Yeah! We are returning to the places that we have loved visiting in late June/early July. Does anyone know if Bananas in Nevis is still open? I seem to remember reading about it closing and relocating. Also, we decided to take a ferry from St. Kitts to Nevis for our stay, versus a plane ride. Should that go well? Finally, in St. Martin, it has been quite a few years since we have been and are there any restaurants that anyone recommends? We are staying on teh French side, but don't mind a ride to the Dutch side. Thanks to all who have answered previous questions, as well as this one. Vacation planning takes a toll, right?

Bananas (at CliffDwellers) is closed. Jillian is serving many of the "Bananas" menu items for dinner at Cafe Des Artes on the waterfront in Charlestown. She is building a "new" Bananas up on the mountain (I think in Hamilton). It will be a while before it is open for business.

Many people fly into St. Kitts and take the ferry to Nevis. Do what works best, schedule wise, for you.

It's been a while since I've dined in St. Martin so my memory of restaurant names is a bit hazy. There are lots of great restaurants in Grand Case.

We took the ferry from St. Kitts to Nevis last month. Very easy, the person taking tickets helped us with our bags. We did have to wait a bit as the people at our hotel gave us the wrong time for departure. Lots of good people watching though, it wasn't a problem, and was only an hour.

there are so mnay new and good restaurants in St. Maarten that it is hard to know what to recommend.
A few that I particularly like:
In Marigot Marina
1. Tropicana
2. Don camilio( italian)
On Marigot Waterfront:
Le Plongoir... bistro resturant with french/asian food.. not too expensive.

Grand Case:
The lo los for good local grilled food.
Spiga ( Italian)
and several other French gourmet restaurants,all excellent.

Remember on the French side everything is in Euros which makes things more expensive if you are paying with dollars.

Dutch side:
Atlantis Casino restaurants:
Le Gondola ( Italian)
Montemarte.(.French)
Temptation( continental, expensive)
Rare( steak, expensive)

if you haven't been here in a few years, be sure to check out the "new" Philipsburg and the new boardwalk.

We ate at Bananas last week and although we never had the experience of eating in it's old location, it's current location on the waterfront wasn't too tough to take. I think since you've been there before, it will be easy for you to take the ferry from St. Kitts to Nevis. We flew directly into Nevis and when we visited St. kitts, the FS printed us out a ferry schedule. When we were ready to get back to Nevis, there was no one selling tickets and we were a little confused as to how they could just change the schedule at the last moment, but you will already be accustomed to that. You also will already understand that it really IS a 46-60 minute ferry ride. (My husband and I own a boat and figured we could do it in 5 so it was a little hard to just sit back and do the "island time" thing) We saw people that were going with their luggage and everything appeared to be going very smoothly. I wouldn't worry a bit.

Last year we flew from Nevis to St. Kitts and wasted a good portion of the day waiting for the flight, so I figured the ferry might be more timely. I won't get my hopes up and I will sit back and relax. Thanks for the warning!

There is also a recent thread here about restaurants in St. Maarten/St. Martin. I'm sure a quick text search will bring it up.

iw - the ferry should be no problem. I am headed to Nevis in a few weeks actually.

About St martin, I was there in Nov. and my favorites are still

Le Tastevin
Le Cottage
(both in Grand Case)

and Le Chanteclair - in Marina Royale. They have a dessert called "the undescribable chocolate dessert" it is fantastic. It is pastry which is fried, filled with chocolate. You pop one of these in your mouth with vanilla ice cream and it pops open in your mouth because of the cold and hot together. Its like a hot fudge sundae (sort of) its so good!

We never ate at tropicana during our last trip. They were not nice to us when we walked by the place.

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

MIMO4
I( am sorry you felt the people at tropicana were not nice to you. That surprises me. I eat there frequently and I have always seen them treat their customers..even the rude ones...with the utmost charm and politeness. Their service is wonderful.
Chanteclair is definitely another nice restaurant in the marina.
I love that one too.
and you sure are right about that fabulous dessert there!

thanks barbara. yes, I am not sure why, actually it was early and there were no guests there yet, so its kind of strange, its not as if they were busy. And I know tons of people who have eaten there and had great experiences...

What a shame about Tropicana - it was one of the highlights of our trip to St. Martin. I found both the food and the service to be wonderful. There was a couple sitting near us had a young child and they really went out of their way to accomodate them and find things for the toddler to enjoy.

well, as I said, Tropicana is still a wonderful place to dine.
Don't take one person's experience out of context.
maybe someone just had a bad day or something.
I assume MIMO4 's experience was an isolated one.
THe Tropicana staff is still friendly. and the food is still delicious.

Oh, now I have to go to Tropicana. I have to check it out after all this discussion about it. I'll let you know what I think.
Thanks to all for taking the time to post.