TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Grand Case in April

My husband and I will be spending 10 days in a beach house in Grand Case this April. We are in our 40's, like a nice quiet beach, and don't really do crowds. We are SERIOUS foodies (I am a Chef) and Grand Case sound perfect for us. We will probably rent a car for a few days to stock up on provisions and explore a bit during the day, but we like to enjoy cocktails and wine with dinner, so driving in the evening is not a option.
Can you please suggest:
Where to stock up on food/liquor/French cheeses & gourmet snacks
What to do on a day trips to Phillipsburg and Orient Bay
Who do you reccomend for group/day charter to Anguilla?
Where to go for an evening with some nightlife on the Dutch side: dinner and dancing/ live music. Is it reasonable to take a cab there and back?
What am I missing? I'm so glad to find a forum with so many SXM experts. I'm open to any and all other suggestions you guys have to make this a great trip!

Welcome to the board! I will respond to Orient Beach. Suggest you visit Palm Beach for the day. Walk the beach as far as you wish, further you walk, the more crowded it will get. Lunch at Palm Beach will be outstanding.

BobandJeana

You have certainly selected the best place to stay if you expect to have excellent meals. All up and down Grand Case row are great places to eat and many here will suggest their favorites. Check the menu boards on each and see what you may care to try. We also enjoy nearby Orient Village where there are several fantastic restaurants centered in a courtyard area. Many of these restaurants have fantastic food. A day trip to Philipsburg will be fun and interesting. If you want a quiet day, click on the Cruise Schedule on this board and choose a day when there are few ships in port, but you may chance that some of the stores may be closed on those days. Don't try the town on Sunday until after lunch. Also many places to eat in Philipsburg. Gonna be a busy 10 days for you, so make sure you take some time on the beautiful beaches that line the perimeter of the island. Everyone has their favorites and our favorites are Orient, Happy Bay, Baie Rouge and Friars. We too enjoy the French side and the quiet atmosphere of that side, so I'm not a good one to suggest a place to head for nightlife. Click on my blog link below and then the heading marked St. Martin/Sint Maarten to find more things to try and places to visit.

A fun day is taking the ScoobiToo out of the GrandCase Beach Club. One of the trips goes to St. Bart's. We did the all day snorkeling, three stops with lunch. They do a great job. Good sailing, snorkeling, and the food is really good. The bar includes wine, beer and rum punch. Highlight of a lot of trips.

With respect to Grocery Stores, there are the Le Grand Marches (grocery store) in various places on the island ( Dutch side) and they have a wide selection of items including alcohol and cheeses. We have visited the ones in Philipsburg, Cole Bay, and Simpson Bay and their prices are reasonable. We happen to like the one in Cole Bay the best, right next to the Port De Plaisance entrance (on Union Road). The one in Simpson Bay is a Le Gourmet Marche. Their locations can be found on there web page at http://legrandmarche.net/Locations.aspx . Since these are on the Dutch side, the conversion to US $ is favorable. There is also the Market Garden in Simpson Bay that is open late, even on Sundays. There is also a little convenience grocery store ( “Food Express” I think) in Maho (as you are leaving the airport headed for Maho/Cupecoy located on the corner on the right as you enter Maho) but I found them to be a little more expensive and small in selection. There is also a Grand Marche in the Port of Cupecoy. Here is a listing, phone numbers and a map of the location of many of the SXM grocery stores (http://www.sxm-shopping.com/groceries.html ).
a. Depending on when you arrive, you might want to stop on the way from the airport and pick up some supplies for the week. If you do, someone needs to stay with the car.
b. The Grand Marche’s are open fairly late on most days except Sundays; only open till 2:00 PM on Sundays so if you are arriving on a Sunday, you will need to shop at some other store. If you are arriving late, the Market Garden at the bottom of Billy Folly road (Simpson Bay area) is open to 9:30 PM every day. It has a good selection and has reasonable prices.
c. There are also the Simple (sp) market, between Grand Case and Orient Beach, but they can be more expensive as they are on the French side and everything is in Euros.






[b]Where to go for an evening with some nightlife on the Dutch side: dinner and dancing/ live music.
[/b]
We like to hang out in the Simpson Bay area for the night life. There are several bars/restaurants that have live bands: Red Piano, LaBomba, Toppers, Buccaneer Beach Bar, Yacht Club, Pineapple Petes, Sunset Bar and Grill (some nights).

You will love Grand Case!
We typically grocery shop at Simply in Hope Estate, which is about 5-10 mins from GC. There is wine/beer/liquor there, but pretty sure there is also a store next to it as well. We have also stopped at Le Grand Marche on the way from the airport to GC for more "American-type" grocery options.
We enjoy wine with dinner as well, and a cab to maho area is about $30 each way. Not sure about live music options on the Dutch side, but Calmos Cafe in GC has live music on Thursday & Sunday I think. You can prob dance at Tantra in maho, but we typically crash after dinner
You can either take the ferry over to Anguilla & explore for yourself (leaves out of Marigot), or Creole Watersports offers a trip over as well (they operate out of the Grand Case Beach Club) Scoobi-Too also offers trips out of GCBC.
As foodies, we highly recommend Piazza Pascal & Le Pressoir & L'Auberge Gourmande. Sunset Cafe at GCBC also has great food & a great view. In Maho, we love Le Moulin Fou. Enjoy!!

Thanks Larry for the great info, and for the link to your blog. It's a fun read and very informative. I've learned more about St. Martin on your blog than I have in all my internet research!

We spent 8 nights there in a house this last April. U will have the beach to yourself. I knew there would not be many- but we were surprised by just how vacant it is on the beach. Few folks hang out at love hotel. But that about it. We had a great time. Most the folk are gone all day to other areas. Mainly orient I presume. Then the streets fill up about seven for dinner. We love pinel island. So I would do that multiple times when we go back. Free free to ask any question. We did a cat tour to prickly pear. It was ok.

Regarding food supplies---L'Epecerie Gourmand is a new store owned by Carol formerly of L"Estaminet Restaurant in Grand Case. We haven't been there yet but knowing Carol means you'll get excellent French products there.

Would someone on this forum please post where the store is located and how to get there?

it is located on Avenue du Lagon , across L'Oasis de l'ile, on your right, coming from Orient !