Hi, I'm going to St. Martin (French side, Orient Beach) in March '08 and am wondering if anyone knows of some unique experiences there? I read in another post about a place to zip line which sounded fun...any other ideas? Hidden gems? Thanks!

Hello--

I have not been, however, am headed there in June of this year for part 2 of our honeymoon! I am very excited. One of my co-workers just got back and wrote this to me:

We rented a car for the week. Worth the $400 for the 4 of us. Only a 2 lane road system all around the island. They don't fix pot-holes and watch out for speed bumps. Great to get around in. We loved Marigot on the French side. Shops, restaurants, boats, a castle, etc.

Took a booze cruise around
the island on a big catamaran. Stopped at a private island, snorkeled and it seemed like we were seeing fish in a fish tank, and ate lunch at "se la ve". I highly recommend this Eagle cruise or the Heineken cruise.

Breath-taking beaches. We liked Mullet Bay Beach and Baie Rouge Beaches the best. Rent chairs and an umbrella for $20. Native people grill fresh fish and other foods right there, with $2.00 Coronas and rum punches.

Many Casinos (Dutch side) to choose from, a little out of 1980s Las Vegas theme. 85 degrees every day, no rain. Soft breezes. Remember, it's always island time so
don't be in any hurry.

Hope that helps a little! After reading it--I am very excited to experience it all myself! Where are you staying? We are staying at Le Petit Hotel.

You gotta go to the Sunset Beach Bar on the Dutch side to watch planes land for a little while. Watch the nuts taking pictures from behind the planes and getting sandblasted from the jet exhaust was fun too.

Taking the boat ride to Pinel island for a day was fun too.

jso444,
I second spending an afternoon hanging out at the Sunset Beach Bar and watching the planes come in-it’s pretty wild seeing them and the bar is great.

We went to this one small restaurant on Orient Beach (I wish I could remember the name) and had the best lobster we’ve had in our whole lives! They grill it. It was towards the one end of the beach, on the opposite end of the nude part. Orient beach also has a giant trampoline in the water that you can swim out to, which was fun. Just a heads up, I have a feeling it may be wall to wall people on Orient beach in the high season. Fortunately for us, we were there in September ‘04 and there was an impending hurricane, so the beach was almost deserted (although there were rows and rows of empty beach chairs lined up) since no cruise ships were allowed to dock and some of the hotels were closed on Orient beach for off season. But if you don’t mind crowds, then the beach is beautiful white sand and clear blue water (there were pretty big waves when we were there-not sure if it’s always like that or just due to the hurricane off the coast).

We really wanted to do the regatta sail while there but due to the hurricane no boats were allowed out at the time. It looks like a lot of fun if you’re looking for something that’s unique to this island and different. There are 2 links below on it. The dock for it is on the dutch side in Phillipsburg, which is a cute town to walk around in of itself. Lots of cute little shops, and they have couches set up right on the beach too. Great sunset views too. When we were there is was deserted due to no cruise ship crowds (which was perfect for us-not too crowded!), but I’m sure it can get pretty crowded on days they’re in port.

http://cruises.about.com/cs/caribbea...tmaarten_2.htm

http://www.12metre.com/index.htm

You could also do a day trip over to Anguilla-I hear it’s a short ferry ride.

We thought the food in St. Maarten was very good, with very much of a french flare. We would get fresh baguettes everyday from the food store, and you would see people walking around eating them. Oh, and the french desserts-mmm... Everyone was very friendly too.

Ps-the hurricane ended up missing St. Maarten (whew!) and so we had a nice time without the crowds (although it’s still very much built up compared to say St. John or Virgin Gorda). Enjoy!!!

We went to the Butterfly Farm a few years ago and really enjoyed it. If you happen to get there when there's a cruise ship tour, tag along for the lecture, but please please stay after they all leave. It is really cool to be the only human in the place with all of these beautiful butterflies flying around.

A friend went on the America's Cup race and really enjoyed it.

I have been to St Maarten a few times and agree Sunset Beach Bar is a blast, the outside Market in Marigot is fun, Anquilla is great (I would stay over night and go to Scilly Cay for the beach party) and lastly on the French side near Orient Beach you can take a boat ride to Ilet Pinel (it is a little island with drinks, food and snorkeling) the water is very clear and calm I would avoid going when a cruise ship is in port.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7182639/page/4/.

Agree about the Sunset Beach Bar and also we went to the Butterfly farm and thought it was fun. There are some great spots to stop off too for some great pictures.

We also found this small place close to the airport called Lee's and thought the food there was really good. It was casual dining....

Thanks SO much everyone for all of the incredibly helpful responses! I definitely want to snorkel and the sunset cruises look like they would be fun as well. Regatta sailing might be fun too!

jonbon678--we're staying at the St. Tropez beach club in Orient Beach. Looks cute and prices are very good split b/t 3 people...have fun on part 2 of your honeymoon!

Oh, and kellybeaches, thanks so much for the trampoline in the water info...that sounds like FUN!

We just returned from St. Martin. We liked Dawn Beach, Orient Beach and Lil Pinnel. We also really liked Grand Cas, and ate at a cool place on the beach "Calmos Cafe" and the quaint town is fun to walk through.

On Lil Pinnel and a couple of other places we had trouble with our credit card going through (make sure you notify the credit card company you are going to the islands before you leave). Also many of the places trade the dollar 1 to 1 only if you pay cash. The euro is $1.50 now so that's a great deal- bring a lot of cash. Also, we rented a car which was helpful, but us and several other Americans were ripped off upon return- they claimed some one had tried to break into the car damaging the passenger lock--$130.00 rip off.

We spent a week in St Martin before a week on Tortola and loved it! One experience not to miss - a day sail on the Golden Eagle catamaran. the 1/2 day sail goes to a reef and then to a small island (Tintamarre), beautiful. The full day sail includes another stop as well as a stop for lunch.
The crew is top-notch, best we've experienced and we've been on many. They pick you up by van/bus fron your hotel and take you back. Food and drinks are excellent!

Other than that Orient Beach has some good beach bars, and Marigot is a great place to visit.

Take a ferry to Anguilla for 1 day as well.
Enjoy!