Hello All

April 9-April 15 2008
we rented a car through automax, a great, local company. They meet you at the airport parking and that's where you drop off (airport parking is small). Driving was easy. Traffic is congested but wasnt too bad. First time I ever rented a car that came with a club!
Automax had given us very clear directions to our place in Orient. We stopped at Grand Marche for supplies- best pricing and most variety on the island. Have your grocery list ready.
We stayed at Cap Caraibes. A fine place, awesome location. Having beach chairs available was a great asset. Bed was good and plenty of pillows. TV wasokay, CNN or HBO- most nights HBO was in English. We drove every night to Grand Case for dinner. Many places were offering, if paying in cash, 1 euro = 1$. After viewing many of the fine restaurants, we ended up every time eating at Talk of the Town. Cannot beat the prices and the food was great. Example for 2 of us: 4 beers total, 2 mini ribs, 1 mahi mahi and 1 snapper...$28.00.
Our intention was to venture out every other day, but since our beach was superb, we only ventured out once...and that was to Pinel Island. The cost has gone up from $5.00 to $7.00 (roundtrip price). What a beautiful, calm water place. Did a little snorkelling, saw about 10 different fish and a couple of lobsters. We had beer and yummy snack at the place in the back- cannot recall name.
We did some snorkelling at the south end of Orient, later in the day to avoid sea-doos/boats. Here we saw many starfish, 12-15" wide, and a few fish.
Round bar on Orient, near Bay Watch, has good drink prices. Say hi to Flavin (sp?). Food at Bay Watch was good- we had burgers.
If staying at Orient, just south of the Orient Village entrance, on the hill, is a 'mall'/lookout...this is where we did our trinket shopping. $4 for a short bathing suit wrap. We took a drive to Captain Olivers. Fairly quiet, but we did hit happy hour .
In Orient square, we purchased baguettes several times...always warm. Food in the little shops, like any 'mom and pop' place was noticeably more expensive...stop at Grand Marche on the way.
On our way to airport, we stopped at Friars Bay. Really nice, calm water, protected- great place to bring kids.
Marigot- Walked around a little. The open air markets were overwhelming, so many with same offerings, made my head spin. Was glad I had done my trinket shopping already. I did not see 1 euro =1$ here. before we went to airport, we stopped at Sunset Beach Bar and watched some planes come in. When driving from french side to dutch side...WOW, building like CRAZY.

Thoughts-
*we brought alcohol, but looking at the prices in Grand Marche, you can purchase once you arrive. Good selection.

*renting/driving a car is easy. depending on where you stay-how far away, its the only way to go..why spend $ on taxi to and fro airport?...put that $ toward rental car.

*if I were to go again (we hardly ever go back to same place, too many places to see), I would definately stay at a place that has a mini kitchen again- its the way to go (we recommend cap caraibes)...and wouldnt hesitate to bring some food that packs easily (limes, lemons, snack food, coffee, box cereal)- we did, glad we did.

Sounds like you had a great trip. However, are you aware of the fact that it is illegal to travel with fruit and vegetables between most (if not all) of the islands? Your lemons and limes. Already squeezed is fine, but not the whole fruit.

Illegal to travel with fruits and vegetables between the islands? Hmmm....I have done it for years. I know it's illegal to bring any fruits or vegetables into the US, but I've brought them from the US into SXM for years, as well as traveled with the same between the islands with no problems. I even had my bag checked by security at SXM a couple weeks ago and he took my Dean & Deluca mustard, but had no problem with my apples and other fruit in my carry-on.

Glad you had a good trip travelpair. Thanks for the report.

Statia
I think bajangirl is talking about the British islands...like Barbados, St. Lucia,etc.
we have no such bans in the Dutch islands.

Thanks for the clarification, Barbara.

Thanks for the trip report. We considered Cap Caraibes but didn't stay there. It's nice to hear good things about it. We'll keep it in mind for next time. By the way, I like your screen name.