May 28th to June 6th, when our plane took off from Juliana my wife cried - and I felt like it. Our week there was the greatest six days we have ever had (despite bad air-travel and rental car mishaps). Your description of St. Martin was a deciding factor in our decision to go there and I brought your 98' and 99' travel loges along as a guide. We stayed at the Nettle Bay Beach Club - absolutely French, and very close to Margiot.

We spent 1 day at Friars, 1 day at Cupecoy, 1 morning at Happy Bay (nearly died of heatstroke on the noon walk back on June 4th), 1 day at Baie Rogue, and of course 2.5 at Orient. We ate at Marios, Turtle Pier, La Parilla, and every restaurant in Marine Royale. I had a bad experience at Bikini Beach, had our car keys and money stolen and went through several small mishaps and learning experiences. I intend to write at length about the trip - but I found myself promoted when I returned to work post vacation, so I am frantically busy at the moment (yet still planning my next trip back).

Anyway - thank you for your website, by taking your advice we had some of the most memorable moments of our lives - including a morning by ourselves at Happy Bay. By the way, you may be interested to know that they have begun refurbishing all the hurricane damaged buildings at Happy Bay, a local told me that soon it will be a private beach.

[Kathryn Hill goes to Saint Martin three times a year and she was gracious enough to share some of her tips for having a good vacation there. Thank you, Kathryn...Rick]

We have many favorite restaurants and we keep going back to visit after visit. There is however always the chance that a restaurant will change ownership or chef and what was great the last visit is less than that on the next visit. We have several new (to us) ones to try this time. I will e-mail you upon our return if we find any great places to dine. Here are our favorites:

Tips:

Hi Rick, got your message and was wondering if you ever had info on car rentals, the best bargains, we have rented from Summer Set and we could dicker a little about the price, one thing I like about them is that they do not take a blank credit card slip from you, so you don't have to worry about any extra charges. The car we had this year was a mess as far as looks go, but the way they drive over there who cares. We also just leave the car in the airport with the keys in it and leave so that saves on some time. One of my favorite places is the airport road beach, I think it's called Maho Beach, but I'm not sure, we love watching the planes come in and leave especially that Air France.

[I stopped using Summerset - see why. I used Empress for the last two years, but would try Best Deal, Adventure, or Safari next time - see the 'Rental Car' section of my 1999 report. - Rick]

Hi Rick, we just came back from St.Martin on Thursday, had a nice time the only problem was we had another couple coming with us the second week, and because of American Airlines troubles their flight was cancelled. That was a blow. We stay at the Pelican Resort, we have a time-share and try to go every year. The weather was a little strange, a lot of wind and some rainy days that it poured.

The next time you get down to St. Maarten, try out the following for Breakfast/Lunch -

Stop & Shop - just across from the airport. Prices are reasonable, food is very good, service is excellent, and the view of Simpson Bay is very nice. We also like to have Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner at St. Germain in the Marina at Marigot. Breakfast Crepes are great, and they fly in mussels from Paris on the Thursday Air France flight - for Thursday evening dinner - mussels and pommes frites - a meal to die for (with a nice bottle of French wine).

Saint Martin Travel Tips

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