TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Last minute trip back to the island

It appears we'll be there for the new year. Can't wait to get there in 24 hours.

Looking for some suggestions and many thanks in advance!

1. My daughter is old enough now to want to rock climb/boulder on the island - anyone have ideas? Should we bring our climbing shoes?

1.5. - good hiking? Jungle or craggy beach. Both work.

2. Cliff jumping!! Would love to do it now that she's older. Locales??

3. The name of a reliable/trustworthy charter?

4. What to do with the charter?? Haha, I know, I know. The worst planners ever. We'd love to see turtles, cool beaches, etc. Thoughts??

I've been on this board for years now - thanks tons, in advance, for every single suggestion!!

Happy holidays, all.
Cheers

cipher--best wishes with your last minute trip! I hope you pack your patience as things have been a major crap shoot recently.

As far as your questions in general, I'm not much of a hiker, so can't really help you much. But do bring your hiking shoes. I certainly would not count on picking some up on island. I hear about a place called David's Hole that is supposed to be cool. Pik Paradise is a great view, but not that safe. You might be able to find a group trip going up there that would provide more security.

Enjoy! And do post about your trip upon your return!

Uh oh. Do tell. Crap shoot how, exactly?
Electricity, water... How else?

We're hoping to get some beach time in. Some decent food.
Some views and some fun.

Fingers crossed it all works out, then.

What's up with pic paradis? What exactly is the issue with safety in broad daylight?
Thanks for your insight, BTW.
Very much appreciated.

PS - anyone recommend a good massage therapist for the next week? Would love it if they were able to swing by every other day.

Cipher,

Crap shoot? Most likely referring to the airport arrival and departure issues which seem to have improved over where they were a month or so ago, or so I’ve been hearing.

I am not familiar with climbing shoes as such but I don’t think they’re going to be needed for SXM climbing and hiking. If you really want to do some serious hiking, book a daytrip over to Saba if the seas are calm. The hiking there is phenomenal and very picturesque.

No worries about ‘decent’ food as there’s a reason SXM is known as the gourmet capital of the Caribbean from snacky beach fare to very high end gourmet if that’s your pleasure.

Electricity issues can happen anywhere anytime. Water issues (or lack thereof) are more typical on the partie Francaise. Bottled drinking water is not necessary on the Dutch side where the water is desalinated and very drinkable. On the French side it pretty much depends on where you’re staying.

Pic Paradis is anyone’s guess. Many years ago it was perfectly safe and we often went with our young ( at the time ) kids and then it changed somewhat. Lots of car break-ins while visitors enjoyed the views and I do recall reading about armed robberies. But in all fairness to Paradis Pic I haven’t read of any issues for quite a while. My understanding is you can arrange for group hikes to the top possibly through Loterie Farms? but I have only ever driven up myself. And the views from the top are spectacular.

Cliff jumping and such are way beyond me but I’ve never heard anyone speak of doing it. There is a deep pool amid the rocks at the far side of Mullet Bay Beach that might work for you.

Beach time? Ah, beach time!!! Beautiful beaches with beautiful views and warm caressing waters. You won’t be disappointed, for sure.

Pat - I think you have a typo in first line of second paragraph. Did you mean Saba?

Thank you, Linda. Appreciate the heads-up and corrections done. The surprise is that’s the only typo……😊😊

Not sure about now, but in the past, Pic Paradis, in addition to car break-ins, they would block the road for your way down and rob you. Like Pat, I have not heard of anything recent.
You could search on You Tube for hikes on St.Martin. I know I've seen some for David's hole and another for a hidden pool. I believe there's also a hikers group page on facebook that may give you some ideas.
Haven't heard of any cliff diving, but in the French Cul de Sac, there used to be base jumping. We could see them from Orient beach but don't know where the take off place was.
Patty Healing Hands is supposed to be excellent. We have friends who book her multiple times per trip.

excellent! i will reach out to patty and see if anything is available.
@pat, i read it as saba. not to worry! however, correction will be helpful for future hypertext/searches.
cheers!

back when the kids were little we'd do nothing more than the butterfly farm/zoo and the nude side of orient - we would swim out to the anchored raft!
now that they're older, it's time for a step up, i suppose.
we've not been back in over 5 years. both have been going since they were born - 14 now!!
it flies.

now, on to see what last minute jalopy i can find.

cipher--I was speaking about the airport in particular. As far as electricity and water, on the Dutch side, the electricity goes off from time to time, but usually just for an hour or two. Water is not a problem on the Dutch side. If you rented on the French side, I hope you rented someplace that has a cistern. There have been a lot of reports about the water going off on the French side, sometimes for hours at a time, or longer.

As far as Pik Paradis, I personally wouldn't go there with kids, unless it was a large group. I haven't heard much lately about crime there, but I really doubt that it has gone away altogether. MANY reports of vehicles being broken into and also reports of robbery, in broad daylight.

Even though they are not little anymore, I might suggest you check out Parrotville, which is a lovely family activity and a bargain at $10 each!

Enjoy.

Parrotville is a treat for adults and children alike! We spent more than an hour there on our trip.

parrotville it is, then.

as this was a last minute trip (judging by my very first post this is a problem of mine! ;-> ), only a few places we were looking at had availability - all on the french side - no cistern.
fingers crossed it goes well.
don't ever remember this being an issue all those years ago??!!??

we'll make sure to purchase as much bottled water as we can.

have there been any outages within the past 2 weeks that were particularly long/bad?

bummer about paradis. maybe i'll reach out to lotterie and see if they have anything planned.

thanks, everyone!
keep it coming!!!
happy holidays to you and yours

The problems with water on the French side seem to be really popping up the past couple of years. It doesn't happen all the time but a real PITA when it does. Does the place you are staying have a pool? If so, note that the most immediate need people have stated has been water to flush the toilet. So, a bucket of water from the pool works. You need to check with whoever you are renting through, as they may well be providing bottled water for drinking. Other than toilet flushing, the biggest problem is if the water is off for hours and hours and you can't take a shower. Now, that could really suck. Hopefully this is not a problem for you.

1. Have never seen anyone using climbing shoes or know of any place known for boulder climbing.
1.5. There are several good hikes. We like hiking to the Tidepool/Natural Pool near Devils Cupper. You can hike the long way from Guana Bay or a shorter, somewhat easier hike from Point Blanche. Another popular hike is to Petites Cayes. You can hike to it from Anse Marcel or near the dump in Cul-de-Sac. The Loterie Farm offers a hike to Pic Paradis - long hike, hot since you're in a rain forest, but great views. Another hike is to David's Hole. You can get there by hiking from the destroyed La Belle Creole resort or a road near Baie Rouge. The internet has videos on all of these if you want to check them out.

2. The only cliff jumping I've heard of on the left side of Mullet Bay. There is an area there called whale hole where the locals jump. There used to be an area that had a rope to swing out on. Google cliff jumping sxm or whale hole sxm for videos.

3. There are lots of reliable charter companies for both power boats and sailing charters that offer full day, half day, and sunset charters. Would you want a group charter or a private one? We love taking a charter to see the island from ocean.

4. What to do with the charter?? If you want to see turtles, a charter that goes to Tintamarre is popular. Around the island tours that stop at several beaches and the Anguilla charters if you want to visit another country are also popular.

Whatever you do, I'm sure your family will love SXM!