Hi, <BR>Im an avid caribbean traveler. I have been too many, many islands, and the one I keep coming back to is St. martin. I have read about 500 threads reccomending what island to go to. I have seen a lot of Turks, BVI, Cayman, ETC. I have been to all of these places and I dont understand why NOT ONE of the hundreds of recs has gone to SXM. IMO, this is why I go back <BR>1. The best food <BR>2. Some of the best shopping <BR>3. Sightseeing, mountains, history, ETC. <BR>4. Culture (French, and Dutch) <BR>5. Variety of beaches (36, cliffs, waves, calm, ETC) <BR>6. Access to other island. This is a key one. IF you want to go to one of those smaller more pristine islands, go to St. Barts or Anguilla or Saba!! That also goes for the snorkleing. SXM has bad snorkling, but you can go to those other islands real quick on excurisons! <BR>Also, the crime issue has been inflated on the web. Some robberies, but dont walk around with 100 bucms in cash waving around. <BR>Just my opinion, Dont bash me please!!!

Hi Tim, <BR> <BR>Im interested in your point #5...WAVES? Are there surfable waves on SXM? If so, what season? <BR> <BR>Please, tell me more..Ive run out of islands! <BR> <BR>Thanks

Oh yea. All the time. <BR>Dawn, Orient, has mnay surfable waves. <BR>Type St. martin pictures in MSN.com, you can see pics. One thing I love is that here at home, I love waves in local beaches, but when you get waves in that warm turquise water, its great!

Tim: <BR> <BR>I can't argue with you on SXM, having been there myself. You've certainly captured its appealing features. But St. Martin has its drawbacks <BR>overdevelopment & commercialization of some areas <BR>lack of gorgeous beaches, <BR>cruise ship traffic,

I actually think that St. martin has some very nice beaches. Dawn beach, Orient, baie Rouge......ETC. <BR>the commercialization bothers a lot of people. But when I went to Provo, it was kind of boring to see an undeveloped island. The Texaco Station was called, "Downtown" <BR>I dont mind seeing a KFC, then looking and seeing the caribbean sea. Quite funny actually.

I have never been to St. Martin and one reason is that we prefer all-inclusive resorts. Do these exist in St. Martin? It is certainly one place would be interested in visiting if so. And please no bashing of AIs tht is what we prefer, we like to pay for entire vacation before we get there and jsut relax with no worries and no decision making.

I dont seem to get the AI thing. Your really paying to be stranded in a resort the whole time. I like to go out and try different beaches, and food. In st. martin, with all the good restaurants, its not for an AI, although they have some.

P.S- I was not bashing AI. I was just stating that I dont understand it, in terms of decision making. I rather just get better food and get good restaurants from a travel book before we go.

SXM is not known for the best beaches, snorkeling or diving, which are the main reasons I go to the Caribbean. There's great food on a lot of islands too, don't think SXM has a monopoly there. And I don't care about shopping. But I would never say never, I'm not one of those that goes to one place only.

We never feel "prisoner" while at AIs. The ones we usually go to have at least 4 restaurants to choose from plus room service and 24 hr/day snacks and drinks including top shelf liquour and even the tips. WE know how much we have to spend so we pay before we go and then can walk around not worrying about carrying cash or purse/wallet. We can order room for an appetizer snack while we're getting ready for dinner if we want. We can walk up to the beach without leaving hte resort and do any kind of actvity we want ( we really like water skiing, snorkeling, jetskis, hubby likes to scuba dive) you just show them your armband or whatever and they hand you the equipment. If you are in the pool and want a drink, you just swim up to the bar and ask for it. For busy people like us, this is what vacation is all about, relaxing with no worries and NOTHING to think about. We don't want to drive around or tour we just want to be on a fabulous beach! That is the appeal of AIs like Sandals etc. Please Tim, let me in on the names of a few in St. Martin, I would appreciate it.

I think I might feel like a prisoner if I had to wear an armband! LOL

st. martin is actually known for the better beaches. Diving and snorkleing at Saba, which is pretty much right there. So whatever.

We haven't been to St. Martin yet. <BR>I do have a question about its "better beaches:" <BR>In the pictures I've seen, SXM beaches look rather "surfy" (except Grand Case, which looks so narrow as to border on nonexistent). <BR>Are there any good beaches there with clear, calm water, so you can see your feet as you're walking in? <BR>

When I go to guide books looking for lists of the absolute BEST beaches, diving, and snorkeling, St. Martin doesn't appear at the top of those lists. <BR> <BR>You should be happy others flock to the other places, that way you have your favorite more to yourself... <BR> <BR>"Pretty much right there" ??? I want it at my doorstep. <BR> <BR>I'd be interested in how you came to the "best food" opinion. Excellent I can understand, but best?

Yea the best food. By far. I even was flipping through and there was a program of BEST CHEFS on the discovery channel and it was a guy in St. martin. <BR>When you say the BEST of all those, where do you find? Ive been to Provo, where the snorkling and beaches are some of the best. But in terms of a fun vacation, St. martin wins. <BR>Chazz- I dont get what your saying. St. martin has mainly calm beaches. Also, its the caribbean sea? What do you think it all of a sudden becomes dirty when you get to st. martin? youve been reading too much fodors!

IF you type ST. MARTIN HOTELS in a search engine, you should find all the places to stay.

http://orientbeach.com/ansmarcel/ANS..._HILL_VIEW.jpg <BR>Just one of mnay nice pics of st. martin I have. <BR>This is the le meridian hotel area.

http://orientbeach.com/ansmarcel/ANS..._HILL_VIEW.jpg

http://orientbeach.com/happybay/HAPPY_BAY_BEACH.jpg <BR>Thats what i meant.

WOW! Sounds like St. Martin is the absolute best, Tim! I'll bet no other island was featured on a BEST CHEFS program. Those pictures are the best I've ever seen, thanks for sharing!