For all you saavy island hoppers...if you had to recommend one thing to do in St. Maarten, what would it be?

Depends on your point of interest. Gambling, water sports, sailing, beaches or bar hopping? All is readily available there and much fun.

# 1 thing? eat!

also I would recommend the 12 metre yacht races. they are a lot of fun.
http://www.12metre.com

I'll ditto Barbara. EAT. I sure miss some of those restaurants.

visit another island: Anguilla, St. Barths, Saba, Statia -- take your pick. They are all accessible either by ferry or Winair flight.

I was reading about the Dolphin Swim facility in Anguilla. Has anyone done that? Is it worth the money?

Sit at the Sunset Beach Bar near the airport and watch the jets take off and land right overhead while eating fresh fish and drinking tropical cocktails.

Last year, my husband and I came ashore from our cruiseship, rented a scooter in Phillipsburg and zipped across the island to spend most of the day at the bar. Our son, a pilot, says this is the place for aviation types to hang out. It's great!!

before you consider the dolphin swim or any dolphin swim pelase do some research on these facilties. You will find that they often do not proeprly care for the animals. The one in Anguilla has received a lot of criticism.

I went to the dolphinarium on Anguilla, and it is frankly depressing. Poor things.

I agree with all the above. Another idea, which has actually been voted the number one tourist attraction on St. Maarten, is the Rhino Safari. My husband and his daughter loved it.

http://www.excursionworld.com/tours/17.htm

We honeymooned on the French side. Our favorite day and activity was the full day snorkel cruise on the Scooby Doo catamaran. Great ship, great crew, really good bbq lunch on a secluded island, incredible snorkeling, plenty of rum punch. Pickup and dropoff on the beach in front of our hotel, which was Grand Case Beach Club, although the boat is based at the Le Meridien marina.