TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Anse Marcel Tuesday

It’s Tuesday morning as I start to write this - the sun is shining, the waves are still crashing and OMGoodness, for the first time in the almost full week we’ve been here we can see the dim outline of Saba in the distance. God’s in his heaven and all is right with MY world! I hope all who might be reading this can say the same thing.

We were soon off to Anse Marcel for the day. Daughter Kim picked us up and we were off for an eleven o’clock reservation and a 12:45 cabana lunch reservation. There was talk here a while back about how to go about snagging a cabana and I have no substantive answer to the how or why you can get one but there were four of us and no problems getting one but we did call and reserve. There. weren’t a huge number of people there but enough to make it a nice beach day and while I often have questioned the need for a reservation, many who came behind us asked and were told the front row was totally reserved. Draw your own conclusions.

It was a lovely day. The service, as always, was impeccable and the food?! OMG! It was wonderful! We were served a tapenade and we shared an appetizer around the table. We all had different entres and each one was delicious as were the two desserts we shared. The wine was also a nice touch. After lunch we headed back to our ‘parasols’ and chairs on the beach for a quick dip and then an afternoon nap.

The staff there is so watchful of its clientele. I had left my kindle, one of the older models, on my towel in clear view on my chaise when we went to lunch and one of the beach attendants actually moved it underneath the towel for safety and then came and told me what he had done. After lunch the sun was starting to be a bit much for my DH and without being asked they brought him an extra umbrella. I’ve long enjoyed my days there and today was no exception and while it’s definitely not the most inexpensive island beach day, it’s certainly one worth doing, or at least it is IMHO.

With the exception of our designated driver, we enjoyed one last round of drinks and headed for home about 4:30ish and the traffic was basically stop and go (when you were lucky and got to go that fast.....) once we hit the main road all the way to the Sandy Ground side of Marigot. We had hoped to make the sunset at Kim’s but sadly, we missed it again.

It was a lovely day and now we’re in and done for the night. We had originally planned a nice dinner out but were just too tired to do it. Well, some of us were tired and I don’t know about the younger set.

Thoughts along the way:
We saw lots more “St. Maarten snow” even on the beach today. Kim had never heard the term but we all laughed out loud when we heard the people next to us talking about it, too.
Saba is coming back and we could actually see her clearly, particularly when we got back to upecoy.
Encountered our first moskies of the trip but it was in an area of very heavy flora and vegetation and at a time when the wind had actually momentarily slowed down considerably.
The hills and the countryside are beautiful. All that rain in October has worked an incredible miracle across the island .

Sounds like a wonderful relaxing day. Glad Kim could drive you- that road to the beach can be a bit daunting.

Lovely reports, thx for sharing😎

PS...I want to be you when I grow up😁

"St Maarten snow" Not sure what that means. Please help me out. Glad you enjoyed the food. Everything we have had there has been great.

Perhaps all the butterfly sightings?

Pat would you mind mentioning some of the entrees your party ate?

Thanks for the report! I also have no idea what St Maarten snow means..

I was thinking that but not sure.

Sint Maarten snow is the butterflies. BTW, they look white when they're flying, but they're actually pale yellow.

Your story telling is amazing, as usual! Good job!

I’ll try but remember, I’m not a foodie and if I was describing it, ‘we had lunch and it was good.’

Kim and I had the beef carpaccio which was served with incredible French fries and a small salad with some sort of a honey dressing. On top of the beef was some fancy lives and shared cheese.

John had a nicely seasoned shrimp, calamari and scallop dish in a salad presentation that he loved.

Joan had a baked mahi mahi served with a side of flavored rice and some kind of a sauce for the fish. There were a lot of fancy words added to the menu descriptions but I probably wouldn’t have known what they were in English never mind as written in French.

The desserts were a chocolate confection with what seemed almost like a chocolate tiramisu, a chocolate mousse and a rich dark chocolate ice cream and the other was coconut encased in dark chocolate with mango and something else. I’m not much of a dessert eater but the first one I did taste and it was yummy but sweet.



Yes, the St.Maarten snow comment was in reference to all the white butterflies which, as GaKaye stated, really are a pale yellow or ecru color but against the green and blue backdrops appear from afar to be white.

Sounds like a good day, glad you all enjoyed it.

Pat, as always, so nice to read your reports. I'm so glad you had such a wonderful day at Anse Marcel. I was so sorry our group never made over there on this past trip. There's always the spring. Keep enjoying your trip. It's hard to believe you've been there a week already.

I know, Mike. It doesn’t seem possible that a full week has already flown by, and even more surprising, we have yet to go to town or to Mullet.

Anse Marcel was a lovely day, but then, it always is. Are you saying you’ve never been there at all or just not on the last trip? It is such a lovely and relaxing location - truly a beach day for pampering yourself if you’re of a mind to.

Being as I have been to SXM several times, and not once made it to Anse Marcel area....what actually is there? Obviously the old RUI is gone,,,but has there been any building going on? I was under the assumption, having never been there, that there wasn't much beside the Rui resort. Would you mind describing the area for me. I really want to go there, we tried once and couldnt find when we were on the French side, but maybe in January we will try again. Thanks

The Riu is becoming Secrets. Allegedly, it is supposed to open in February 2020. Don't know if it really will happen or not. Other than that, basically the only thing that is there now is the Anse Marcel Beach Club, which is a very upscale restaurant on the beach, with beach loungers available for rent, for a separate, additional charge (even if you eat there). It is NOT a cheap day, but a really great upscale experience.

There’s basically nothing in the area we’re enamored of but a paved parking lot, a quiet beach and a wonderful restaurant with an incredible chef. The food is unbelievable and the service, both beach and restaurant, is very good. The restrooms are also quite notable and very nice. RIU is gone and yes, they are rebuilding on that end of the beach, supposedly to reopen a very high end SECRETS RESORT soon but I’m doubtful on the soon part based on what we saw yesterday.

It’s a calm beach with very nice beach furnishings and it is NOT INEXPENSIVE so be prepared. We have found the best approach for us from the States is to run our tab and pay at the end of the day by cc in EUs to get the best exchange rate. I don’t know how that might work out with a Canadian based cc., nor do I know if your cc has a conversion fee attached to it which might make a difference to you. If you ever went to Dreams, they’re similar but the drive in is a lot more scenic than to Nettle Bay but the hills are killers but So worth the effort to get there.

Hope that helps.....and perhaps others will chime in with things I may have missed. Oh, and there is a sign that says no coolers which, in this place is very understandable.

Depending on the day they will make exceptions to the no cooler rule. We took ours with water and a few sodas but we also ate in one of the cabanas. We saw the sign and told them what we had and was told no problem.

We stayed there when it was l'Habitation de Lonvilliers, & haven't been back since. It would be interesting to just go for lunch and try this wonderful food that's getting such good reviews. maybe refresh our memories. I'm hoping this is doable.

Thank you Pat, we will be at Royal Islander weeks 4 and 5 and we can’t wait. Love Anse Marcel!

Thank you Pat...that gives me a better perspective....I am really going to try to get there this trip or next for sure. I never made it to Dreams either,,,ugh! Still so many places on the island that I long to get to...so will keep at it. I appreciate your comments and time. Happy Travels.

Wonderful report Pat!!

I love it there and don't mind eating in the restaurant part, so I can people watch and see the interesting plates go by. LOL
The cabana is good for privacy I'm sure.

We never stayed at Dreams, since it was windy and I prefer the beach at Anse Marcel--so beautiful!
I guess we missed some good food.

Looking forward to your next post.. Thanks for sharing--today would have been our first full day.

Great description and advice on the place. Can't wait for our trip in March.

Pat, after all these years, I had never been there until last April. I've always read about how much people enjoyed it there and was adventurous one day , so we decided to give it a try. We absolutely loved it. On this last trip, it was on our list to do, but ran out of days.

Sounds like us with Saba, Mike. We had been visiting SXM for at the very least, twenty years before we ever made it out there and once we did that first visit, we were sold and the next time we went out we stayed over for three or four nights. We don’t hike or dive so that was more than enough for us but Saba is beautiful as long as you can do without a beach for a few days. I always smile when I think about the difficulty in accessing Anse Marcel because we’ve done the somewhat more difficult logistics of getting to Saba which makes the former like a walk in the park.