Our third trip to the island! Does that mean we’re not newbies anymore? We still feel like there is so much we haven’t seen and done. We did feel somewhat experienced this time though, as we introduced another couple to the island.
We departed Tampa on AA Sunday morning 5/5 at 7 with about a 45-minute delay. Fortunately, we had a little over 2-hour layover in Miami, so our connection was not affected. We landed at SXM around 1:30 and from the time we stepped off the plane it was an hour and ten minutes until we exited the airport. Not bad, I guess. Waiting for the luggage took the longest. We were greeted by golfe car rental and shown to our car. We had a great experience with golfe, our first time using them.
On our two past trips, we stayed at Adam and Eve, which made sense since we were alone. With another couple joining us we decided to rent a small villa in Orient Bay. We scoured the rental sites and decided on Villa Thomarine (
https://www.locations-sxm.com/en_GB/villa-thomarine). It’s a small 3/2 at the top of the hill with a wonderful view and it always seemed to have a nice breeze. The host Patricia was very welcoming and made sure we were happy during our stay. I’ll add that Thomarine has a cistern, which came in handy because the water went out 30 minutes after we arrived. I texted Patricia and she returned immediately to show us how to change the valves to use the cistern.
After unpacking we went down to the beach and were able to get a couple of drinks at Le String as they were closing up. We took a walk down the beach and went for a swim at Club O and then returned to the villa to lounge by the pool and decide where dinner was going to be. Ended up being Le Piment, which we all loved.
Monday was a chill day on the Club O beach with Lunch at Le String. Dinner was Oceans 82 in Grand Case. We were all blown away! None of us are really foodies, but everything was amazing. The drinks, the appetizers, the wine, the food, and the view. We made a reservation and had a table overlooking the water. Two of us ordered lobster and two ordered beef dishes.
Tuesday, we trekked to Happy Bay, hung out on the beach and snorkeled for a few hours. On our way back to Orient we stopped in Grand Case and had drinks at a bar overlooking the water (can’t remember the name). Dinner was SAO in the village, with after dinner drinks at the Irish pub across the way.
Wednesday was originally planned to be our catamaran trip, but the weather wasn’t having it. The captain was very accommodating and just re-scheduled us for Thursday. We tried to go to Rhum Governeur, but they were closed. We also tried Ma Doudo, but they were closed as well. So off to Toppers we went. Driving across the island through storms was interesting to say the least. After Toppers we headed to Maho. We have never been there and figured a stormy day would be a good time to go. We rode out the storm at Driftwood and still managed to get pretty soggy. It was interesting watching the planes handle the winds, low viz and rain. At one point they stopped landing, and we could see them all in holding patterns on flight aware. Around 3:30 or 4 the rain stopped, and the sun started to come out. We headed to Cupecoy for a swim and had a couple of drinks with Danny. Dinner was low key; some take out from a deli in the village.
Thursday was our catamaran trip out of the Simpson Bay Lagoon (
https://sailingmanava.com/). When we arrived, Captain Len informed us the others had to cancel so it was just the four of us with him, his chef and mate. This was the highlight of our trip! Snorkeling, sailing and an amazing lunch onboard. After a long day on the boat, we hung out and the villa and got pizza from Bona Mamma for dinner.
Friday was another Club O day, with lunch at Orange Fever where we got to meet J.C. We wandered over to Grand Case for dinner without a plan and ended up at Bistrot Caraibes. I’ve always wanted to go there and was not disappointed. Another amazing dinner! I believe I had the rack of lamb.
Our friends were leaving Saturday. I ran them to the airport, while my wife claimed front row chairs at Club O. Our last day was uneventful, lying on the beach and dinner at the villa.
Sunday morning, we packed up, said our goodbyes to Patricia and made our way to the airport. Lines at the airport were long and slow, but arriving two hours before our flight got us through with about 20-30 minutes to spare before boarding. Flight to MIA was uneventful but had about an hour delay getting back to Tampa.
This was our longest time spent on the island and by far the best. Our friends are already talking about next year!
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