My wife and I are going to stay at a time-share in St. Martin, but I know absolutely nothing about the island. The house is on Simpson Bay by the airport, and I would like to know what to expect.

1. Is the Simpson Bay area a little "grungy" by the airport? I've seen that with other islands.

2. What sort of golf courses are on the island? Are we going to overpay for a lousy course?

3. I've heard of "Orient Beach" - is there another beach and/or city we should see?

4. Does anybody know of a moderately priced place where we could rent a boat for the day? Maybe a daytrip to another island?

5. How are the restaurants in Simpson Bay?

You can e-mail your responses to: [email protected]

Thanks!

Greg

We spent over two weeks on the french side of the island. We stayed on Oreint Beach. Beatiful! We liked the french side way better than the dutch. We did not care for area around Simpson bay. The island is busy yet the french side is way more quiet. It really depends what you like. If you like busy stay on the dutch side. The island is poor and run down.It is a friendly tho and a fun place to go. Do not expect lush green hills it is brown and scruffy looking. A good day trip is to sail to the island of Prickley Pear on a catamaran. Well worth the money. Vist Anguilla it is beatiful. The isle of pinel is a quick little trip out of french side. Best bbq ribs we had were there.Grand case has wonderful food.Not expensive compared to statside for what you get.We stayed at Mt.Vernon hotel it was very nice. Great view.Lots of americans on the dutch side. More european vistors on the french side. If you have other questions you can e-mail us at [email protected]. Hope this has been helpful.We were there in May of this year.

I own a timeshare at the Royal Islander which is also close to the airport-could be where you are staying. Also the Palm Club and the Pelican are close to the airport. Let me know which one because I have been to St. Martin many time, and in fact will return in September of this year.
Have been to many islands and love St, Martin.

Regarding golf-what a shame-the golf was good at Mullet Bay (right near the Royal Islander and Maho Beach) but was devestate by the hurricane and is not yet up and running. I do not know of any other golf although I am sure there must be some.

The airport area is grungy-but none of the resorts that border the airport are grungy-so don't worry. If you are staying in the Maho area-you can walk to cute shops, an outdoor cafe called Cheri's and the Casino Royale.

There are many casual local restaurants-but on the French side-the food is fantastic. You will need a car to go to the French side. The city is called Marigot and had great shopping (duty free) until the hurricane-haven't been there since 2/96 so perhaps it will be reopened.

You have heard about Orient Beach because it is the "nude" beach. NO BIG DEAL unless you are into that.
All the beaches have there own special something-again you need a car to scout them out.


The Dutch side for shopping is Phillipsburg-I always buy jewelry. If you have any gold jewelry-broken or just tired of it-you can take it-they'll weigh it and give you credit against a purchase. I can get you the name if you are interested.

Don't know much about renting boats-there is a marina in Marigot-also Simpson Bay-I'm sure it will be very easy.

Never did this before-not sure how to send this to you. Hope you get it.

Dallys

My husband and I stayed at a timeshare, Pelican Resort on the dutch side, we loved it. Rent a jeep and explore it is absolutely beautiful. The French side is not very friendly and the don't like us. You can eat the same food at the outdoor cafes and pay 1/3 the price in the big hotels. The cafes are really nice with linen table cloths and napkins, etc. The beaches are really nice on the french side but they really are not nice to the tourist and don't ask for directions because they will send you on a wild goose chase on purpose.

Gabrielle out of Bobby's Marina has day picnic ,
lot's of other one's you go out on from B. marina and others. None that i know to sail your self,
all of them are large 50'+ boats. Go to libray and check travel book. Frommers i like the best.

We are timeshare owners and are planning to trade to St. Maarten and although the Pelican looks nice I've heard so many controversial things concerning ownership and am a little nervous about arriving there and not having reservations. Also I've heard you can't swim at the beach there. Is it because of waves or pollution or just not true. When were you there last. Thanks for your help.

Karen,

We haven't gone yet. I'm leaving in two days, and I'll try to check out the Pelican for you. You might want to email me back in two weeks with your question, and I'll try to answer the best I can.

Greg

Karen:

The Pelican is up on a hill and kinda self contained. Try the Royal Islander-good pool/beach facilities and walking distance to casino,restaurants,stores, etc.

St. Martin is my home base-it is a wonderful island. Have a great trip. In fact I'll be heading back on 9/14.

Good luck.

I'm getting ready to take my honeymoon at the Pelican resort - no one ever replied as to whether or not you can get to the beach and swim - Will someone please reply? Also - how is the exchange rate? Will we need lots of $$$?

ST MAARTEN/ST MARTIN IS A HALF DUTCH, HALF FRENCH ISLAND. ST MAARTEN IS PART OF THE NETHERLANDS ANTILLES AND ST MARTIN IS PART OF THE FRENCH WEST INDIES. THE ACCOMODATIONS ON THE DUTCH SIDE ARE PROBABLY LARGER IN SIZE THAN THE FRENCH SIDE. THE BEST RESTAURANTS CAN BE FOUND ON BOTH SIDES. CASINOS ARE FOUND ON THE DUTCH SIDE (NO GAMBLING ON THE FRENCH SIDE). NUDE OR CLOTHING OPTIONAL/TOPLESS BEACHES ON THE FRENCH SIDE ALTHOUGH WE SEE SOME TOPLESS ON THE DUTCH SIDE AS WELL. BEAUTIFUL ISLAND WE HAVE BEEN GOING THERE SINCE 1976. I CAN RECOMMEND PLACES TO STAY, RESTAURANTS AND CAR RENTAL AGENCIES. THE HIGH SEASON STARTS DEC 15 AND RUNS THROUGH APRIL 15 OR 30. OFF SEASON THE RATES GO DOWN CONSIDERABLY AND THE WEATHER IS STILL GREAT. WE GO IN NOV, FEB AND END OF JUNE.

Have traveled all of the Carribean, Europe and USA.
My favorite restaurant anywhere is in Grand Case, St. Martin. The Auberge de Gourmand (spelling?)
Bon appetit.

Have traveled all of the Carribean, Europe and USA.
My favorite restaurant anywhere is in Grand Case, St. Martin. The Auberge de Gourmand (spelling?)
Bon appetit.

Will be spending day in St.Martin/St.Maartin on Nov 26th.Plz advise best bargain jewelry shops, good quality but good value. Also a local restaurant for lunch and what is best way to see islands, taxi, rental car,etc. Appreciate any feedback. I will only be there 5hrs. Thanks..D Cox

Hi! We were on a cruise and stopped for a day in St. Martin.(March '97) I can't give you any info on shopping there, or eating 'cus we wanted to explore the French side of the island before meeting at the pier for our 1:00 p.m. catamaran/snorkeling excursion to Tintamarre island. (would HIGHLY recommend that excursion--the snorkeling wasn't great 'cus it was quite windy, but the sailboat ride was GREAT, and the little island was like a piece of paradise). Now for our trip around the island. I didn't care to shop in Phillipsburg, I wanted to explore the island, so we rented a car from some unknown rental agency for $45. We were told it was fully air-conditioned (NOT), and the car sounded like it wouldn't even make it down the street. We got a map from the agency and found our way to Orient Beach which is very beautiful.(this is a nude beach). The roads are very hilly and curvy and a bit scary. By the time we got to Marigot, I could tell that we were going to be pressed for time, so we didn't even get to stop, but I've heard that Grand Case and Marigot are the places to eat and shop. Marigot looked very quaint and nice (from the car), but we knew we had to boogie in order to get back to the pier in P-burg. Well, we got caught in this HUGE traffic jam and we had NO idea where we were on the island 'cus our map was terrible and there were NO road signs indicating road names, directions to towns, etc.(My husband and I generally don't have problems reading maps). It was hot, we were lost, I had to go to the bathroom (!) and we had resigned ourselves that we were not going to get back in time for our $120 excursion. Luckily, we found our way back to the agency, got our ride from the agency to the pier, and made it just in time for our 1:00 departure. Bottom line: rent from Hertz, Avis, etc., and give yourself PLENTY of time. The island is small and only takes about an hour to get around, but be prepared for getting lost. It was Good Friday the day we were there, so I guess that's why we were sitting in the traffic jam for so long. I really want to go back to St. Martin and spend a week 'cus from the bit I saw of it, it seemed like a great island, and again our shore excursion was GORGEOUS.(My husband was the driver and he's not sure that agrees with me on returning to the island--altho he also loved the sailing excursion.)
Have a great time! Kristin ([email protected])

I need help! My husband and I are going to St. Maarten May 21 for 5 nights. We don't know where to stay! We like lots of things to do, want beautiful beaches, water sports, restaurants, lovely accomodations. We like to be in the center of things. We do plan on renting a car. Where should we stay? I've heard that the Dutch side is best. I am extremely wary of timeshare places, however - I have had bad experiences with being hounded to sit through timeshare presentations and am completely NOT interested in that! What would you recommend? Thank you so much!