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SXM Trip: April 6 to 17, 2017

The SXM time warp continues to accelerate. We were on the island for 11 days this trip. For the first time in many years, we never went to front street in Philipsburg, never to the lowlands, never to Marigot, never to GCBC to catch a ride on Scoobi (Scoobitoo was out of service for repairs) or get a ride over to Creole Rock (with Jerome at Watersports now), and never to Anse Marcel to get a ride on Funseaker or for any other reason. How did we ever do all those things without even being there as long as 11 days?

I made our usual pre-trip arrangements with Cecile for one of her units at the Palm Court (you can find her by googling Orient Bay Lodge and/or Wind Adventures), Michael at Unity, and Jeannie at Shop N Drop.

Thursday – April 6: Flew AA RIC to CLT to SXM. Late out of RIC and arrived in CLT just minutes before scheduled departure time of flight to SXM. Monitors were showing on-time departure to SXM so we ran from E gate to D gate – we should have taken it easier, I cannot run around airports carrying both of our carry-ons like I used to, that’s for sure – at gate, we learned that they had added some time to departure because of a number of people including us so we could relax, we and our luggage would make it.

Arrived just a little late in SXM. No one from Unity there to meet us – I think this is first time that has happened in many many years. A guy in the area just outside the terminal where someone normally is there waiting for us called Mike, and Mike came and got us. Mike did not seem to have us on his schedule or remember we were coming, but I showed him the confirming email and all was good. Got a Hyundai Sonata instead of our usual Corolla, which was fine.

Drove to Palm Court where we were staying at the Orient Bay Lodge – a third floor unit in the Hotel which we rent directly from Cecile, a former manager at the Palm Court. Jeannie’s Shop N Drop crew had delivered our groceries in usual fine fashion and we were all set.

Friday – April 7: Bluebeard to Prickly Pear. Parked in dirt lot next to Royal Palm and walked over to Buccaneer Beach Bar for check-in and departure. Great crew – great trip – usual good BBQ lunch on Prickly Pear. Reef looked poor. Reef not doing well at all. Not what it used to be, that’s for sure.

Saturday – April 8: Captain Alan’s six hour snorkel trip. Had a nice time talking with Alan and Paul when we got there – they said business was pretty good. Joked with them about how a certain competitor manages to dominate on Cruise Critic with great reviews. Had a great trip with Jervis and a good group on board. (We most often have had Francoise as our Captain but he apparently was goofing off on this day.) A Dutch couple on trip did not want music playing on the boat – which Jervis and some of us found a little unusual – but we personally did not care one way or the other – and they were very interesting and friendly to talk with, so all was good – even without the music. On the way from Tintamarre to Creole Rock we saw a humpback whale and her calf – Jervis did a great job in spotting them and then maneuvering the boat around to see them as best we could. Very exciting! We have never seen a whale before in SXM.

Sunday – April 9: Headed to Orient – set up at Club O and then swam over to Green Cay for a lengthy snorkel. Reef looked good along western side – appeared to be fair amount of new coral growth. In afternoon, a cold rain hit – we retreated into Papagayo for some drinks. Went to Le Piment for dinner this night – we got our usuals – I got the beef tenderloin and the wife got the steak cooked in maple syrup – excellent, as was the service, as always. Le Piment is probably our favorite restaurant on SXM because of location, price, and Chrystal and her crew.

Monday – April 10: Drove to Divi Little Bay to snorkel. The wife likes to snorkel here more than any other off beach snorkeling we do in SXM. Not as good as Green Cay but a whole lot easier to swim out. As with Green Cay, the coral growth appears to be improving and we saw all the usual fauna.

In the afternoon, we drove back to hotel to shower and change, before heading to the Stone for the lagoon cruise on the CelineToo with Neil and dinner at the Stone. There were only five of us on lagoon cruise because Neil had had to change the day of the cruise from Tuesday to Monday and only a total of five people made it on this Monday – he still did the full lagoon cruise. The other three pax were a couple from Trinidad with their son. They were very nice and pleasant to talk with – the dad was a pilot and had some interesting stories about flying in the Caribbean for about 30 years. Dinner at the Stone was great – the food and service were excellent. We upgraded the special that is combined with the lagoon cruise and had 6 ounce filets and some extra salad and stuff. We thought that the starters (or appetizers or whatever they were called) they served us were some of the best food we have had on SXM. We talked briefly with Johann before going on the lagoon cruise. I told him that the last time I recalled seeing and talking with him was on a day sail in 2005 when he was being “volunteered” by his father to serve on the Celine. We had a good laugh about that – he definitely prefers his restaurant to serving on a boat! And, he does a great job of it.

Tuesday – April 11: Went to Pinel this day. Used some Euros for ferry – paid 10 euros per person instead of $12 per person. Example of one of few situations in which I use some euros because of a poor exchange rate. (I have never bought euros for purpose of SXM trip, but almost always have euros on hand left over from a European trip – where I get euros from an ATM.) Got chairs and umbrella for $25 (they are 1 to 1) in front row at Yellow Beach, as we always do. Brought lunch and drinks in a cooler.

We decided to go ahead and pay the $13 per person (it would be 12 euros per person but I just paid dollars for this) to do the “snorkel trail.” Snorkeling was not great because of sea conditions and reef seemed to be declining – maybe because of number of people snorkeling there, many of whom are inexperienced and damage the reef. When you pay and use snorkel trail area you have to wear a vest – which I despise, but put up with on this occasion, partly because I was curious about the condition of the reef within the buoy lines and partly to be able to snorkel with the wife. The sea conditions were rough enough that we did not want to swim outside the buoy lines all the way over to the outer reef area – although we did go outside the buoy lines once over in that area.

Wednesday – April 12: On this day, we took the Lambada (Aquamania) to Prickly Pear. We snorkeled at Prickly Pear and had a very nice BBQ lunch at Sandy Ground (Anguilla). I forget name of the restaurant, but it is the one to the right (as you are approaching Sandy Ground), just before where they are building the new pier. Great crew and great trip overall. A further note: I always am impressed with how well Marjon (of Aquamania) (think I am remembering name right) responds to my emails asking about what they have available when we are there.

Thursday – April 13: Green Cay day – swimming over from Club O. Excellent snorkeling at Green Cay this day. Otherwise, we did as little as possible.

Friday – April 14: We took the Eagle Tour on Quality Time to St. Barths, including a stop for snorkeling at Ile Fourche. We got the bus pickup and return as part of deal – so that I could enjoy a few drinks without worrying about the driving. As it turned out, I also got to see things that I never get to see as I am so focused on the road, as well as random people and chickens, when driving on SXM. The crew on Quality Time was excellent – I was very impressed with them. We enjoyed the stop in Gustavia (St Barths) – we walked to Shell Beach for a dip to cool off, stopping along the way to see the Anglican and Catholic Churches, and some other history spots. We listened for a time to the Good Friday service taking place in the Anglican Church. An Oceania cruise ship was tendering in pax – who were helping fill the streets of Gustavia. As always, we were in awe of some of the prices – who buys a $31 mediocre quality souvenir t-shirt?

Saturday – April 15: I had planned on this trip to do a number of things, including getting better pictures of some of statues (like One Tete Lohkay and the Salt Pickers) and checking out Burgeaux Bay (because of some comments on Cruise Critic), but the only such thing we tried to do that was on my special to-do list was to try to go to Fort Willem. I have some pictures of Philipsburg from Fort Willem taken at various times over the years and wanted a current one. So, on this Saturday morning, we got up early and drove off with the intent to drive up Fort Hill and see Fort Willem. Well – it was an adventure. I thought we could drive up by taking Spanish Fort Road across from the entrance to Divi, then to Camel Road, up to Fort – but, that did not work. First, our poor Sonata could not make it up past a certain point – either on Spanish Fort or Camel Road or who knows what road it was, when I hit a place with loose gravel, the car began slipping backwards – no traction - and I barely managed to avoid hitting a wall – which probably was better than almost going over a cliff. We were only able to get turned around with great difficulty – and retreat down the hill. We then walked up as far as we could walk up – which offered some very nice views of Divi/Fort Amsterdam and Philipsburg, but we were well below the top of Fort Hill and I do not think we were at any Fort Willem ruins. There are, of course, towers on the top of Fort Hill, and there must be a way to get up there – but we did not find the right way this time, it was getting hot, and we gave up. Next time, we will either try another side of the hill or try to get someone (like a Wilfred Brooks) who knows what’s what to take us up there.

After the driving adventure, we went to Divi, snorkeled, and lazed on the beach.

Sunday – April 16: Back to Orient and Green Cay. The morning snorkel at Green Cay was excellent. When back at our chairs, around mid-day, the rains and wind came. It was a real high wind downpour. We retreated to Papagayo – which provided an excellent lunch. After some excellent ribs, I got the Papagayo Ice Cream – which was rum raisin ice cream, whipped cream, caramel syrup and maybe something else. It was delicious and when Karine (name - ?) brought it out – everyone seemed to enjoy seeing the presentation. The wife simply got some coconut ice cream – very tasty but not nearly as impressive looking. After a long lunch, we gave up on getting good enough weather to stay any longer on the beach and headed back to hotel. By the way, when did they stop presenting bill at Papagayo in a small box – please don’t tell me that was ten years or more ago….

Monday – April 17: We set up at Club O early and walked the entire beach – the only time we walked the beach the entire time we were there. This also was a first for us – on some past trips, we have walked the beach almost every day. No swimming to Green Cay today. About 11, we head back to hotel to shower, change, pack up, and head over to return car and get to the airport. Mike had given us the Sonata half full and the car was over half full, so we did not need to stop for gas before returning car. We were very impressed with new gate things at airport – particularly, where you scan passport, enter flight information, and the gates open and you just proceed to security. At gate, they first announced that they were oversold and needed 18 volunteers, who each would get a voucher for $1,000 – I think they got the 18 they wanted, but it later turned out that all 18 boarded the airplane – as they did not need any volunteers because of no-shows. Indeed, after we were on plane, there were no-shows for port-side row 1 and they upgraded 2 people to the first/business class area. I think one was some kind of well-known musician or something, they seemed to be treating him with great deference, but we did not recognize him and the name meant nothing to us. Immigration and customs in CLT was as fast as ever with our global entry – but then had to wait a LONG time for luggage. No issues on flights.

We ate at the Rib Shack in Grand Case one night – I cannot remember which night – I failed to take notes on this trip and cannot remember a variety of things. At the Rib Shack, we had the usual ribs – which were good – the service was even very good this night. I had hoped to see the sunset with a green flash but it was way too cloudy. Nice looking sunset but no chance of the green flash. When we parked in the municipal lot across from Calmos (which is free) this night, the same guy who for years continues to try to get money from people parking at the lot was there and asked me for a $2 parking fee. I just told him “not tonight” and otherwise ignored him. If I had seen a gendarme I would have reported him but did not.

One thing that struck us this trip was the number of buses we saw operating on both sides of island. Seemed to be more than we ever remember seeing before – and many of them seemed to be noticeably nicer, newer vehicles. I have no idea if in fact there has been an increase or not, but just our anecdotal observation suggested that more and nicer buses were operating than prior years. We have never used the buses either on land vacations (when we rent a car) or on a cruise ship port of call (when we just take a taxi). But, I know that many people swear by the buses and recommend them to cruisers on Cruise Critic and for using when there on land vacations, as well.

Great trip.

Very nicely done and it sounds like a great trip. I suspected before I read it that we were being slugs this trip but OMGoodness!! After reading all you squeezed into your trip I really feel like a total slugabug!!

TY for sharing and isn't this a lovely time of year to visit?! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for your detailed report.

great report

thanks for sharing

Thanks for the nice report. I took Neil's "pub crawl" lagoon cruise last fall, and we stopped at The Stone for appetizers. I agree with you as to their deliciousness!

Enjoyed your report. Thank you for sharing your adventures. If I had a vacation like yours I would need another vacation when I got home.

Great trip report. Thanks so much for sharing.

Well - is it a "lovely time of year" with you freezing on your balcony and the days of wind and rain we got? More seriously, it was nice enough weather to have a great time - the bad weather was only for a brief time - and they needed the rain. We would have gone later this year, though, except for some graduations in May and the family wanting the beach week to be in early June - which is why we have not seen Cats2 and the other June people the last couple years. I think we may go in May next year - or even early June if beach week gets moved.

Thanks for the report! As others have said, I think I would need a vacation AFTER that vacation to relax! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Smile.gif" alt="" /> What do you think about the quality of the corals around SXM in general these days, versus the past few years? My feeling is that it should be better in general, because there have not been any hurricanes lately, but wondered what your impression is.

Scary attempted trip to Fort Willem! Glad it didn't end badly.

I think that the reefs/corals in some places in SXM are improving - at least marginally - specifically, at places we go alot, at Little Bay and Green Cay. The Reserve pays a lot of attention to Pinel, but I do not think it is improving there and I think it is getting worse. I also do not think Creole Rock is improving and maybe declining. The places that get a lot of traffic - like Pinel and the Grand Case side of Creole Rock are suffering from the number of people, I think.

World-wide generally, things are kind of scary - such as at the Great Barrier Reef and Maldives - about which I have read specifically - because of increasing temperatures. There have been a lot of articles coming out about loss of coral because of increased temperatures and human activity.

Anyone interested in seeing some of the fantastic reefs of the Indian and Pacific Oceans may need to get out there in the next few years because if temperatures of the oceans keep increasing, the coral may be devastated.

If we wanted to snorkel nude with any of the tours that you took, do they require a vest or do they allow snorkeling nude? I would rather not have to wear a vest.

Thanks for your views.

I despise having to wear a vest or any flotation device while snorkeling - but the ones that you get on many boats (in our experience for example on ship excursions all around Caribbean) you can leave uninflated and they do not interfere too much. At the snorkel place on Pinel, he had actual vests, which of course are necessarily buoyant and cannot be "uninflated." The wife does not like wearing a vest, but does not mind much because she does not free dive. Last year, I simply did not do the snorkeling with her inside the buoy lines in part because of the vest requirement. This year, I put up with it but I probably will not do it again. I can understand their reasoning because they get a lot of inexperienced people who (other than any issue of their swimming ability) would damage the reef more than they do if they were not required to wear a vest. They do not feel that they can make exceptions.

None of the excursions with snorkeling that we took on this trip permit nude snorkeling. "Historically," people have treated Green Cay as clothing optional and snorkeled nude to and off the rocks of Green Cay. In recent years, however, (just anecdotally when we are there) I have seen very few people nude on Green Cay or snorkeling there, perhaps primarily because of the loss of beach there and the fact that fewer people go over there for any reason - although there is a bit of beach there now which people go over to, with kayaks primarily.

When we are going to swim over to Green Cay and be snorkeling in the water for 2 hours or more, we are wearing rash guard long sleeve shirts and swim suits. I cannot be swimming in the water that long without that kind of protection from the sun. The wife with her Irish ancestry (nobody's perfect) basically has to keep pretty covered up most of the time both in the water and on the beach or she will burn.

The only regularly scheduled (regularly scheduled, but only go when there are enough people) clothing optional excursions that include snorkeling of which I am aware are with the Tiko Tiko and Captain Alan. Other boats certainly will do private charters as clothing optional - such as Random Wind, Celine, or, I am sure, others.

Again, just anecdotally, my sense is that fewer people on this board and generally are interested in a clothing optional snorkel excursion than in the past - seems like years ago, it was much easier to get a group together or join a group. Others may not have the same sense.

Long answer to short question.

Very informative and I thank you for your response. Helps a lot.

Great trip report! We also love to snorkel and my love keeps me on the go nonstop, so I often need a vacation from our vacation. We have reservations for Club O in August (rather than trekking up and down the hills at Mont Vernon) so I am hoping for more relaxation next trip! Any advice on swimming to Green Cay? We tried once (without fins) and the current was so strong that I gave up 3/4 of the way. I don't like swimming against the current and getting nowhere, and had we kept going, we would have ended up far to the left of it and washing up on the beach, naked in a non naked area! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

We would not swim to Green Cay off beach without mask, snorkel, and fins - too hard. On the swim to Green Cay, we leave the Club O beach much closer to Papagayo than the Perch. Coming back, we shoot for Watersports starting out - and try to come in well South of the Perch. Be cautious doing this sans any garments - not because of "legalities" or where you land - but because unless you really lather on some very water proof sun screen, you really have to be careful about spending a lot of time snorkeling without better protection than sun screen. Depending on your skin color, this is especially true when you are doing this snorkeling pretty tanless as we usually are. The other reason to stay south is that it is safer - the jet skis, banana boats, etc do not usually go too far south. You do have to have an eye open for things as you do this swim.

Thank you for your nice report!