TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Opinions on St Barths

Since we've been here a few times we have seen a lot and love it all
Thinking of going to St Barths
Know the ride can be rough at times
Who has been there and recommends the trip
Thanks

Last year in May my wife and I went to St Barths. We flew out of Grande Case on St Barths commuter airlines. The flight is about 15-20 minutes and it was enjoyable. The airline has a website where you can find prices and flight times. The Grande Case airport is small and easy to navigate.

Once in St Barths, we rented a car, drove to Gustavia where we looked around and my wife went in several stores. We purchased ham, cheese, baguettes, and drinks and had lunch at one of the beaches. We visited several beaches before returning to the St Jean area where my wife shopped and actually purchased a couple of items. We then went to Nikki beach and moved on to another beach bar which I can't remember.

Our flight left around 4:00 and we returned to the airport at Grande Case.

We enjoyed the trip.

We took the plane trip over, as we did not want to risk the ferry ride and the plane trip is very quick.

Took the ferry from Oyster Pond last year, which included a rental car. Hubby wouldn't do the car bit again because the roads are narrow and very busy, particularly in and around Gustavia; as a driver it is hard to enjoy the scenery while driving. Would recommend a guided taxi tour instead. A pristine island with lovely beaches, however, we visited Gouveneur Beach (? spelling) and there was no beach chair rentals or eateries. Been there, done that and probably won't go back. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />

Went a couple of times.
If it is a day trip I suggest go by plane as your time is valuable. Or fly over and take a catamaran back ( but you will have to taxi back to the airport if you drove there). I would not rent a car. Negotiate with a taxi driver for a day tour. The roads are narrow, parking is tight as last trip I rented a Smart car, went to return and the back plastic "bumper" was cracked. The CC had a $500 deductible and the repair estimate was $485 ( go figure)not including the many phone calls to ST Barts to get this resolved. St. Barts is nice to experience but once or twice is enough for me. 2 cheeseburgers and 2 bottles of water were around $40.

SXM??? Wendell

Geez, Louiz - once again, I agree on all counts, Wendell.

We've done the old sailing cats, the high speed boats and the flights over, both one ways and round trips, and were I so inclined to go back again, I'd definitely make arrangements to taxi to Esperance Airport and fly over from there, and do the negotiated taxi tour and a prearranged sailing cat back with another taxi to wherever 'home' might be.

I'd also make certain I had my passport and twice the cash I'm thinking I might need as well as a credit card with no international charge or conversion fees. It's pretty and it's pretty darned expensive, too. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />