TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Trip Report, March 16 - 27, 2024

We rece3ntly returned from 10 days in St. Martin. Things were pretty smooth.

FLIGHT DOWN:

Had a friend pick us up at the house at 6:00 AM on Saturday, March 16. Traffic was very light, and he dropped us off at Terminal A at the Philadelphia International Airport twenty-two minutes later.. Check-in was smooth, security not too bad; and the plane pulled away from the gate right on time, at 8:20 AM. The flight was packed - I only saw one empty seat. We touched down in St Martin just before noon, almost a half-hour early. There appeared to be no other planes ahead of us at immigration, so we went through the tent. had our passports stamped and picked up our bags without delay. The agent from Discount car rental was waiting for us, and we hopped in to our rented Kia Picanto and left. Traffic seemed lighter than usual - we arrived at our studio rental in Orient Village ( the same place that we have rented via Air B&B for the past 2 years ) at 1:20 PM.

After unpacking, we drove over to the Super U supermarket in Hope Estate for some grocery shopping. They were giving 1.05/1, USD to Euro, for cash. Returned to the rental and took a nap. Got up at about 7:00 PM, as I had made 7:30 PM dinner reservations at Le Piment restaurant in Orient Village - less than a 5 minute walk away. Food at Le Piment was pretty good. Prices were pretty high, and the service was better than last year.

BEACH:

We had about a 15-minute walk to OB. Went down every afternoon and rented 2 chairs and a parasol for $25. Other than a little rain on the first morning, the weather was magnificent. We did come back early on the first few days, as it seemed very hot and, even with generous layers of N. 70 sunscreen, I was afraid of getting burned. The water was bath-water warm, and there was not too much seaweed.

BREAKFAST AND LUNCH:

I walked up to the "Good Morning" bakery every morning, and picked up 4 croissants for breakfast. My wife had purchased coffee pods at Super U. I am a tea drinker, so I brought my own bags. lso, since I was not sure that I could get fresh milk on the island, I had purchased a one quart paper container of skim milk at Whole Foods a week before departure and froze it . It was still pretty much frozen when we arrived at the condo, but i would not do this if I had a connecting flight.

For lunch, I started the week by picking up a baguette every morning at the bakery. I would then pick up some cheese at the supemarket, and cold cuts at the high-end deli in Orient Village, On Dirait le Sud. but, we were just not that hungry most lunchtimes, so i started picking up a quiche at the bakery when I picked up my morning croissants. We then microwaved the quiche for lunch.

CAR RENTAL / GAS:

As previously noted, we rented a Kia Picanto for $38/day from Discount Car Rental. The agent was waiting for us when we came out of arrivals, and also waiting for us at departures when we left - no shuttle. I have not seen any Kia Picantos on the road in North America - they are small _ but OK for island use. It held 2 people plus luggage well enough. I spent $20 on gas. I purchased gas twice at the Cadisco Station in Orient Bay. Gas was 1.33/liter, one to one for US dollar cash purchases. So, 1.33 x 3.78 = $5.02 per gallon. I did see a Tesla parked in Orient Village, as well as 2 Citroen Amis, a 2 seater electric mini-car. But, electric cars have not yet caught on in Saint Martin.

RESTAURANTS:

As well as Le Piment, we had dinner one night in Orient Village at L'Atelier. I had the Tuna. Food and service was very good, but prices were hight. They were, however, giving 1 to 1 for USD cash purchases. We drove in to Grand Case on 4 separate nights. Twice to eat at a LOLO,as well as eating once at L"Auberge Gourmand and once at Bistro Caraibes. I had posted earlier about our disappointing meal at Bistro Caraibes. I had a very good meal at L'Auberge Gourmand, I had a fettuccini with shrimp dish. My wife had the duck, but said it was a bit dry.

We ate 3 times at Le Taitu, our favorite place. Only issue was that Jean said that he had been unable to get fresh tuna for almost 2 weeks. So, no tuna with soy sauce. We tried to get reservations at the Bistro Nu in Marigot. However, when I called. I got the new owner on the phone. He said that they were closed for renovations but would be happy to welcome us after April first.

FLIGHT HOME:

We wanted to stay for ten days, and the non-stop to Philadelphia only operates on Saturday; so we had to fly back via Miami. Not so much fun. The SXM-MIA flight was OK, and left on time. But the transfer at Miami airport, with the long walk to get to Customs, as well as the huge lines to get through customs were exhausting. Our connecting flight to Philadelphia left 2 hours late ( not sure why ). We landed in Philadelphia at 1:40 AM. I think that we were the last flight to land. Wife was worried that we would not find a taxi at that late hour. But, we saw 4 cabs waiting at Terminal A arrivals, so we hopped in and 25 minutes and $50 later we arrived home. I only worked a half day on Wednesday ( went in to the office at 2:00 PM ).

All in all, it was a great trip. Also, we had no water cut-offs all ten days. Weather was very nice. One funny story. I was at the Mini Casino Market in Orient Village. There was a ( very ) young girl in line, ahead of me. She had a credit card in one hand, and a bottle of wine in the other. When she got to the register, the clerk asked if she had any ID. "No" she replied. The clerk then looked at the boss man, who was working the other register. The boss asked the girl how old she was, "Eighteen", she replied. She then added " I just turned eighteen, today" The boss then nodded to the other cashier that it was OK to sell her the wine. At that, I wished the young girl a very "Happy Birthday".

I am waiting until flights open again for a March 2025 ten day return visit. My wife asked if there was any way to avoid returning via Miami, and still staying on the island for ten days.. Unless American starts daily non-stops from Philadelphia to SXM, we will have to return via Miami ( the connection via Charlotte always seems to be more expensive ).. Jim

Nice trip report, Jim.

We really enjoy the food at Le Taitu and Le Bistro Nu. I find it interesting that Bistro Nu did renovations during busy season.

We always fly on American Airlines, and mostly through Boston and Miami. Getting an Uber ride home in the early morning hours is never a problem, but is pricey.

Good luck finding your flight for next year!

Thanks for the report. Interesting, regarding the milk. Have you had problems getting milk in the past? I confess on island, I don't buy milk, I buy a small carton of half and half and it suffices for what I need on island. Never had a problem getting half and half.

Regarding the walk in Miami, allegedly, they have just reopened the sky train, so at least the walk shouldn't be quite as long, if you end up going through Miami again. You may want to think about getting the mobile passport app, as that can lessen the lines in Miami. Many say, even faster than Global Entry.

Glad to hear the sky train is back open.

Supposedly the Sky Train reopened at Easter. I'm not certain if the entire thing has reopened, but at least most of it is open.

I'll have to ask my daughter. She connected through MIA this last Friday on the way home.

sky train is only PARTIALY open. still a long way to go.

You are correct, the majority of the skytrain is open, from gates 20 through 60(stops 2, 3 and 4). They are still running the cart shuttles down to gate 1. It opened back up 9 days ago.

Ed--it looks like the vast majority of the Sky Train is open, just not station 1. Here is the link to the story.

Link

Where are you in Pa? Newark (EWR) has non-stops to SXM every day. We drive to Newark the day before and stay at a Park and Fly hotel. They have shuttles to airport and most have limited free parking. Sure beats going to Miami.

Just do the one-way rental, pick up in PHL or wherever you live and drive to EWR and drop off, United EWR-SXM or JetBlue, anything Non-stop is better than connecting for the most part.

Also prices have been very good recently for EWR-SXM flights, especially first class.

Carol, I have had problems getting fresh milk on the island in the past. That is why I freeze a one-quart paper container of milk and bring it with me. i really like having fresh milk in my morning tea.
I have been purchasing the milk at Whole Foods, recently, as they sell the "organic" milk in a paper quart container. Every other local dairy uses plastic containers, which can crack when they freeze. Anyone who lives in New York State can check out Stewarts Shops. Last time that I checked, they still sold milk in quart sized paper containers. And, since it was not "organic", it was reasonably priced.( Whole Foods charges $2.49 for a quart of "organic" milk, about double the price of the regular stuff ).
The only fresh milk that I saw this last trip, were half gallons of chocolate milk at the Super U in Hope enter. They came from the McArthur Dairy in Florida. In the past, I have sometimes seen a variety of fresh milk products at the Carrefour Supermarket in Cole Bay, also from the McArthur Dairy in Florida But it was hit or miss. Sometimes they had fresh milk, and sometimes they did not. I have also sometimes seen quart containers of some kind of recombinate milk from a dairy in St John - never tried it.

It will be great if the SkyTrain is open in Miami in 2025, as it looks like we will have to connect in Miami on the return flight. Connecting via Charlotte always seems more expensive, and it looks like the Philadelphia -St Martin non-stop flight on American Airlines will only operate on saturday.

I only live twelve miles from the Philadelphia Airport. It is just too easy to leave out of PHL. As I mentioned, at 6:00 AM on a Saturday morning, it was only a twenty -two minute drive from my house to Terminal A.
Takes me at least 2 hours to drive to Newark Airport - sometimes more if traffic on the Turnpike is jammed up. Amtrak looks good on paper, as the train ride is only about an hour from Philadelphia Amtrak Station to Newark Airport. I have tried taking the train from Philadelphia to Newark Airport, twice; and it did not work out very well. The first time, the train had some problems, and got us to Newark Airport just in time to miss our flight to London. The second time, traffic in Philadelphia was so bad, that we got to the Amtrak station just in time to miss the train to Newark. I had to ask the friend who drove us to 30th St station in Philadelphia to then drive us to Newark Airport. He was pretty pissed off, even though I brought him a tank of gas as he had to get up early the next morning for work.
having aid all that, it is still easier than trying to get to JFK Airport in New York.

I only live twelve miles from the Philadelphia Airport. It is just too easy to leave out of PHL. As I mentioned, at 6:00 AM on a Saturday morning, it was only a twenty -two minute drive from my house to Terminal A.
Takes me at least 2 hours to drive to Newark Airport - sometimes more if traffic on the Turnpike is jammed up. Amtrak looks good on paper, as the train ride is only about an hour from Philadelphia Amtrak Station to Newark Airport. I have tried taking the train from Philadelphia to Newark Airport, twice; and it did not work out very well. The first time, the train had some problems, and got us to Newark Airport just in time to miss our flight to London. The second time, traffic in Philadelphia was so bad, that we got to the Amtrak station just in time to miss the train to Newark. I had to ask the friend who drove us to 30th St station in Philadelphia to then drive us to Newark Airport. He was pretty pissed off, even though I brought him a tank of gas as he had to get up early the next morning for work.
having aid all that, it is still easier than trying to get to JFK Airport in New York.

CJMI--huh, as I said, I only buy half and half on island, but never had trouble finding it. Our first big shop is always at Carrefour by Marks, although after that, we often go to Super U. Glad you were able to work it out for you.

Sky Train should be fully open by next year.

Thanks, Carol. it looks like we will have to fly home on AA via Miami next year.. Glad that the Sky Train will be open. And perhaps we will even get a jetway at Julianna airport.

I'm not sure what's going on with Juliana. It seems like AA to Miami almost never gets a jetway.

On March 26, our AA flight to Miami did not get a jetway, but the AF flight to Paris did.

Again, I don't know what's going on with that, AA to Miami seems to not get a jetway. Air France gets priority in most situations.

Hey Jim Your trip experience sounds very similar to ours. We were there a few weeks ago and stayed in Orient Village in a studio we originally rented through VRBO but now they rent through a different service. We shop at the local grocery stores and dine at the restaurants across the street. We love the nearby beach proximity. We also flew home via MIA and had the same exhausting experience. I wrote about it in a previous post. Thanks for the trip report.

I just booked our March 2025 trip, as the airfares were just posted. Same itinerary. Non-stop on a Saturday morning from PHL to SXM; with a return flight ten days later via Miami. I was pleasantly surprised by the airfare - About $140 less for the 2025 tickets, as opposed to the price that I paid for the tickets in 2024. I should actually say ticket, as I was able to get my wife's ticket using points - just had to pay the $96 or so in taxes.
Since the Air B&B studio that we had rented for the past three seasons at Residence Les Lataniers was no longer available, we rented a ground floor studio at Alamanda. Cost a few $ more, but it is newer and a bit closer to the beach.

We found flights more for March 2025 than we paid for March 2024 so you were lucky to save $140.