TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin This is it- our last day.......

Monday seems to have passed in a haze, as has most of the last two and a half weeks if the truth be known, but that’s often what happens when you’re having fun. Did nothing special but had a lot of little errand-type things to do. We spent some morning time at the pool and said goodbye to some departing friends and then off to do ‘stuff’ before we leave on Wednesday. We came back ‘home’ to grill the steaks that were to have been our Sunday dinner. Yummy - steaks on the grill with campfire baked potatoes. My cabana boy did a great job! We were meeting a friend at El Zafiro in the evening so we ended up having salad and drinks there for dinner. So, tell me, how can you do nothing of consequence all day and still be exhausted at the end of it? I don’t know but we were!

So things of note (or non-note.) this trip:

We have still NOT seen as much as a drop of rain the two and a half weeks we’ve been here, and while I’m not wishing rain for anyone’s vacation, the island desperately needs it. In a few places we’ve been, when you walk on the grass it crackles like straw under foot, the hills and the golf course are dry and brown, and I can’t imagine what the resorts are paying for water to keep their plantings as beautiful as they are. Hopefully this weather pattern won’t ultimately end up in a serious drought for the island like we experienced in Saba a few years ago. That was like a chapter from Herman Wouk’s ‘Don’t Stop the Carnival’ and I surely wouldn’t wish that on SXM. Or anywhere, for that matter.

The surf here at BSV and along this stretch of Simpson Bay has really kicked up sincewe first arrived - not great for getting in and out of the ocean but the sound effects at bedtime are heavenly. The really nice thing about this trip for me has been even though I haven’t spent much time in the ocean, the swimming pools at both places we’ve stayed are right off the beach so you can see it, here it, and cool off and not end up with sand in places you didn’t know you had places!

We have still not experienced any seaweed this trip but we only did one beach day on the French side of the island where we’ve been told it’s been a problem. Again, we’ve seen none. We also experienced no electrical outages and no water shortages. GEBE has been good to us.

And lastly, this is the time of year we’ve visited EVERY year since our first trip in November, 1973. We know it encompasses a lot of holidays and island events that result in holiday business closures and we plan our island days accordingly, but I always feel badly for those who aren’t aware of street closures for parades and holiday store closures that force then into the resort areas for their grocery needs. Good Friday is a huge island holiday with lots of closures and the local people celebrate the day. Easter Sunday not so much beyond their normal worship routines. And then, there’s Easter Monday which is a huge party day. There are at least two parades associated with Carnival that can cause huge traffic snafus and then there’s Jouvert! Times two. There’s a Holland dignitary’s birthday - King, Princess, Prince, Queen? Not certain which one anymore - that is recognized and celebrated and tomorrow, May first, is Labor Day. And there may be another one that escapes me but remember, this is all in a short span and at Carnival time. It’s a fun time to be here IF you know ahead of time and plan accordingly but lots of visitors are disappointed because they are unable to do some of the things they had planned on doing and their week passes quickly.

Us? We planned nothing, or at least not too much, so “No problem, Mon!” And now we pack, and unlike Scarlet, I will NOT think about it tomorrow.

Thanks for taking us along. Very dry when I was there in March and it appears that trend continues.

Safe travels home.

Thanks for taking us along. I do wish you would send me at least one picture from "home" though. Whine, whine!! Enjoy your last few hours in paradise before the awful job of heading home..

Enjoyed all your stories as well as meeting you and your cabana boy. Safe travels home!

Stop your whine, whine and check your in box,

Thanks for your report and thoughts.

Yes ma'am!!

Pictures from Pat!!







God I love this place!

Safe travels. Keeping fingers crossed it stays relatively dry for us when we are there.

Enjoyed traveling along with you. Safe trip home.

Hi Pat , don't to forget to give me a call.
Thanks.

Safe flight home Pat!!

Nice... Thanks for adding pics!

Have a safe flight home Pat. Really enjoyed your stories and "non events". Music to my ears. Glad you took care of Carol's whine whine and thank you Carol for posting the pictures. Any time I see pictures of BSV, it just puts a smile on my face.

Good morning, Mike, and thank you for the good wishes.

I finally caught up with Smarthie yesterday and OMGoodness, did she ever smile when I gave her your message of greeting. She immediately knew who I was talking about and I think it made her morning, if not her day

Safe trip home and bundle up. It's still cold here, no spring yet.

Thanks, Rosemary (or Don?) - sandals on my tootsies now but sneakers and sox in my bag for JFK.

Your wish for rain has been granted, it has been showery all PM. It is not a bad thing, as the island desperately needs it. safe travels home!

Thanks, Pat...enjoyed your reports very much. Safe travels.

I have never been there..it looks lovely. Would you mind pls giving exact driving directions say form Maho(I would be coming from Terres Basses). Thx.

Do you know where Sunset Bar and Grill is? If so, immediately before you pass under the arch for the parking, you make a left. Follow that road past the end of the runway to the first left turn you can make. That road dead ends at Beachside Villas. There is a sign there at that corner.

And a last couple of pictures from Pat. First two are of El Zafiro. Obviously on a NON cruise ship day!





And another of the pool at Beachside Villas. Can't say how many times I've taken this same picture.

I sure like all the space between the chairs.

Thx. Carol.

Like I said, just go to El Zafiro on a non cruise ship day..

bran--you're welcome.

If you want to visit Beachside Villas, there is a gate at the end of the road. You would have to wait for someone to open the gate. Or you can go to El Zafiro next door and get a drink or eat and walk over the beach to see it from the beach. But in order to see a unit, you would need to have someone from the office show it to you, so perhaps better to just go to the gate and wait for someone to open it.

And those non cruise days are only a few.

Depends on the time of year. There are a lot less ships in the summer. Can't imagine those people buying those expensive condos they're building next door would be very happy with those crowds.

For sure. That would be a deal breaker for me. As far as ships, just about every day has ships in when we are there but there are a few that are OK..

Will do both, never been to El Zafiro anyway. from the pics, BSV reminds me of Carimar Resort in Anguilla, first went there in early 80's on Meads Bay. Still going and last year spent three days at the Frangiapani Resort, but wished we had gone back to Carimar, actually just remembered they were booked, but thinking of going there for three days later on as we have three weeks in St. Martin. Extraordinary Beach there, plus Shoal Bay on Anguilla. Will also be able to see someone I haven't seen also for nearly 40 years!

Great post Pat and I love your pictures!! I am missing BSV, Anguilla and of course FL. All 3 were wonderful! Glad we caught up a couple times. Wished I had known you were going to be at Beachside. Maybe next time!

Liked all zafiro.

Is the BSV pool atop a building?

The post BSV is a platform raised about six or so steps off the beach on one side and about the same from the driveway on the other end. I’ve never been a pool person all our many trips to the island but staying here over the past few years I’ve rapidly become one.

We liked El Zafiro, too, and have eaten and stayed there since they opened, but they’re bringing in multiple buses of cruise ship guests now and while I get they have to do what they can to make a profitable living, there were just too many people for our taste and I wonder if long term they might come to regret this.

One day last week we counted three medium sized buses all at the same time, and what appeared to be two more heading there as we were leaving, way too many people for my taste and not a huge service staff to accommodate them.

We were told by another BSV guest the EZ Beach overflow spilled onto the beach in front of their unit and in one case, the people tried to drag the BSV chairs down onto the beach to join their friends but the BSV guests saw them and told the the chairs were privately owned.

Pat--we try to stay at the other end of the beach from El Z, but you can bet we would set some people straight if they tried to do that while we were there!! I hear they are building more units at El Z, but I can't imagine staying there, with all those cruise ship busses coming in.

We certainly prefer the pool end of BSV but I was so late in making reservations, (thank you once again Towers management for that whole mess,) that we were just happy to be there and I know it was a stretch for management to get us in at all, so I appreciated their efforts and would have been happy wherever they put us. My only wish was our trip might have been longer with a little more time there but life is what it is, right? Best thing is to be thankful for the good things and make the best of the rest.

We saw signs of construction at El ZAFIRO - a whole new building just before the bar and bath house area, but the few times we were there neither Nicole or Ed was around to ask and the workers were confusing as to what that construction was all about. We asked one if it was part of EZB and they said no and the next day, another person said yes, it was - so who knows? For some reason, perhaps another discussion here in the past, we thought there were condos for sale there but perhaps not? I really don't know and since we're not in the market..... and the more I learn about the way things work, I'm glad we just visit when we can rather than owning anything substantial there.

Re the cruise ship passengers coming in to EZBeach and Mullet, I get the WHY but we, too, would not be wild about sharing the beach with that many people. We will try Mullet again in November but we were so totally turned off to it this trip because of the way the concessionaires there have usurped the best real estate on the beach, along with no less than FIVE day-tripper boats in while we were there along with many private boats as well. I don't know how many cruise ships were in port that day and part of the reason for the crowds on the popular Dutch beaches might have been the possible strikes on the French side but it didn't make for the greatest of beach days, for sure.

From my understanding, El Zafiro is adding on some more units, but there is also a brand new set of condos to be going in, squeezed in beside El Z on the opposite side from BSV, somehow. I don't actually know if they have started construction on those condos or not.

As far as Mullet, you remember it like it used to be, which unfortunately it won't be like that ever again, I expect.

With all the mega ships arriving just about every day (and more being built) SXM is turning into a ZOO! To encroach on private property like BSV, is just the way they are, rude and inconsiderate. They feel "hey, I am here for the day" attitude, I paid for the tour (and yes it will get worse).

In fairness, and while I agree in some respects the island is becoming a bit of a zoo, the beaches are all public, even those st BSV, and while they should have figured out the chairs weren’t for public use, I’d chalk it up to the issue of need out-weighing the risk or the propriety in their mindset. Over the years, the bulk of cruise ship visitors we’ve encountered have always been exceptionally pleasant and eager to ask questions and learn about the Friendly Island.I’d be hard-pressed to say rude but then again, that term can be applied to many and not just the cruise ship guests.

As always, very well stated.

Certainly, all beaches are public. It's just they are bringing WAY too many people there to that relatively small beach. I guess they have to survive, so they are doing it, but I would never rent a room at El Z, knowing those huge hordes of people would be coming in half the time.