The Best ? Restaurants, Beaches, Shops
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The Best ? Restaurants, Beaches, Shops
Hi there,
My husband and I are spending a week in St. Maarten / St. Martin for our honeymoon in early August.
We would appreciate any recommendations for the best restaurants, cafés (crepes, french pastries), shops (interesting stuff, not just duty free) and beaches. We are interested in exploring both the Dutch and French sides.
Thanks!
Shelley
My husband and I are spending a week in St. Maarten / St. Martin for our honeymoon in early August.
We would appreciate any recommendations for the best restaurants, cafés (crepes, french pastries), shops (interesting stuff, not just duty free) and beaches. We are interested in exploring both the Dutch and French sides.
Thanks!
Shelley
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Our favourite island! There are so many good places to eat and to shop. We really like a restaurant which is right n the harbourfront of Marigot..Plongeoir; great presentation and delicious food; really, anything on the menu has been wonderful. I like the Saigon and La Bavette (flank steak) rolled around goat cheese. There are good restaurants around the Marina and the town of Grand case is lined with them. Don't miss the "lolos" or rib shacks in GC; our fave is Talk of the Town. Go for the ribs, cole slaw and johnnycake. As for pastries, there's a lovely patisserie right along the waterfront near the market in Marigot. There are also supermarches; Match and a gourmet one in Marigot near the post office. As for shopping I prefer the French side. Lots of lovely shops in The West Indies Mall which is on the harbour as well as in the Marina and the streets of Marigot. A couple of my faves are Hip Up for bathing suits and L'Occitane for soaps. There's Hediard, Hermes and Longchamps stores. Lots of jewellery and cosmetics. The Dutch side shopping is basically along Front Street; again, lots of jewellery, cosmetics, electronics. There's Liz, Ralph, Benetton, but know your prices before you go. We like to go to Orient Beach; we stay at L'Hoste (wwwhostehotel.com)which is 2 min from the beach. There is a clothing optional end; no loud music, no cameras. The rest of the beach is little restaurants, shops, beach chairs and umbrellas and you can parasail, sea-doo etc. The beach and the hotel at Grand Case is nice too. And there's Baie Rouge.
If you have more questions you can e-mail me at [email protected]
If you have more questions you can e-mail me at [email protected]
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There is a great deal of information on traveltalkonline.com and restaurant reviews on gobeach.com/restrant.htm. With a rental car, it is easy to explore the island. Orient is by far the most active and busiest beach, but some other nice ones are Dawn (I particularly like the end at Scavenger's beach bar), Friar's, and Mullet.
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Well, one thing that can be a lot of fun, is to head to the Sunset Beach Bar to watch the 747's land.
To anyone who has not been to St Martin, the main runway runs from the beach to a mountainside. It is long enough for jumbo jets to land, but JUST long enough. So the pilots need to touch down as close as possible to the runway at the beach end. The result of this is that the jumbo jets are extremely low as they zoom over the beach, and sitting at the Sunset Beach Bar off to the side of the runway waiting for the jumbos to land is a fun pastime for many tourists.
Do a google of planes landing at SXM to see some spectacular pictures. Almost all of these pictures that I've seen were taken from the perspective of the beach bar.
http://www.flightmapping.com/Caribbe...ts-landing.asp
Congratulations on the wedding...
Ken
To anyone who has not been to St Martin, the main runway runs from the beach to a mountainside. It is long enough for jumbo jets to land, but JUST long enough. So the pilots need to touch down as close as possible to the runway at the beach end. The result of this is that the jumbo jets are extremely low as they zoom over the beach, and sitting at the Sunset Beach Bar off to the side of the runway waiting for the jumbos to land is a fun pastime for many tourists.
Do a google of planes landing at SXM to see some spectacular pictures. Almost all of these pictures that I've seen were taken from the perspective of the beach bar.
http://www.flightmapping.com/Caribbe...ts-landing.asp
Congratulations on the wedding...
Ken
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Just got back from St. Martin 7/13/04(our 10th visit). Here are some great places to eat. Go to Grand Case. The Sunset Cafe is outstanding for dinner as is Spiga (Italian). L'Alabama is wonderful, but a bit pricey. A great little out of the way beach bar that serves great dinners is BooBooJam's (grilled tuna to die for). It is at the end of a bad dirt road, but it is worth it, just go slow. The food is great and the price is very reasonable. Other "dinner" restaurants are the Loterie Farm. This one is kind of hard to find and the road is not good (TIP: don't drink and wear good shoes). It is located off the road that goes to Pic Paradis. If you like steak you have to go there. Le Piccolo Cafe is in the Cul-de-Sac and is also a must do.
For lunch on Orient Beach, be sure to go to Pedro's and also to Baywatch (next door) for a great lunch (do the ribs). Say hi to Andy and Sheryl at Baywatch (they also do breakfast). Also in Marigot is a great place for breakfast called Zee Best. Be careful about restaurants, some are closed on Mondays (BooBooJam, and Baywatch)
Things to do include a trip to the butterfly farm which is on the road to Galion Beach. Bring a camera with a close up lens or a telephoto. Also, be sure to visit the "market" in Marigot which is held daily. You can buy all kinds of cool stuff there.
No trip to St. Martin would be complete without a dip in the waters of Orient Bay. A nude beach is located at one end of the beach adjacent to Pedro's. Put your inhibitions away and do yourself a favor while you are there and go "au natural". As an aside, the people who stay at the nude resort on Orient Bay are extremely well educated (doctors, surgeons, dentists,lawyers, CEO's, engineers, teachers, professors, etc). The average education of the people on that beach is well within the top 1% of educated people in the USA. There is NO sex and nobody and I mean nobody will bother you. They are all just very nice people enjoying the sun and the water. At the end of the nude beach is Papagayo Restaurant. The lunches are pretty good. They make a pretty good island drink tha that you can enjoy as well. You can also rent chairs and an umbrella for $15.00 US (I think), just bring your own towel and sunscreen.
There is one other neat thing to do and that is to go to Ma Doudou's. This is a little shack in the cul de sac (you have to explore to find it) where they make the flavored rum. You can buy Ma Doudou's rum at the market in Marigot, but try to find the little shack where they make it. It is really fun. Be brave, as the road to Ma Doudou's is really goofey.
If you have not figured it out yet, the road system on St. Martin is ....an adventure. If you cannot handle liquor don't drive at night. Even if you can handle it, don't drink and drive. The roads are twisty and hilly and the island drivers are "unique" to say the least. You will need all your wits about you especially at night!
if you want more info you can email me at [email protected]
Have a great trip and enjoy your wedding and honeymoon!!
For lunch on Orient Beach, be sure to go to Pedro's and also to Baywatch (next door) for a great lunch (do the ribs). Say hi to Andy and Sheryl at Baywatch (they also do breakfast). Also in Marigot is a great place for breakfast called Zee Best. Be careful about restaurants, some are closed on Mondays (BooBooJam, and Baywatch)
Things to do include a trip to the butterfly farm which is on the road to Galion Beach. Bring a camera with a close up lens or a telephoto. Also, be sure to visit the "market" in Marigot which is held daily. You can buy all kinds of cool stuff there.
No trip to St. Martin would be complete without a dip in the waters of Orient Bay. A nude beach is located at one end of the beach adjacent to Pedro's. Put your inhibitions away and do yourself a favor while you are there and go "au natural". As an aside, the people who stay at the nude resort on Orient Bay are extremely well educated (doctors, surgeons, dentists,lawyers, CEO's, engineers, teachers, professors, etc). The average education of the people on that beach is well within the top 1% of educated people in the USA. There is NO sex and nobody and I mean nobody will bother you. They are all just very nice people enjoying the sun and the water. At the end of the nude beach is Papagayo Restaurant. The lunches are pretty good. They make a pretty good island drink tha that you can enjoy as well. You can also rent chairs and an umbrella for $15.00 US (I think), just bring your own towel and sunscreen.
There is one other neat thing to do and that is to go to Ma Doudou's. This is a little shack in the cul de sac (you have to explore to find it) where they make the flavored rum. You can buy Ma Doudou's rum at the market in Marigot, but try to find the little shack where they make it. It is really fun. Be brave, as the road to Ma Doudou's is really goofey.
If you have not figured it out yet, the road system on St. Martin is ....an adventure. If you cannot handle liquor don't drive at night. Even if you can handle it, don't drink and drive. The roads are twisty and hilly and the island drivers are "unique" to say the least. You will need all your wits about you especially at night!
if you want more info you can email me at [email protected]
Have a great trip and enjoy your wedding and honeymoon!!