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Fishing/Beach Visits sp1982 1 hour ago Hi ,

We are coming down in March with a 9 year-old and a 13-year-old. Are there any recommendations for private charter that includes both fishing and beach visits? My wife and daughter are not so heavy on the fishing, but I would like to do both if possible. Thanks.

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Trip Report 07/2026 louismcc 2 hours ago This was our 16th charter, all with The Moorings and an early celebration trip for our 50th wedding anniversary. This one was going to be a bit different in several ways. First was our younger son, who has provided the "muscle" for previous charters when his parents got older, wasn't coming. So we decided to charter a Moorings 4200 3 cabin, our first catamaran, and hire a skipper.

The boat was excellent. It was in great shape and comfortable both underway and at anchor. One issue, which became more of an issue due to some unfortunate falls by the aged parents, was a lack of good handholds in strategic places. A couple of examples: no handrail on the steps down to the births; lack of shelving on both sides of our owner's cabin birth, made it a bit of a struggle to get in and out. Mounting / dismounting from the dinghy was more of an issue, especially after our earlier falls. None of these are issues for younger, more mobile, individuals, but they were for a couple in their 70s.

The best part of the trip, and probably what saved the trip from being a disappointment, was the skipper assigned to us by The Moorings: Julian Hodge. Many years ago we had Julian for our chart and/or boat briefing and to this day we recall those presentations. Julian was adept at finding not just a spot to anchor (he's not real fond of Boatyball) but the spot that would be best protected from wind and wave action. We arrived very early and Cooper and were able to anchor close to shore, tucked in a corner, inside of the mooring field with sandy bottom. At Great Harbour JVD, he got a spot inside of all the mooring balls which have taken over most anchoring locations.

When it became apparent the my wife and I would struggle getting in an out of the dinghy, he would make arrangements with local restaurants for takeout which he and our older son would bring back to the boat. If docks were too high, he would beach the dinghy and help us in and out in the shallow water. When we returned to The Moorings he "parallel parked" the 4200 in between 2 other catamarans on the main dock with hardly any space between us. When we needed to dismount the boat at the end, he kept the port engine in reverse to minimize that step onto the dock.

He was a true gem that was more like a family member during the trip rather than hired help.

The trip was unlike any of our previous ones but enjoyable nonetheless. Just being in the BVI surrounded by the beauty, interacting with the locals, enjoying great meals throughout, and, oh yeah, getting to sail between many places made it a great vacation.

Also want to give kudos to Island Birds. Using frequent flier miles we were able to get to SJU in first class seats. That freed up the travel budget so we could splurge on a charter flight between SJU and EIS. Clearing customs on our return in the FBO was far superior to fighting lines in the main terminal. The pilots were professional, ground crews efficient, and it was a worthwhile expenditure for us. The only issue, which may well preclude doing this if we return to the BVI, is that getting my 6'6" 310lbs self in the small planes is tough. Regardless of my issues, i recommend them to anyone looking for a charter flight.

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Leaving SXM was a breeze TJTrippe Yesterday at 03:53 PM This trip’s departure was painless and humanless until walking out the gate.

Check-in, bag drop, security, passport were quick and easy.

Last year a “floating SXM agent gave us a rash of runaround about our carry-on. Good news this year, we didnt interact with any humans at checkin.

BUT, The B gates have been a refugee camp forever and continue to be. To many flights, not enough seats, poor, unintelligible announcements all to rush to get in a bus.

They did lords the plane from the front and back stairs which put us first up the back stairs.

They need an addition to Group B gates and teach workers not to scream into a microphone 1/2” from their mouth OR BETTER YET, AUTOMATE THE ANNOUNCEMENTS..

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Very Cool - Cruise Ship Schedule CmVan10 08/07/2026 10:09 AM We will be arriving in a few weeks and I took Carol’s suggestion to look at the SXM Cruise Schedule and then ask ChatGPT to tell me about the ships that would be coming in. It showed every ship coming in and talks about each ship. I think this is pretty cool.

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Passport renewal times o2bnsxm 08/05/2026 06:30 PM We will be renewing our passports toward the end of August after we return from our Anniversary Cruise. We have another cruise in November to Panama which requires a passport and it cannot expire within 6 months of the last day of the cruise, so that necessitates us renewing before then. I don't think we are cutting it too close from the end of August to November when we need the passports again, but can anyone provide the amount of time it took for their renewal that has done it recently? Should we opt for the expedited service (costs more but supposed to be quicker)?
Also, we don't currently have the passport card only the book. Is there any real advantage to spending the extra $$ to get the card in addition to the book??

Thanks.

Carol if you need to move this to a more appropriate Forum, please do so.

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SXM Rental Car Deposit Release time TJTrippe 08/04/2026 03:29 PM My rental ended 6 days ago and an $800 deposit was required/applied 14 days ago.

How long does this pending charge that eats up available credit limit take to be released?

At what point should I be worried?

Ive never noticed it take this long after rental is completed for this to fall away.

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Friends on a shoestring Sailor1985 08/04/2026 12:21 PM Hi all, need some advice:

Some friends of mine will anchor their Jeanneau (sailboat) in October for a week of sxm fun (2 adults, 3 kids of 6-12ish age). I know every penny counts in their household, to the level i do not even want to recommend renting a car. Budget and shoestring is key.

I already gave supermarkets, buses as a way to save money. Do you have other suggestions how to make their trip most worthwile?
- affordable but great food
- affordable packages
- same specifically for beach chairs (day on beach)
- discount listings

Any other idea would be welcome.

Regards

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Orient trip report BillDauterive 08/03/2026 12:14 AM Just now getting around to writing a brief trip report for our July 15 - July 22 visit. I travelled with a friend this time,

Flew AA. Arrival was on tarmac with stairs, then bus. We were smart: On the bus we stayed close to the door we entered, putting us among the first to exit the bus. We then walked fairly quickly, and entered the immigration area. While most people stood around scratching their heads, my companion and I headed straight toward the kiosks (all were unoccupied). Because we used entry.sx, our time inside the terminal was about 90 seconds (all carry-on, no checked bags). It's all timing... the previous large jet passengers had obviously had sufficient time to clear out, expediting our passage.

Although I thought I had reserved a car with Empress, I guess I didn't. Uh-oh. We shuttled to the Empress building, and ended up being charged just $250 for the week (incl liability) for an Hyundai i10 (smallest car). I expected worse. (EDIT: actually, it was $232).

ACCOMODATIONS: About a month before our departure, I reserved a 2br villa (with a pool) on VRBO, near Phillipsburg. Two weeks later, the host messaged me and said, "Sorry, this unit is not available for you to rent. Contact VRBO for a refund," Oh, no. I was imagining the worst, and immediately started searching for a similarly-priced, similar villa on VRBO. There were none for the same price, but a few more expensive (either much nicer or larger) villas available. So I called VRBO. The agent immediately refunded what I paid (most VRBOs require immediate full payment). Then... check this out... In addition to the refund, VRBO gave me a credit for the amount of my original rental, provided my stay included the days of the original reservation. So my original rental was $1,700. And I was able to start looking for a rental up to $3,400 for the week. Oh boy, this expanded my options. I was torn between an opulent two-bedroom in Sandy Ground with a huge pool and very private setting, and a more basic (but larger) four bedroom unit way up the hill in Orient. I opted for the 4br villa in Orient. While we didn't need all four bedrooms, the villa was near the top of the hill, with a beautiful view of Orient Bay and was also very private. It was incredible. Pool, outdoor shower, full security, Washer & dryer, snorkeling gear, pool floats 80-inch TV with Netflix... it had everything.

Lesson: If you reserve a unit on VRBO, keep your fingers crossed and hope that the host made a mistake!

FOOD: Regarding meals, Johnny Thinwallet here doesn't like to dine out a lot. I usually prefer to eat breakfast, skip lunch, and prepare dinner myself, dining out less than half of the time. We got pizza a couple of times (Pepe pizza (YUM) & Enzo (meh)). The rest of the meals were in the villa. Regarding breakfast, we went out for pastries (as mentioned in an earlier thread). Here is how we rated them, best to worst
1. Sebastian Quillere - the best
2. Good Morning - close second. Get the Swiss pastry.
3. Bisou Sucre - the cinnamon pastry was excellent. Limited quantities of everything.
4. L`Express - this is the only place where we had to queue up. Good, not great
We did not make it to Sucrier in Grand Case. That's on the list for the next trip.

BEACHES: We visited just two beaches. Obviously, Orient, and Happy Bay. Again, being the cheapo that I am, I rented chairs and an umbrella from Craig. The rest of the time was spent at the villa.

Regarding beach conditions on Orient, I'll echo the comments on other threads about conditions on the yellow-umbrella section. Lots of erosion and very rocky conditions in the water (we were slumming it with our rented chairs, either past the flagpole or on the far, far south end). Very little sargassum, though.

Happy Bay was busier than I've ever seen it. Though it was not crowded, there were several families scattered around (and lots of swimwear). It's summer, and the kids are out of school. But it's my favorite beach, undeveloped and mostly natural.

Not much else to report. Return trip through SXM airport was a breeze, with short trips through security. Gate area was packed, though. Not pleasant.

Random observation: My go-to beer on the island is Amstel Bright in cans. I had a very difficult time finding it. None at SuperU, none at Leader Price, and none at the bottom-of-the-hill Carrefour. On my last trip, I found it at Cole Bay Carrefour, but it wasn't worth driving there from Orient, so I settled for Heineken.

And I'm already planning my next trip.

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WestJet on Strike - SXM Flight Cancelled Today TJTrippe 08/02/2026 03:24 PM Looks like flights to/from SXM cancelled today….who knows how long this will last

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