Sint Maarten/Saint Martin & Anguilla, '08

I was joking around that the only way I'd visit Saint Martin would be to celebrate leaving my dead-end job, which surprisingly came true immediately before the trip. So at least I started it off on a positive note, and unlike Aruba some seven months earlier this trip was trully special. I decided to take my sister along for the ride as it wouldn't have cost me much more to what I'd pay alone, the only difference really being the entry tax considering the ticket was free with Jet Blue. While that experience proved to be stressful, as my sister has become real spoiled lately and everything turned into an argument even for most trivial things, the trip nonetheless was a success.

I first decided to visit SXM shortly after Jet Blue announced the addition of that route from NYC, which ironically happened right around the time I went to Aruba. Just like Aruba, Sint Maarten is part of the Netherland Antilles which means my green card situation would not prevent me from traveling there without a visa and a Ukrainian passport which I never had. So, after redeeming two free flights I ended up paying $118 bux total in taxes... that my friends is a cheap flight to paradise.

I had a long time planning this trip, so taking the advise of the many people on flyertalk.com forums I decided to rent a car for my stay. While in Aruba I could have probably gone without it, it was actually necessary in St. Martin, especially for what our plans had in store for us. The rental car of choice was a Hyundai Getz, and unlike in the US where you typically get a "similar" car to what they advertise, we got exactly what I bargained for at Thrifty/Dollar off site facility after a short shuttle van ride out of Princess Juliana airport. I requested a car with French plates so I don't look like such a tourist based on people's advise, and it also helped that the car had some dings and scratches all over, nobody looked twice at it even after we left it filled with luggage and gifts in Marigot.


Taking additional advise from the forums, and the fact that I couldn't make up my mind which side of the island to stay on: the french or the dutch; I decided to book a hotel on both sides and that worked out real well for us.

On the Dutch side, and for one night only, I decided to stay at the legendary Sonesta Maho Beach resort, which was literally steps from the airport. The reason this was particularly important for me was because I wanted to capture the rare beauty of planes landing dangerously close overhead right on the beach. We did go to the nearby Sunset Beach Bar to watch this phenomena for a while. Perhaps the highlight of the trip, especially for my sister was a Boeing 747 taking off which blew nearly a dozen onlookers into the water as they stayed directly behind the runway on the beach.


On the French side we stayed at L'Hoste Hotel in Orient Beach. I was imagining it to be like the Sunset Beach Villas I stayed at in Aruba, if you can call it that. Instead the hotel was extremely nice. Totally a pleasant surprise, everything from the size of the really big room, to the shower in it, the balcony and the on site restaurants. The morning breakfast was plentiful, a large plate with french food and fruits was excellent. Just like on the Dutch side, the hotel was a bargain at $100 a night (I negotiated it down myself after a few back and forth e-mails with management), but unlike the Sonasta the tax was significantly lower since this isn't a resort and has no such fees associated with it.


While on the Dutch side we enjoyed the busy nightlife of that part of the island. Like Aruba, the place was happening with a very similar sight: a Sopranos Piano Bar. Casino Royale on Maho Beach was kind of cool but the best part was the exotic dancers which spilled into the street at 9pm with a very entertaining show, and one dutch chick in particular caught my eye, she was gorgeous.


On the French side the things were more European. In terms of nightlife there were a few restaurants and a shopping strip, but they were very pricey and since everything was in Euros we pretty much avoided it. I was very unhappy that I couldn't find any Yogho Yogho Yogurt on the entire island which was my drink of choice in Aruba. We also visited the capital of the French side on our final day before heading to the airport: Marigot and did our souvenir shopping there. That was a beautiful city, very European and very picturesque. The best selling point for staying at Orient Beach for me was the fact that it had a topless and nude beach. Keeping with the South Beach spirit of Miami, I find topless beaches to be quite inspiring, although we didn't spend too much time on Orient Beach for me to really enjoy it, and the nude folks I saw were way too old for my taste.



On the Dutch side we also visited the capital city: Phillipsburg but not so much for the sightseeing. I decided to book a snorkeling day trip to Anguilla. While I was afraid that since the British West Indies governments wouldn't recognize US green card as a valid document without the national passport being present, I decided to do it anyway. Unfortunately it cost me 5% more to pay for everything in person than it would have if I were to do it online using a credit card, but it was worth it.


We took the Swaliga 2 power catamaran on an adventure around Anguilla and it was a blast for sure. We made three snorkeling stops in and around Anguilla, the most beutiful were at Prickly Pear Island and the Sandy Island (Gilligans Island) which were extremely cool and the turquoise waters were simply amazing. On the trip was a very beautiful young girl that made things pleasant from the getgo. The islands of Anguilla are not at all developed which was a great contrast to St. Martin, and therefore very enjoyable.


All in all, it was an amazing experience. I got to visit three different territories in one shot: The Netherland Antilles, French West Indies and British West Indies. I took a whole lot of pictures (nearly one thousand) both at Sint Maarten and Saint Martin as well as Anguilla.


I would love to go back already...


Links:

Sint Maarten: www.st-maarten.com

Saint Martin: www.saint-martin.com

Sonesta Maho Beach: www.mahobeach.com

L'Hoste Hotel: www.hostehotel.com

Swaliga 2: www.bluebubblessxm.com

Anguilla: www.anguilla-vacation.com

Sunset Beach Bar: www.sunsetbeachbar.com