Saint Martin/Sint Maarten
Welcome back to the blog! We took a hiatus from our travels and spent some time with family and friends over the holidays. Now we find ourselves in St Martin for a month celebrating my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday and visiting with friends. We’ve been here a couple of times in the past but never for this long. It’s been great having extended time to explore the Island and experience “local” things, not just all the touristy stuff.
St Martin is a small island located in the Lesser Antilles. It was first sighted by Christopher Columbus in 1493 and has since changed hands between the Dutch and French until both signed a partition treaty. Dutch Sint Marteen, occupies the Southern portion of the Island and it’s capital is Philipsburg. The economy thrived on the natural salt ponds and sand mills, but today it mainly depends on tourism, casinos and the cruise ships docking in Philipsburg. The French occupy the Northern two-thirds of the Island with Marigot as the capital. Like the Dutch side, tourism is the main source of income as it offers beautiful beaches, green hills and gorgeous French cuisine - think cheese and croissants.
The Hillsides of St Martin
There are many accommodations on the Island and we chose to book a house through Airbnb in the Upper Quarter on the Dutch side. If you are coming to St Martin for a week or so, you may want to stay in an all-inclusive so you can spend more time relaxing on the beach. There are a variety of price points, but if you want to splurge on your stay, may we suggest La Samanna overlooking Long Bay or The Grand Case Beach Club. Our friends stayed at the latter, and had a terrific experience. We also recommend renting a car to tour around the Island or you can take the public buses, but we aren’t sure how reliable those are in the long run. You’ll need to make sure you have adequate insurance - the roads aren’t the best and we found some drivers quite aggressive.
La Samanna
There are many outdoor activities to do in Saint Martin, but hanging out on the beaches was an important part of our stay. Orient Beach is a long beach making it a great spot for morning walks and it is home to all water sports. Brent spent a few mornings kiteboarding here as there is an official launch and plenty of parking if you come early. There are lots of restaurants and beach clubs to rent chairs and an umbrella for the day. Renting is common on the Island and the prices range from US $10-20 depending on the area. If you go to Orient Beach, get your latte and croissant, and free wifi at Good Morning Cafe. Feel like going topless or naked - no problem- check out the nude beach on Orient. Topless bathing is pretty well accepted everywhere on the Island.
If you are into wind sports, another popular local spot with a more gentle launch can be found at Le Galion Beach. It’s located near Orient Beach on the French side but it’s a quieter area to bring your family for a swim and BBQ. In addition, if you are looking for a quieter beach, check out Friar’s Bay Beach for a day of swimming and a great view of Anguilla.
During our stay, there was a lot of visible “sargassum” - a brown algae sometimes accompanied with a strong stench - along the Eastern side of the Island. Sargassum floats along the ocean’s surface providing a refuge for marine life but unfortunately large quantities are making their way inland along the Caribbean Sea taking a toll on the fishing industry and tourism. Early morning, tractors or the “green brigadiers” are busy cleaning up the beaches in Saint Martin and many government bodies are trying to provide long-term solutions to this ever growing problem. Google it for more info; it’s quite interesting.
Another very popular town to visit on the French side is Grande Case. Here you will find plenty of restaurants serving up French cuisine and traditional chicken and rib joints. Although still recovering from Hurricane Irma, there are plenty of beach bars to frequent. We spent an afternoon at Rainbow Cafe sprawled on the beanbag loungers drinking a few Solero and swimming in Grand Case Bay. Drinks and lunch are a bit pricey but both are served right to your lounger or hightop right on the beach - it’s worth the experience. The vibe changes on Sundays as the Cafe hosts a great dance party for no other reason than to celebrate Sunday - nice!
Grande Case
Although there are many great places to eat on the Island, we suggest the following:
Dany’s Beach Bar - local vibe to watch the sunset!
Captain’s Rib Shack - chicken/ribs and proper baked Mac & Cheese with elbow macaroni!
Big Fish Seafood Grill and Bamboo House for a special night out!
Dinghy Dock Sailors Bar - to watch a Toronto Maple Leaf game or just drink!
Furthermore, we tested out a lot of bakeries to find the flakiest, buttery croissant, so here they are ( in no particular order):
Good Morning Cafe on Orient Beach
La Bonne Baguette in Philipsburg
Bread & Butter in Oyster Bay
Chez Fernand la French Bakery in Marigot
And if you want some serious French cheese, check out…
When you get a bit tired of the beaches…if that’s possible…and need to burn a few calories, we recommend switching out your sandals for a pair of soled shoes and take in a little hiking. We hiked to Pic Paradis which is the highest point on St. Martin sitting at 424 m in elevation. It’s a challenging hike but the vistas along the way and at the summit are well worth the climb. Another recommended hike begins in Pointe Blanche and follows the coast to the Back Bay Natural Pools. This, by far, was the best hike we took on the Island. Along the way, we saw Iguanas and the endangered Pope’s Head Cactus. Swimming in the natural pools was a first for me and it was a pretty cool experience. Our final hike took us to Anse Marcel. After a gnarly car ride up the steep hill to the carpark, we traversed the coastline ending up at Baie des Petites Cayes where we took a dip before heading back. All three of these hikes have different versions depending upon your hiking skills so you may want to do a bit of research before heading out. We got most of our information from Sea Grapes or All Trails.
Finally, for a little more adventure, you can catch a ferry to a nearby Island like Anguilla, St Barts or Saba, or you can charter a boat from Captain Alan as we did to take you over to Tintamarre Island to snorkel with the sea turtles and lunch at Karibuni on Pinel Island. We actually hired Captain Alan twice while we were on the Island and with his guidance we saw an abundance of marine life. Those two days were the highlight of the month on the Island.
We had such a great experience on St Martin and I do encourage you to check it out. If you do stay at a resort, try to get out to explore both the beaches and the nature the Island has to offer.
For more on St Martin, check out our Youtube Channel for the three videos we posted during our visit.
Cheers from St Martin!
