St. Maarten

Rent a Jeep - you cannot possibly imagine how different all 37 beaches are, and I think there are about six different types of sand, from black to pink, white, etc... and it only takes a half an hour to go around the whole island.

Do shop in Phillipsburg when cruise ships are not in, go to Bliss and Q Club nightclubs and Sunset Beach Bar. Find the Boardroom at Guana Bay, our favorite place to eat and bodysurf and not a lot of people. Do take a ferry to Pinel and snorkel - it was the best I found so far on St. Maarten.

Warning!!! If you are plus size such as myself (everything runs very small in the shops), normally I would wear a X-Large, but I needed a 3X there. Check out the shop "Weekender" for larger sizes, but still in the latest French fashions. Do buy beach towels there - good quality, and they fold into a bag and have straps so you can wear them as a backpack. Be prepared to rent beach chairs and umbrellas everywhere you go. They are not free!

Quick Tips:

Get coupons on the internet. We also hit a weekend that was summer fest, which meant great bargains in Phillipsburg and big-name concerts like reggae night and hip-hop/rap night. Check local event leaflets for nightly specials; Wedsnesday night is ladies’ night at most nightclubs (free drinks). Tuesday is 2 for 1 at Greenhouse. Bliss has Thursday night specials, and Orient Beach had a special at one of its beach bars for Sunday night that included live band, free beach chairs, and party until sunrise. We found boat tour deals in local pamphlets much better than at our resort. We liked the Grand Marche the best for getting our groceries for prices, selection, and because they list everything in USD for our convenience. Remember, most restaurants add in 15% tip, so do not overtip.

Best Way To Get Around:

Use Michael at Unity Car Rental for the best price - tell him PBaker from Montana sent you. Avoid driving during high-traffic times, and when they lift the bridge, the times are listed by bridge, in Simpson Bay. We found Priceline.com at least less than all the others for airfare. The pay phones seemed cheaper than using the phones in our rooms.

Most shops in Phillipsburg are closed on Sundays, unless a cruise ship comes in. Be sure to check out Public Market in Marigot on Sat. and Wed. morning. (Still have not done this, but everyone recommends it, and I will do this next trip.) If you stay at the Royal Islander, everything from the best nightlife to restaurants, even a pharmacy and Subway sandwich shop (there are coupons on back on receipt at the Grand Marche), are within walking distance. Also several great shops with same bargains at Phillipsburg.

I just wanted to tell you about our experience at the Divi the last 2 nights of our stay.

We stayed in a one-bedroom in a refurbished unit. We were not happy with our unit. First, the kitchen is stuffed into a tiny square that looks like it used to be the shower. The microwave burnt up when we tried to pop popcorn in it. We had no dishwasher soap, dish soap or coffee filters, or paper towels. We have never stayed in a place that did not provide these. Also, from the bedroom to the master bathroom, the air-conditioner unit dripped water from the ceiling constantly. We had to use a mop to enter and exit the bathroom. Our unit was in the only building that does not have an ocean view. We only saw the building in front of us. What a disappointment. When we called maintenance and the front desk about the problems, it took them five calls and a day to replace the microwave. Also a day to bring dishwasher soap and dish soap. We were told they do not provide coffee filters or paper towels? We thought that was strange. The air-conditioning unit never did get fixed. The positive aspects of the resort: right on the beach, good snorkeling.

We also had to wait all day to check in, store our luggage, and when we did return to check in, they were so busy that we had to haul our own luggage up a hill (no driving allowed, so we had to walk and drag our stuff) and up three flights of stairs. We were not happy about that! The suite was decorated nicely, however, and I loved the whirlpool bath, big enough for two people. Downside was there was random hot water, so you never knew when you would have it for a bath or not. My son and his girlfriend did not like it there, because they had been spoiled with walking to all the hot nightclubs at the Royal Islander and there was nothing going on those nights at the Divi.

Best Things Nearby:
Shopping, nightlife, restaurants, beach, pool, hot tub, grocery store.

Best Things About the Resort:
Location, and everything a family needs is within walking distance.

Resort Experience:
When we stepped into the three-bedroom suite, we felt like royalty. It is very spacious, with a whirlpool bath off of the master bedroom and two double beds and its own bathroom, and the third bedroom was also a king bed and had its own bathroom. Both bedrooms with king beds had sliding glass doors off onto a huge private deck with our own hot tub, table and chairs, and deck lounges that overlooked a beautiful pool and the ocean.

The kitchen was fully equipped with a full-size fridge with filtered-water dispenser, icemaker, etc. We had a wonderful dining room and front room, each with all-glass picture windows looking out over the pool, ocean and sunset beach bar, Maho Beach, and views of planes landing. We, however, could never hear the planes take off and land inside our suite. But we did love to watch the people on the beach get blown into the water, and even saw a shirt blown off a guy and land 100 yards into the ocean when an Air France jet took off.

Our rooms had five TVs, with a big-screen in the living room, where a couch also made out into a bed. We had a CD player and VCR and DVD players in our rooms as well. Talk about spoiled! Each room had an air conditioner and the suite came with a dehumidifier, which we loved, being from Montana, where it is very dry. All bathrooms were marble with beautiful rock floor tiles.

To give you an idea how large the suite was, it had its own door buzzer, because you could not hear knocking from the main living quarters. We were early, and the maid made a special effort to do our suite first so we could move in early, and we had a great young man who checked and cleaned our hot tub almost every day. We even had our own washer and dryer. I can say with no hesitation that this was the finest suite we have ever stayed in.

• Unit Type: 3 Bedroom
• Activities: Excellent
• Amenities: Excellent
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent

We were pleasantly surprised and super impressed. We had not planned to eat there and had gone to the beach to body surf. We first ordered Guavaberry drinks (local specialty) - we felt they were the best we had had in St. Maarten. The manager, Cleveland Beresford, and the hostess/waitress were extremely friendly and doted on us; we instantly felt at home.

We asked for menus, and it was lunchtime, but we wanted shrimp, steak, pasta, etc., which was not normally served until 5pm. We took a chance and asked if we could get the dinner menu instead of lunch, and were told we could have anything we liked. The food was excellent - large portions and wonderful local flavors and spices. We like hot and spicy and asked if they had a very hot sauce, and they brought out a wonderful homemade sauce that we devoured. They even gave us a jar to take to our resort and use (we offered to pay for it and they would not take money for the sauce).

The cost was almost half of what we found at other restaurants. Normally, those meals would run from $25 to $40 a person. Four of us ate and had drinks and even bottled water for under $100. The meals included salads, rice (huge bowl with wonderful local flavor) or potato, and veggies - so far at other places, we have found we had to pay extra to have a side salad, etc.

After we ate, the manager even came over, sat down and visited with us, and told us we could have as many beach chairs and umbrellas as we needed for just $5 total. Most places charged $10 or more per chair and up to $20 per umbrella. It was the highlight of our trip.

In my three trips, I still have only explored about 10 beaches.

Maho- Great for watching plane landings and take-offs, fun for swimming, some waves, but not too hard to swim in.

Cupocuoy- White sand, rocky, large waves, nudity is allowed, great romantic beach.

Frier's Bay- Has a sandbar that extends out a ways, making it great for young children, great family beach and couple beach bars as well.

Pinel Island- Nudity on top allowed, very overpriced to rent a chair and umbrella - $18 a day. The snorkeling was great, however. The ferry over was only $6 round trip.

Orient Beach- Great variety of activities, from boats to trampolines, parasailing, jet skis, etc... Many beach bars, and nudity is allowed. Very long beach, very populated. Waves are perfect for playing in.

Dawn Beach- Good for bodysurfing and has a great beach bar; chairs and umbrellas are available for a cost. There is currently construction going on in the back, so view is not so great right now.

Guana Bay- Great hideaway and very large waves, bodysurfing beach only. Waves come in large and fast. Great beach bar and restaurant called the Boardroom. Great for steaks, shrimp, and local food at a much lower cost than Grand Case and Orient Bay.
This ended up being our favorite hangout this visit. It has showers, bathrooms, billiards, indoor and outdoor seating, and is not well known, so is great for romance and to get away from the crowd.

Little Bay- Pretty good snorkeling off to the left of the inlet and great for families, no waves, very calm.