St. Maarten & Anguilla
 

We are vacationing next March for a week on St. Maarten then finishing the trip with four nights on Anguilla. I got some great tips from caribbean-on-line.com but would love to get some tips from Fodors....

What are your top five restaruant choices on both islands? Preferrably something by the water. Also, what are some great lunch spots when exploring the islands... on both of them.

Best snorkelling spots that we can drive/walk to?

What company would you recomend deep sea fishing with on St. Maarten? Also, what about sailing?

For both islands - what company for full or half day snorkelling trips as well as sun set cruises.

We have a place to stay on St. Maarten but are still looking for something nice on Anguilla for four nights.. any recommendations? We want to try and not pay over $250 per night....

Thanks

Lori

In 2003, I spent 4 nights in Anguilla, 4 in St Martin (French side) and 4 in Nevis.

In Anguilla we stayed at Blue Waters Inn (because we wanted to be right on the beach and not pay a lot) It was great as they are little apartments, there is a restaurant next door which is really good ... Tratoria Tramonto - they serve both lunch and dinner - right on the beach. Altamer is right there too and they have a great restaurant.
We did think about Shoal Bay villas which is in your price range also.
We had dinner at Malliouhana - it was very good, however, our dinner at Cap Juluca was much better and less expensive at Pimms.

There are so many dining options on St Martin - even though it seems you are staying on the Dutch side the French side is fabulous for dining - especially Grand Case, it is full of fabulous restaurants - Le Tastevin and Le Cottage are 2 of my favorites.
On the waterfront in Marina Royale is Tropicana which is super popular, we did not dine there this time as we did not have reservations and they were super snotty to us!

On the Dutch side - there are a lot of good restaurants in Phillipsburg and Simpson Bay, however when I am in St Martin I normally go over to the French side to eat if possible.

Where are you staying in St Maarten?

We are staying at Oyster Bay Beach Resort - I understand it's not that far of a drive over to Grand Case...

Lori

No, its not far. The island is not that big, but there is traffic. But its worth it to go over to Grand Case, especially for dinner. Another restaurant is called Rainbow, its one of the most famous on the island. Have a great trip.

I am going to St. Martin for a week in June - staying at Grand Case Beach Club. I have received great info from the St. Martin board at www.traveltalkonline.com There are some recent posts full of restaurant suggestions.

In Dutch St Maarten you can go out on the Heineken Catamaran for a day of snorkeling at prickly pear island, with beach picnic and rum punch. The the water is a bit dark. Anquilla you can snorkel right off the beach. My favorite place for lunch or dinner is Lees Roadside right by the bridge in Dutch St Marteen. It is casual. Do yourself a favor and get a schedule of bridge openings in st Maarten as they can hold you up for 15 to 45 minutes.