TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Trip report

This will be more of a stream-of-consciousness post, as opposed to a chronological report.

I was on the island seven nights, returning home late last night, travelling solo. Airfare was $360 on United. Couldn't pass up that deal (because of flight schedule changes, I was forced to travel AA home. NBD).

After landing, got in the rental car and headed to Carrefour to load-up on provisions. I had a small studio apartment unit on the French side of the Oyster Pond area. I've never stayed on the French side, so I thought I'd try something different.

Billy Thinwallet doesn't like spending a lot of money eating at restaurants, so most meals were eaten/prepared in my unit. However, after travelling, I was too tired to make anything on my arrival day, so I went to grab a pizza at Oasis in Oyster Pond. Good, not great. They take US$ 1:1 for carry-out orders.

Mama Pizza and BZH in Oyster Pond were temporarily closed.

Visited Orient Beach on Sunday. Unbearable, constant wind. I had sand in my nose, mouth, ears, hair, and drink cup. I left after about two hours. I woke up in the middle of the night coughing up sand.

Dinner Wednesday at Greenhouse (Philipsburg). I wanted seafood (it was Ash Wednesday - no meat for this Catholic boy). It was a very, very large piece of garlic-crusted grouper. Tasted great.

Dinner Friday was at Mark's Place. In typical fashion, I ate at the bar. Fish and chips.

Went to Karakter again for a pre-departure lunch. I'd been to Karakter in 2019, thought it was good-not-great. But people here seem to like it, so thought I'd try it again. Not crowded, I ate at the bar. Twenty-five minutes after ordering food, it arrived, cold. Welp, cross that one off my list for future visits.

I took time late one afternoon to walk through Philipsburg... not much going on there. As much as we here want to believe that visitors like us can help them, we can't. There's no number of overnight visitors that can replace the legions of daily cruise ship visitors that pour thousands and thousands of dollars into the streets of Philipsburg nearly every day of the year. Until cruise ships return, it's gonna continue to be bad for merchants there. Very bad.

Went to a couple other beaches. I took an early morning stroll on Coralita Beach (AKA Lucas Bay), just north of Oyster Pond. Not much there. Also walked Le Galion Beach. Had never been to those two beaches.

I couldn't visit the island without going to Happy Bay (my favorite beach, anywhere). Rather than park at Friar's Beach, I took the shortcut, walking around the gate. Yeah, the gate with the no trespassing sign. The walk is about the same distance as the route from Friar's, but with much less elevation change. Nearly none, by comparison. Park at the gate or in the dirt lot at the end of Rue Happy Bay, and walk around the gate. Getting around the gate takes a little dexterity, as you'll need to climb over broken concrete for a very short distance. Not much. Then just follow the paved road straight (unless something changes, I'm done parking at Friars and making that hike). I saw several other people jogging on the path (presumed to be locals), so I felt OK about being there. I was the only person on the beach. As I was leaving, I waked past Danny's (closed). There was a person there, sitting behind the bar. Not sure what he was doing or why he was there, because the beach was deserted.

Filled the tank at Cadisco in the Orient Bay area. They take US$ 1:1 (hat tip to Carol for posting that in an earlier thread).

The breakfast pastries at Bread and Butter were incredible. Unbelievably good. I visited B&B several times during the week, either for a baguette or to grab a quick breakfast. Was never disappointed. B&B is next to Oasis in Oyster Pond.

The place where I stayed had very spotty internet service, so I did not complete the required daily temperature report. I did it maybe three times over the week, when I thought of it. Nobody called, nobody visited me, and nobody talked to me about it at the airport as I was leaving.

For departure, I presented evidence of positive COVID test in December, a note from my physician, and the completed attestation form. No problems.

Sounds lovely, all of it. TY for sharing.....😊😊

{For departure, I presented evidence of positive COVID test in December, a note from my physician, and the completed attestation form. No problems.}

Would you explain this a little further?

I have read so many posts about people not being able to go to SXM, after having the virus, until
they tested negative.
I think this might be helpful to a lot of people.

Enjoyed your report.

To leave USA and travel to SXM, passengers must show proof of a negative COVID test that was administered 120 hours or less from the departure time of the flight that will land on the island. This is delivered to island authorities via the EHAS website. I showed this when I arrived. It was one additional step before we went to Immigration. They stamped my two papers, and gave them back to me.

For the return trip back to the USA, passengers are required to complete an attestation form - LINK to the form from Delta. The form requires the traveler to show proof of either a negative COVID test result within 72 hours of departure, or proof of a positive test result within 90 days, along with a note from a physician clearing the passenger to travel.

Thanks for the report. You didn't really mention your accommodation much. How was it?

Nice report, Bill. We also stayed in Oyster Pond 2 years ago, but loved the pizza at l'Oasis - maybe they've changed pizza makers. I'll also attest to Bread 'n Butter - great pastries and friendly staff. Thanks for sharing.

Thank-you for your time.

Thanks for the report and the interesting info about how to handle the US requirements if you're had COVID previously. Sounds like a nice laid back trip.