TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Trip Report 9/30-10/11

Trip report- 9/30-10/11

I found cheap airfare and a good deal at Beachside Villas, so I booked a trip for my wife and I only two weeks before departure. We normally visit for 2 weeks in February, so arriving in the off season was a new experience. We are boring travelers, so I don’t have anything exciting to report.

I was quite nervous about flying on Spirit for the 1st time. $450 each, round trip, including seats and a carry-on bag. Knowing that their seats are tight, we opted for aisle seats and sat across from each other. The benefit to the paid carry-on bag is that we got a zone 1 boarding pass and we got on early. Our 5:11 am departure was delayed for an hour because a flight attendant overslept. I was afraid there might be some comments from upset passengers when she arrived, but I heard none. We had plenty of time in Fort Lauderdale, so it was not a problem for us. All in all, the Spirit experience was acceptable and we had no major issues. The line for immigration on our return in Fort Lauderdale was ridiculously long. We have Global Entry and walked right through.

We rented a car from Leslie Bruce. I must say, getting the car at the airport and leaving it there on the return enhances the experience. Nice car and no issues.

Check-in at Beachside was a breeze. I’ve heard so much about the place on TTOL that I felt like I had been there before. It was exactly as I envisioned. The view is spectacular. The entire staff could not have been nicer. A couple of minor issues were taken care of immediately, even though I told them they weren’t urgent. The 1st week, we only saw another person at the pool one time. We liked it so much, we mostly spent every day at Beachside swimming in the pool and ocean. I worked some each day and the internet worked great, both in the villa and at the pool. We cooked out on the grill several evenings.

It was nice to meet fellow TTOL members Jim & Laraine. We met up at Dinghy’s Beach Bar for a while and really enjoyed their company.

We did our grocery shopping at Carrefour in Cole Bay. Supplemented a few items at Market Garden and Maho Market as needed. Many mornings we picked up pastries and a baguette at Zee Best on Airport Rd.

We are not really into fine dining and we prefer to eat all of our meals al fresco. Every place we went provided attentive and friendly service. Not a single poor experience. Several breakfasts at the Yacht Club and Zee Best were perfect. The Buccaneer Beach Bar has always been one of our favorites. The Thursday night pizza special was our deal of the week. I think they changed the crust and we really enjoyed it. Shared a $12 pizza, three $2 beers and a $6 frozen drink for a total of $24. It’s not everyone’s favorite place, but the setting is exactly what we are looking for in a casual beach bar.

You can’t beat the convenience of Dinghy’s Bar. Drinks are good and we enjoyed our lunches. We particularly liked the fish tacos. Everyone there is very friendly.
I did overhear a waiter telling someone that they will be catering to the cruise ships in the future, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out.

We had planned to go to Bamboo for our last night, but they were closed. We ended up at Mama’s at Porto Cupecoy. They had a nice crowd there. Food and service were really good. We like the courtyard setting for outdoor dining there.

We spent two days at Orange Fever on Orient Beach. They had their chairs spaced apart nicely and the food was delicious. A young guy named Victor waited on us. He didn’t speak much English and we don’t speak French, but it didn’t matter. He worked hard and couldn’t have been nicer. Without our asking, he moved the umbrella several times to keep our chairs in the shade. I thought I was being the nice husband by pulling off this 2nd trip this year, but we ran into a couple from Virginia at Orange Fever that made me look bad. They come 5 times a year.

The music at the Pub is great on Monday. We went both Monday’s we were there and also went to Hole in the Wall for some live music.

Tropical storm Philippe was not a huge deal. We swam in the ocean the morning of the storm and again the next day. As a precaution, they came and closed the storms shutters for one night.

I feel bad for the amount of work they have to do to keep the sargassum cleared from the beach. It seems like a never ending task.

Our trip could not have been better. Thanks for all the information provided by everyone here at TTOL.

Scott & Betsy

Thank You for update on BSV and Dingy

Great to read your report. We will check out Dinghy near door.

As my husband said today, “5 and a wake-up.”

Very nice report and glad to hear that you Folks had a very nice vacation.

Sounds like a very good deal and trip.

Glad you had a great trip with no glitches. Time to plan another.

Scott--thanks for the report. Glad to hear you had such a great trip. So, when are you going back to Beachside??

Scott and Betsy,
Thank you for taking the time and making the effort to do a really nice trip report. I’m thinking you probably already know how much they’re appreciated and I can only say yours was well worth the wait. Again, thank you and so very glad you enjoyed BSV.

Very enjoyable report. Thank you for sharing.

Great report Scott, thanks and it was great meeting you and Betsy.

Nice report. Thank you.