TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Must see stops for my bareboat charter

Flying into st martin in Aug doing a bareboat charter. What are the must stop/see spots? Any recommendations for restaurants/bars on each island to hit? First trip to st martin.

are you talking about sailing the islands or anchorages in St.Martin?

Both! We plan to stay one night prior charter and one night post in st martin. I would love suggestions for places to see along my charter sailing too. Thank you very much

My favorite St. Martin (and St. Barths) anchorages and destinations by boat:
- Grand Case. Excellent anchorage with sand at 10-20 feet depth all the way to the beach. Protected in all but a north swell, but wind funnels through the anchorage most of time in microbursts. New dinghy dock that doesn't eat dinghies. Best selection of restaurants in the island ranging from LoLos (locally-owned, locally-operated food stalls) to Michelin-rated restaurants all within a short walk of the dinghy dock.
Anse a Peres/Friar's - between Marigot and Grand Case, good holding in 20-30 feet, protected in all but a north swell. Nice beach, but nothing ashore at night. Wonderfully calm at night.
Anse Marcel - good holding in 10-15 feet, occasionally rolly. Nice beach and there are restaurant options at the hotel/resort at night. Inbound/Outbound clearance can be done at the Capitainerie.
Ile Tintamarre - I believe that the mooring balls are back now, otherwise anchoring in good holding at 15-25 feet. Great day stop (popular and busy in season) with a fantastic beach with soft sand and some good snorkeling as well as diving. If conditions are settled then it also makes for a great overnight stop. It is usually empty after 16:00 and there's nothing ashore.
Ile Fourchue (St. Barths) - a well-protected anchorage with many free mooring balls, plus ability to anchor in 20-30 feet. Uninhabited nature reserve island with some nice vistas; but the beach is only pebbles. Good snorkeling and great diving.
Anse Colombier _(St. Barths) - one of my favorite
anchorages. Lots of free mooring balls and usually quite protected. When all the mooring balls are taken anchoring in 10-20 feet in good holding is possible. Fantastic beach and snorkeling, plus some nice hiking around to Anse Flamands and towards the airport.

Regarding the "free" mooring balls at Tintamarre and Columbier, I didn't think those were free. I was under the impression (from the base manager at The Moorings) that those balls are paid for from your park fee that you should pay - at some point to someone.

We pay a small ($6-7 I think) park fee when we get the boat, for each night we stay at Pinel or Columbier. We get a little slip of paper with a stamp on it proving that we paid. Now I'll grant you that nobody has ever asked to see those strips of paper but the implication was that there could be.

Are we being duped into paying those fees?

I think Arnd is saying there is no mooring fee like BVI with someone coming out to your boat and collecting $30. A park fee, which you also pay in BVI for Moor Secure, is different than a mooring ball fee. When I was in the area for a month my check out was about $50 in SXM.

As Robert Heinlein once said, "TANSTAAFL" and I should have said, as sail2wind corrected me, that there is no individual fee to be paid for using the mooring balls off Tintamarre. The mooring balls there are maintained by the marine park service and once is allowed to use them for overnight stays. The St. Barths moorings in Tintamarre and Colombier are maintained very conscientiously by St. Barths and are indeed partially funded through the clearance and overnight costs.