TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Smooth Arrival

The wheels hit the runway at noon and 26 minutes later we were talking to Lesley at our rental car with 3 checked bags. In fact while we were getting our passports stamped we could see our luggage on the carousel. But the price I paid for the early arrival is that I'm running on a half hour sleep in the past 48 hours. Boy am I going to sleep well tonight!! I took a few pics on the approach but it was very muggy and hazy today and they probably look foggy. The weather channel said it was 77% humidity today. Our room at Simpson Bay Villas is very nice and the view from the 7th floor is awesome overlooking Simpson Bay. Will post pictures tomorrow. But I need to sleep.

Glad you arrived OK!

Good for you!! What lovely photos. Thanks for sharing.

We feel ya, we were running on no sleep and 35 hours.

We landed half an hour early yesterday (Sat the 24th) and still waited 2 hours... with only carry ons too. I asked 2 different people if having NO checked bags makes a difference. The answer was a resounding "no" (ymmv) That said, 2 hours of sticky heat and standing in line is small potatoes compared to the joy of being here.

The haze you see in the pictures is actually from Saharan dust which is forecasted to be bad for the next few days.

Welcome back Folks and was a very nice pleasure having a little conversation . Relax and enjoy your stay once again on Paradise Island .

We had a similar arrival experience yesterday, Sunday the 25th. Our flight (United 1629 out of Newark) touched down at 1:15. We were out and getting into the rental car shuttle at 1:45. It all depends on how many planes land before you. Still quite humid this morning but the Sahara dust is quite a bit better, at least it looks that way from our balcony in the upper B building at Simpson Bay Resort.

Sounds like a good start. Looking forward to meeting you.

My son arrived yesterday on JetBlue - from JFK and it was about 40 minutes from landing to out the door

Thanks Leslie and Shirley. Always nice to see you. Great service as usual. Hope to see you over the next month.

JD, looking forward to our meeting as well. Let us know when you are on island and settled in.

Mikel--seems early in the year for Saharan dust. Normally that is during the summer.

Glad you made it!! I'd rather get up in the middle of the night to be on the beach first thing in the morning! Sleep? who needs sleep when you have the beach! Great photos!! Thanks for sharing and have a great time!!