TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin TRIP REPORT, November 6-13, 2024

This report is a big disappointment to me. I take my photos on my camera, then transfer them to Photobucket for resizing, get the links to the photos and put them into Word where my report is, then post the Word doc to TTOL. The links weren’t working properly and I spent literally hours with Photobucket support trying to get the links to work. Then Carol and Eric tell me Photobucket hasn’t worked with TTOL for some time (according to PB tech support, it does work with other sites). After the time already invested, I wasn’t willing to spend any more vacation time getting my photos from phone into TTOL gallery for postimg here. (Thanks to Fabila for her patience in explaining how to do that.) So while I have some great photos I’d love to share, there aren’t any photos in this report. Sorry.

Departure/Arrival

The Portland airport has been undergoing renovations for at least a couple of years now. This was the first time I’ve seen it in a nearly completed state. The lobby is quite beautiful and very modern-looking. The walk to C Concourse (from which American departs) used to be quite long; so much so that (pre-weight loss) I requested wheelchair assistance as I had difficulty walking that far. What a difference! Distance is much shorter, and there are three sets of people movers installed. Unfortunately, two of them were out of order, and my departure gate was the furthest one at the end. Nonetheless, I walked it with no problem, enjoying the shops along the way.

My flight left on time at 10:15 p.m., arriving Charlotte shortly after 6:00 a.m. I had a three-hour layover which I spent in an Admirals Club lounge (for free) having breakfast and changing from winter clothes into SXM clothes. Arrival in SXM was 2:06 p.m. . . . at a jetway! Took escalator down to arrivals hall, where we were joined by a horde of folks from other flight(s). I was one of the first off my flight but ended out in a long roped line waiting for a kiosk. It appeared that the majority of folks at the kiosks had not completed the online registration form as there were attendants at nearly every station assisting folks. Finally, my turn. Took three tries for system to read my passport; I was then directed to see an “officer,” which turned out to be “posts” where you get your photo taken. Then on to passport control (I think, can’t remember names of each area) where my passport was stamped and I was asked the same questions that were on the online form. I told the agent I had answered those questions on line and asked why I was having to do it again. She said they did not see the answers to those questions so I asked what the purpose of the online registration was. She replied that she didn’t know!

Luggage was out by the time I got through the lines/stations but that was also a bit of a cluster. I decided to use the rest room before getting checked luggage. The monitor just outside the restroom had my flight number on it so I stood waiting. After a few minutes, a nice lady who was on my flight said luggage from our flight was coming out on carousel #4; I was at #1. Monitors at both carousels had our flight number. Whatever. I did get my luggage at #4 and finally exited to look for Leisure Car Rental. They showed up with a nice black Suzuki.

I had previously had a reservation with Hertz. A friend who will be on island for much of the same time as I told me she got a rate from Leisure that was significantly less than my Hertz quote so I checked their prices. My quote was over $300 less than Hertz’s, even adding in the amount for liability! In and out at Leisure in five minutes followed by the short drive to Horny Toad.

Innkeeper Debbie is off island due to medical issues but hubby Doug showed me to my room. Home at last!

EXPERIENCES

Pyratz

Back in late August I received a private message from DaveandSusanNJ on this board inviting me to join them for a charter on Pyratz, free of charge! I’ve always wanted to go out on that boat but have held off due to cost. I accepted their generous invitation and invited Ann of SteveandAnn on this board to be my plus one as Ann and I have done many sails together.

The day before the sail, we received a message that Susan was very sick and would not be able to go on the trip, but she encouraged us to go anyway; apparently it was too close to the date to cancel and get their money back. Ann and I were very disappointed as we were looking forward to meeting David and Susan but decided to go anyway. Imagine our surprise when we showed up to discover we were the only passengers! We had not understood this was a private charter for four people!

It was perhaps the best boating experience of my life – a simply wonderful day!! The boat is beautiful. The crew was exceptionally attentive to our every wish; of course, a one-on-one ratio allows for marvelous service. We had ordered food ahead of time, and they accommodated my Keto requests; there was a lovely charcuterie board for my breakfast in lieu of fruit and bread. The appetizers were outstanding, but I didn’t get any photos of them. My beef bourguignon was a little chewy, but Ann’s grilled lobster was out of this world.

It was a full-day sail from 8:15 to 5:15; we went to Anguilla and enjoyed stops at Little Bay, Meads Bay, and Rendez-vous Bay. Ann snorkeled and saw the bat cave at Little Bay; one of the crew accompanied her as she didn’t want to snorkel alone. I enjoyed the floating mat.

I really don’t have the words to express how fabulous an experience this was. Despite the cost, I am looking into a shared charter before my trip is over; can’t wait to go again!

Endless Summer

Needing new swimwear, I headed to the Simpson Bay Endless Summer and had another fabulous experience. Monica has been there 23 years and is very knowledgeable about styles and sizes that look best on you. She suggested sizes I wouldn’t have considered. I splurged on matching suit and coverup along with an additional suit and am REALLY pleased with my purchases.

One visit wasn’t enough. I went back a few days later and got a couple more suits. Monica is just so helpful, and I can’t wait to wear the new acquisitions.

No1SXM

No1SXM has a new sail combining their half-day sail with their sunset sail. I’ve been on both, and both have their charms. The new sail departs around 2:30 p.m. and heads to Divi for snorkeling. After snorkeling, we head back into the sunset . . . if there is one. On this day, it had been rainy and cloudy so no sunset was to be seen. Nonetheless, it was another lovely sailing experience – no motoring, just the sounds of waves and sails. Pieter masterfully steered around the rain that was falling around us. I knew several people on the sail so it was a nice sailing and social experience.

Music at D’s Beach Bar

Joined some friends for live music at D’s Beach Bar. It’s from 6-9 p.m., which is convenient for us old folks. Very nice surprise when Bobby Barron sat in for three or four tunes; that was my favorite part of the performance.

Leisurely Lunch at Anse Marcel

This isn’t going in the “food” section because it really was an experience. I had planned lunch and a beach day at Anse Marcel Beach Restaurant with friends. On a whim and knowing they were leaving the island the next day, I contacted our Pyratz benefactors, DaveandSusanNJ, to see if Susan was well enough and if they wanted to join us. Turns out, they already had a lunch reservation at Anse Marcel and would love to join us! Reservations were combined, and we all were looking forward to meeting each other, which didn’t happen on the Pyratz charter day.

It wasn’t a beach day, but we had a long, 3-1/2-hour lunch in the restaurant. Yes, the food was delicious but the company was so nice! DaveandSusan and SteveandAnn were all from New Jersey so they spent a lot of time talking about the common geography. Good to meet new friends, express our gratitude for inviting us on the charter, share details of the yachting experience, and have good food.

Enigma/Celine 3

This might have been the nicest sail I’ve had on Enigma so far; the water was especially calm. We motored to Happy Bay where we played in the water and had the usual excellent lunch. Then it was on to La Samanna for more playing in the water. Several TTOLers were on board as well as members of Facebook SXM groups. Just a lovely day.

BEACHES

Divi

Spent a few hours on Little Bay at Divi, where I still have a timeshare I haven’t used for a few years. One of the reasons I like this beach is that it’s usually pretty calm. Despite having a flotation device, a wave knocked me over; thankfully a couple of nice folks helped me out of the water. That ended my desire to be in the water for the day.

FOOD

The Palms

Dinner my first night on the island is normally at The Palms as it’s close and I’m usually ready to turn in early after a redeye from the West Coast. SXMNorm came into the restaurant so I invited him to join me. I ordered a special steak entrée, which was disappointing as it was tough. I mentioned that to Greg; he didn’t seem surprised as he said that’s the only meat on the menu he hadn’t butchered himself. I had planned to order the drunken ribs and should have stuck to the plan. I went back a couple of nights later and had the ribs; delicious as usual.

D’s Beach Bar

Have eaten there twice so far. Met some friends for lunch; don’t remember what I had and apparently didn’t take a photo. While there saw a water “spout” (don’t know correct name) as it inched toward shore. Apparently they are common in Florida, but I hadn’t seen one before.

When I went a couple of days later for the live music, I had a Caesar salad with shrimp that was good. I was still hungry so had the bang-bang shrimp, which was also good.

Anse Marcel Beach Restaurant

The food here is always delicious. There are no longer printed menus; offerings are on a chalkboard so items can be changed more frequently. I shared a Caesar salad with shrimp and enjoyed my roasted chicken entrée. Lovely cheese plate for dessert. Outstanding as always.

Jai’s Contemporary Fusion Cuisine

As I walked in the door, I saw a face that looked familiar and asked if he was Sanfilip; he was and introduced me to his lovely wife. Very nice man, and it’s always a pleasure to meet other TTOLers.

My prior meals here have always been wonderful, and the tradition continued. While they are participating in the Flavors of Sint Maarten program, I didn’t want the dessert so ordered off the regular menu, starting with the beet salad. Beets aren’t Keto so I ate only half of it, bringing the rest home. I had intended to order the duck but the lamb chops spoke to me. They were served on a pistachio puree and were absolutely heavenly. I asked if I could have green vegetables in lieu of whatever the starch was, but they didn’t have any ready to be served! Just the chops were enough. Probably my best meal so far.

Java

This was another FoodPorn event. Java is in the former Barranco space across from one of the paid lots. They have done a nice job with the décor, resulting in a very nice ambience.

During the day, they have loungers out on the lower level overlooking the water; at night, tables. If I have this right, the chef also owns the Aloha beach bar on Orient.

My starter was a salmon concoction; I don’t remember what all came with it, but it was delicious. My duck entrée was okay but nothing special. These events are always fun as you meet new people and catch up with the “regulars.”

This concludes my first week. Three more to go!

Thanks for the report. We are all the poorer for not being able to see your pictures, which I'm sure are fabulous.

I'm sorry you had such problems with photobucket, but my understanding is that THEY made it so it can't be linked to other sites. I've never used it, but I think that Louse (Fabila) used to, and I think that's what I remember from her.

The support person clearly doesn't know that and showed me screens of the codes working properly on another site she is involved with.

Glad to hear about Anse Marcel keeping up the high quality, plan to visit in December.

Great report Jazzgal. Hope all is well with Debbie. We’ve been going to the Toad for 20 years now and Deb and Doug couldn’t be nicer. Enjoy your stay. Say hello to our best friend Betsy. We’ll be seeing her soon.

Beautiful report and As always, sincere thanks for sharing it. 🙂🙂

Loving your reports so far! Your cruises sound awesome, thx for the share.

So happy that you are on island and sharing your wonderful reports. I hope that you get the photo issue figured out to add even more to your stories. Enjoy!

Thanks for your report.

Pass along my regards to all at The Horny Toad.

From memory, I believe Hubert former chef of Les Galets (but still owning the buildings) and consulting chef to Aloha (although maybe owner) is also involved with Java

Nice report, Linda!

I envy your time out on the water. The other three members of my group had no desire to go out on the water. The best I could get them to do was taking the ferry to Pinel. Better than nothing, I guess.

I understand your disappointment with the pictures. All of the pictures taken on my iPhone were too large and I didn't want to take precious vacation time trying to resize them. Most of the pictures on recent posts were taken on an old-fashioned camera. The quality isn't great, but better than nothing.

Enjoy your next three weeks!

Wow. You've been one busy girl. My wife has been buying swin suits from Monica for as long as she's been at Endless Summer. Monica knows her stuff. She has even fixed me up too.

Great to read about your adventures, Linda! Sorry the photos didn’t work out. For me, this trip was the easiest one yet in terms of posting my photos on TTOL. I followed what Carol had mentioned I believe last month and didn’t have an issue including photos from my iPhone. It takes several steps to get the photos from your phone to attachment manager. I have Outlook on my phone so sent each picture via email and when prompted for the size I chose medium. A few more steps were involved to actually get them into the post, but I was successful.

Wonderful report! All your boat trips sound like such a fun way to spend time.

Mahokid: You are correct. I saw Jeff today and he confirmed that info.

Linda, so nice of you to stop by and say hello at D's beach bar!!! It was very nice to meet you!! You write great detailed trip reports!!! About uploading pictures, Louise has in the past spent hours trying to get them loaded. IMHO, the system needs to be upgraded. We are back in the spring, hope to run into you then!! Safe travels!!

Always enjoy your reports Jazzgal although they make me feel guilty because you do so many interesting things and I basically sit on my a** all trip!

Need to be active because, due to rain, beach days have been few and far between.

Now that the sizing issue has been resolved, here are some photos to go with this report.

First view after checking in to Horny Toad


First night's lights, Simpson Bay


Beautiful colors, first morning


My sometimes constant companion, Betsy, the innkeepers' cat


Salmon appetizer, Java


Entrance to Java


Beautiful breakfast, charcuterie board, aboard Pyratz


One of the Anguilla bays on Pyratz charter


Sandy Island (I think) while aboard Pyratz charter


One of new suits from Endless Summer; Cap Jaluca, Anguilla, in background; aboard Pyratz


Bobby Barron sitting in at D's Beach Bar


Aboard No1SXM; Divi in background; SXMNorm was also aboard


Sunset sail aboard No1SXM


Wonderful leisurely lunch at Anse Marcel with DaveandSusanNJ, SteveandAnn, me


Incredible lamb chops in pistachio puree, Jai

Lamb chops look great. What? No duck yet?

Well done Jazzgal. Glad you're back with a bang.

I had duck at Java, but it wasn't memorable.

Some shots from first Enigma trip (sure wish Attachment Manager wasn't limited to 15 photos):

Airport from Enigma


Happy Bay from aboard Enigma


Antics from boat next to Enigma in Happy Bay


Enjoying floating mat in Long Bay


No sand at Dany's


Construction next to K/Karakter


Horny Toad from Enigma


Lovely cheese plate for dessert at Anse Marcel

Too bad. I know how you like duck.

Very nice.

Thanks very much for posting the pictures! Lovely!