Our first trip to SXM was made over Thanksgiving week - will have to say it was the most relaxing, enjoyable week we have spent. Thanks so much for all the great info posted by fellow TTOL'ers.<br><br>Air - AA from MSP to St. Louis to San Juan - return via Chicago because AA cancelled the St. Louis flight. No problems whatsoever - the TSA looks to be pretty efficient. AA DOES have more legroom - especially when compared to NW.<br><br>Car rental - used Alain and Myra @ AAA (TTOL Sponser). We had prepaid vouchers for transportation from and to airport so had car delivered to hotel and picked up the day before we were leaving. Delivery & p/u exactly as promised. We had reserved a compact but were upgraded to a Toyota Maxima at same price - lots of power for hill climbing but sort of big for the narrow roads, expecially when a scooter comes whipping past you. Would certainly use him again.<br><br>Hotel - Esmerelda Resort. Rooms were reasonably priced, clean, well maintained. Only downside was no microwave but my bride survived without her popcorn. Security was very evident with security personnel on bikes patrolling frequently - supervisor (?) in p/u truck roaming around. The main gate was manned after dark. Never once did we feel uncomfortable<br>The pool with each villa was a big plus - could be pretty nice to jump in and get the salt off. 3 of the 4 units in our building were occupied and all partook of the clothing optional option.<br><br>Coco Beach - right in front of Esmerelda. Great beach along with great service from the beach boys - when we left for the day just told them we'd be back tomorrow and they'd have our lounges and umbrella reserved. Left side (near the rocks) is the spot to be for nude use - center and right for topless and bathing suits. <br><br>L'Astrolabe - restaurant @ Esmerelda - had good food, good service and reasonable prices. The "presentation" of the meal added to the experience. Only disconcerting thing was the [Linked Image] and cat wandering around. We did notice other free ranging animals at other restaurants<br><br>Tiko-Tiko Had a good time - besides us there were a couple from Denmark celebrating 25th anniv, couple from Florida, and a couple of guys from eastern Wisconsin. All were Tiko-Tiko "virgins". The food was better than expected, the rum punch was stronger than expected and the mud baths were more enjoyable than expected. Only down side was the number of "gawkers" on the beach coming from 2 different large catamarans - 1 in AM & 1 in PM. Will have to give the PM people some credit - hostess came over with some rum punches. I guess their patrons were too shocked with the sight of 8 naked people to drink all their ration.<br><br>We spent the vast majority of our time on OB - ranging from Coco Beach to Club Orient - sand gravity took over pretty quickly. One smart thing I did was print out the free drink coupons on www.partyorientbeach.com. They were used pretty often.<br><br>Met all sorts of great people - can't get over how many people have been to SXM 5- 8 - 15 times. We can now see why. Especially good to meet Sugarae and John - they brought fresh Maine lobster with them and invited us to join them for dinner cooked by Andy @ Baywatch - fabulous [Linked Image]. CinV and her family were right where they said they'd be - the staff at Coco pointed them right out. Hope to see you guys again - maybe next Thanksgiving.<br><br>Some people we met who we like to communicate with but didn't get e-mail addresses. If any of you read this please sent a PM - Jerry & Linda from Indiana (stayed at Esmerelda), Thomas and Ellen from Denmark and Larry & Meta from Fla.<br><br>As I said initially this was the most relaxing week we have spent in the 15 years we have been married. We will most certainly be back - we can see why people keep coming back and back and back. Next time maybe well have the opportunity to do the Pinel thing or see the Butterfly Farm or spend more time in Marigot and Grand Case<br><br>Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to All[Linked Image]

RGV Couple