Must do activities on St. Maarten

Both the Dutch side (St. Maarten) and French side (St. Martin) offer a variety of activites for families and couples to enjoy. The beaches are beautiful in St. Martin, and there is a wide variety of reasonably prices exursions that allow you to not only enjoy this island, but also the surrounding islands.

Quick Tips:

If you enjoy visiting a variety of beaches, you should arrange to rent beach chairs. Several of the more populated beaches have beach chairs for rent, but there are several beautiful beaches that are more secluded and don't. There are several companies online that offer this. We rented chairs, umbrella, a cooler and cell phone for through Prince's car rental for the entire week.

The cell phone rental was convenient, and easy to use. We purchased phone cards and were able to keep in touch with the states, and provide an easy way to contact us to people at home. We ended up spending approximately on phone cards, which allowed my husband to keep in touch with his office on a regular basis. The normal traveller, who would not need to contact work frequently, would spend much less than this.

Best Way To Get Around:

A car rental is a must to get around the island and enjoy the full variety of activities that St. Martin has to offer. However, those people renting a car should be warned that the driving in St. Martin can be somewhat chaotic and therefore stressful. One helpful note - honk once means "go ahead" - as in "go ahead and pull out in front of me" - honk twice means "thank you" - as in Thank you for letting me cut in front of you".

About the excursion.....

We booked our excursion to Prickly Pear on the web before we left at www.carribbean-activities.com, and saved $4 Per Person. The trip included BBQ lunch on the island restaurant, open bar, snorkeling gear and light snacks aboard the boat. We met at the boat dock at 8:15 for a 9:00am departure.

The Catamaran Ride.....

After a smooth check-in we boarded the Lambada Catamaran for our day trip to Prickly Pear (an Island off the coast of Anguilla).



The trip to Prickly Pear took approximately 2 hours, and was very enjoyable. We saw several "flying fish" during the ride. The trip also provided a picturesque view of St. Martin and Anguilla. The crew did a fantastic job of serving passangers. Drink selections included beer, wine, fruit punch, rum punch, and sodas. A bread and cheese tray was also provided.

Prickly Pear.....

Prickly Pear is a small island with a white powdery beach that meets turquoise Caribbean water. It has one small restaurant and beach chair umbrella rentals for $6/pp. Drinks on the island were not included but were reasonably priced. Our arrival was well-timed as our catamaran was one of the few boats on the island, so it was not overcrowded. Another boat arrived just before our departure but didn’t overlap which reduced the island congestion.



Upon arrival, we had the choice of snorkeling into shore, or being ferried in via a small dinghy. Since we opted for snorkeling, we were pleased that the tour operators organized to take our belongings ashore via the dinghy. This worked out great since our towels, camera, etc. were on shore once we finished snorkeling. . .



The reef around Prickly Pear is very active with tropical fish and we saw a variety of colorful sea life. After snorkeling, we swam to the beach, collected our belongings and rented chairs to relax. There is a long stretch of sand for leisurely walks and the island is large enough that people were not overcrowded. At noon, the restaurant rang a "dinner bell" and lunch was served. I had the mahi mahi and my husband opted for the chicken, both were tasty but not memorable. Lunch included water, but other drinks had to be purchased at the restaurant bar. The restaurant itself, is more like a shack with picnic tables, it was perfect for a day trip, and considering its an isolated little island, more than I expected..



At approximately 2pm the crew signaled for everyone to return to the boat for departure. Again, you could swim or take the dinghy back to the boat. We opted to swim. The return trip was relaxing, and again included a selection of drinks, fruit, bread and cheese..



We have a very enjoyable excursion and I would highly recommend the Lambada and the trip to Prickly Pear.

GETTING THERE.....

Pinel Island is located on the French Side of the island. We drove from Simpson Bay towards Marigot and then North. Other reviews mention signs along the way but I didn't see any signs. We used the map that the rental car company gave us and were able to find the national park where the ferry dock is located to get to the island. It was confusing when we first arrived. There were no other waiting passengers and no signs indicating we were at the right spot, but there was a trailer set up selling snacks in the parking area and I confirmed we were in the right spot

THE ISLAND ITSELF .....

The island itself is small but not overcrowded on the day we visited. We rented chairs and umbrellas for $10 for the two of us. This isn't a place for long strolls on the beach, but does offer a peaceful day and something different to do. Because the island is located on a sand bar you can walk in the water for almost a mile and still not be in over your head. This island would be good for children, because the water is calm and shallow. One thing guests should keep in mind - Pinel Island is a protected park with a "what's found on the island stays on the island" - so collecting shells is not allowed.

LUNCH .....

There are two restaurants located on the island. One serves classic grill items, such as hotdogs and hamburgers, and the other is a more expensive restaurant serving more classic Caribbean dishes. We ate at the latter restaurant. The meal was good but not memorable. I had a palm salad, my husband had chicken, which was very small. We completed our meal with tasty pineapple and the waiter brought us a complementary shot of their homemade rum. It had olives in it. I didn't try it but my husband did. It wasn't something he would buy.

THE END OF THE DAY .....

When we were here the ferry returned to St. Martin every hour on the hour. It runs more frequently during the busy season. We took the last ferry (at 4pm) which was completely full, and ended our enjoyable, peaceful day on Pinel Island. In reflection, this trip is good to do near the end of your vacation, when you are tired of the more adventurous excursions, as there isn't a lot to do but relax in the sun.

First Impressions....Paradise Found

We arrived at Orient Beach from the Northwest near the Boo Boo Jam beach bar (accessed from a dirt road). This end of the beach is more secluded with less people, although this bar does get crowded for happy hour with live "caribbean style" music. We setup our beach chairs on a quiet stretch near the Esmeralda resort, and headed towards the action.

The beach is beautiful: a long curved stretch of white sand, meeting the turquoise water. It was everything we wanted in a beach and we spent two of our vacation days here. During our second trip, we parked near the other end of the bay, which had many more restaurants, vacation resorts, and paved roads! I would recommend entering Orient Beach via this route(follow the signs) - we just didn't realize on the first day there were other access points, as we entered the area from Grand Case and didn't drive far enough to find this entry.

Beach Activities

This was one of the calmer beaches we visited - with many water activities. There were people using floats in the water, and this was one of the few beaches where the waves were calm enough to allow this. There were two water trampolines. Vendors also offered snorkelling excursions, trips to Pinel island, parasailing, jet ski rentals, and almost everything else you can do at the beach. There were several souvenir shops and the restaurants offered chair rentals. It was $6.00 per person, and included a free drink.

Exposing the People who go here....

There were a variety of people from all over the world on this beach. Although the restaurants are mostly French, they offer menus in English and the people spoke English. Everyone was very friendly. There were couples, singles and families populating this beach, as it has amenties for everyone. If you are looking for a long, secluded beach for a romantic, quiet stroll - this isn't the beach for you - I would recommend Long Beach.

The infamous nudist resort is located on the southeast end of the beach. The rest of the beach is topless (although there were plenty of people wearing tops) with the exception of a small area that allows nudists near the Esmaralda resort. Parents should be prepared that if you go to this beach, your children will see topless women, and most likely several nude people. While we were there we saw several nude men on leisurely strolls past the prime activity areas on the beach. If this is a problem, you should not go to this beach.

In Summary....

This is a fabulous beach and I highly recommend visiting here .... and if you are looking for an allover tan - this is the place to do it....

Baie Longue a.k.a Long Beach

Baie Longue or Long beach is a beautiful secluded stretch of white sandy beach. The only resort on this stretch of beach, is located at the far east end and is a private exclusive resort that offers no amenities to those not staying on the property, the rest of the beach is peppered with luxury homes and villas. Because there are no services offered on this beach, we brought a cooler with snacks, and beach chairs we had rented.

GETTING HERE...........

Baie Longue is located west of Simpson Bay, on the French side of the island. When travelling here from Simpson Bay you pass Maho Beach, Mullett Bay and Cupucoy Beach before arriving at Baie Longue. There are signs off of the main road, to the get to the beach access, and after turning on the access road you pass the entry way to several luxury homes as well as the prestigious La Samanna Resort. There is a dirt parking access at the western end of the beach.

THE BEACH ...........

This beach is a very long white sandy beach (thus the name) that is great for those people wanting seclusion and relaxation. When we visited this beach, there were only 6 people on the mile long western side of the bay. La Samanna is located on the eastern side of the bay and there were several resort guests lounging in the resort chairs. Two of the people on the beach were nude, but everyone else was fully clothed. The waves at this beach were rough and the edge of the ocean was scattered with large rocks so the western edge of the beach was not good for swimming (at least on the day we visited). There is beautiful rock formations and great picture taking opportunities on the eastern end of the beach past the La Samanna resort. This beach is also scattered with a variety of shells. Those who enjoy "shelling" will find a plentiful variety.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...........

This beach is a beautiful quiet stretch of paradise. The beach chairs we rented with the jeep came in very handy, as did the cooler and we enjoyed a quiet relaxing day. This beach is the exact opposite of Orient beach when it comes to activities, action and people watching. It offered a romantic picturesque setting on the day before our departure. I would highly recommend a stop at Long Beach (Baie Longue) when visiting St. Martin.