TravelTalkOnline - Forums powered by UBB.threads

Few questions for our upcoming trip... steve74 4 hours ago I hope everyone is well! We are headed down for a few weeks in the 2nd half of May, and I'm hopeful that you all have some thoughts on the following:

1. We really like grabbing a ball in Kelly's Cove (Norman) because it is calm in there in the summer and the snorkeling is pretty good. We also like Long Bay, VG for similar reasons (we cook on the boat these nights). I've always wondered about Little Harbour, Peter, but I recognize that most of the boats are charter boats and they rear tie to the shore. What are your thoughts on this anchorage? Also, we are comfortable anchoring after 10+ charters, but we have never rear tied. For those who have done it, is it worth the effort? Last, with all the charter boats in there throwing scraps overboard, I wonder if there are large baracuda in there under the boats. My wife and daughters don't like it when they are right under the back of the boat, so this would actually affect things for us.

2. How is the restaurant in the new Peter Island resort? I saw Matt's notes about staying on the dock, which is appealing. However, it would add to the experience if the restaurant is worth it that night. We like good food, but we are turned off by overly expensive prices. For example, Wonky Dog is not cheap, but it is totally worth it to us. We also love Hendos. However, we are not a $100 per plate family.

3. Last, we typically go in the 2nd half of June. However, due to my daughters' summer activities, we are moving the trip up a month. I realize the weather is difficult to predict, but what has your experience been with weather and crowds in late May if you have visited during this time of the year?

Thank you so much for any replies!
Steve

1 49 Read More

Damaged car rental Megannsamuel 9 hours ago I rented a car from budget. After returning i was told we were good. Now they are trying to charge me $500. Is this normal for this rental place.

4 216 Read More

Day 7 and 8 eilandmens Yesterday at 09:35 PM Same old, same old from morning to late afternoon, beach time and G & T on patio. Went to Palapa for dinner. As you probably know it is a pretty setting -low light tropical feel. Had a 7:30 PM reservation, got there at 7:21PM. Was told to take a seat. At precisely 7:30PM on the nose, we were led to seats. I thought a bit pretentious, but I guess that is their thing. There were a number of empty seats. A small matter. I ordered Jack Daniels on rocks and got Jack Daniels Honey. Too sweet for me, sent it back for regular JD. My wife ordered lobster thermador and I ordered rack of lamb. I asked if they were lollipop ribs, and the waiter assured me they were not. But they were. I am done ordering rack of lamb in St. Maarten. They are always lollipop ribs. Tasty but small. My wife’s lobster was deemed good.

Friday repeat the routine, for dinner we went to Greenhouse. Always, wholesome food not fancy but consistent. The wait staff were fun to deal with, a pleasant evening. My wife ordered French dip and I ordered a Ruben. Both were good. I had two of those big Heineken glasses of beer. A good night.
,

5 204 Read More

Little J Shawarma Manitoulin Island Girl Yesterday at 07:24 PM I inquired via email with Little J Shawarma and they responded within 3 hours stating they are open every day, except Wednesdays, and hours are 12 noon-330pm and 5pm-1030 pm. Abe's youngest son has taken over as chef.
This place has always been one of our favourites and we eat there several times during our 7 week stay.

2 153 Read More

Suggestions on SJU to EIS flight louismcc Yesterday at 07:23 PM We're coming in mid-July on what will be, I think, our 16th Moorings charter. Maybe we're in a rut, but it's a helluva nice rut!

Our flights are on Delta to SJU and I'm inclined to use Island Birds like we did last year. However I thought I'd get feedback on puddle jump options to EIS. Cape Air would be my first choice but they're expensive and flights don't mesh well with our Delta flights, especially on the return home.

4 93 Read More

Lot of rain last night RatmansWife Yesterday at 11:46 AM Much needed for our cisterns. Don't know if it was related, but the late American flight from Miami was delayed until this morning, which means the early flight out is also delayed.

0 94 Read More

Lot by Belair StMartinFan Yesterday at 12:43 AM Someone asked earlier about what was happening by Belair Hotel. I noticed today that there was a large scooper there and saw a truck that seemed to be hauling in dirt. There were mounds of dirt that appeared to be dump truck loads. I looked as if they are dumping fill from some other construction site. Haven't seen any coverage about construction since that announcement about some big project a few years ago, but it looks like they are doing work to get the lot ready for something.

3 222 Read More

Three Favorites and a Nooby StMartinFan Yesterday at 12:37 AM Since our first week on the island has basically involved spending our days sitting on the beach at Divi, about the only thing I can share are restaurant experiences!

We’ve already visited three favorites:

Chesterfields. The restaurant was quieter than usual but the food and service were as good as we've come to expect. My husband had the grilled snapper, my daughter had escargot and she and I split the seafood pasta, which was more than enough for the two of us. I appreciate that they always include a vegetable with their dinners, and enjoy their cooked carrots, which are large chunks of carrot, not something you see often as a dinner accompaniment.

The Palms: How can you not enjoy a place where a waiter and the owner greet you with hugs! A stop here is a must every year so our daughter can get her goat curry fix, I had the tasty shrimp curry, and love the Trinidad roti that accompanies it, something I've never seen anywhere else. We eat Indian food often and like that cuisine’s roti, but The Palms is a unique experience. My husband had the Drunken Ribs and we snagged the last piece of the Bailey’s cheesecake. I highly recommend the cheesecake, too. My daughter has a Palms baseball cap that she bought years ago and brings it along every year so that gets us a really warm welcome. Judging from how full they were both inside and out, we're not the only ones who make a stop there.

Yacht Club: We do manage to tear ourselves away from the beach to hit the Yacht Club for breakfast and the bridge opening. My daughter said her Norwegian Benedict with the smoked salmon and dill sauce was excellent and I had the pancakes with rum sauce. They were fine, but think I'll have to go back to the Eggs Benedict next time.

New to us:

Pardon My French: We'd been reading good things about this restaurant and were eager to try it. We liked the ambiance and had great service, but weren't as excited about the food. My husband did the prix fixe 3 course meal and his salad with goat cheese was excellent. He thought his steak with pepper sauce was kind of boring. If you want a plain piece of beef (he upgraded to the rib eye), it will probably be to your liking, but he was disappointed in the pepper sauce. It wasn't as flavorful as he's had other places. My daughter liked her cheese ravioli with walnut sauce. They were tiny little ravioli squares and the sauce was tasty. It was interesting served sprinkled with fresh radicchio.

I was disappointed in my meal, but maybe because of what I ordered. It was described as pasta with lobster tail, cherry tomatoes and asparagus in a white wine garlic sauce. I expected a plate of pasta with a light white sauce with pieces of lobster, tomatoes and asparagus. What I got was a plate of a red colored “stew” that seemed to have small pieces of fish (hard to tell for sure because of the red sauce but the texture was like fish), tiny round circles of asparagus (I think) and some other mystery ingredients plus a small amount of wide pasta pieces stirred in. It was topped with a dry looking lobster tail and three short spears of asparagus and a couple of cherry tomatoes. I couldn't identify what the flavor or seasoning was supposed to be, and it really didn't enhance the lobster. I even asked our waiter if I'd gotten the right dish because it seemed so odd and he assured me I had. (They had some sort of fish soup on the menu so wondered if they’d somehow given me that topping but I was assured I had what I'd ordered.) I’m still perplexed at how the dish I got and the menu description could be so far apart.

We had crème brûlée and the chocolate mousse for dessert. Both were tasty but they suffered a bit in comparison to similar desserts we had a couple of days ago at Bistrot Caraibes. Bistrot's dessert presentation is so spectacular with the fruit garnishes, their large chocolate name plate and other touches that Pardon's seemed hohum. Probably not really fair but when you're on an island with great French food the standard is set pretty high. We also go to Moullin Fou often and I'd rank them as a better French restaurant on the Dutch side.

6 347 Read More

Cruise ship crowd tracker Matt W 03/27/2026 08:15 PM Built this today for fun https://bvicruiseshipschedule.com/ Would you use it?

10 209 Read More

TMM boats bonefish 03/27/2026 06:03 PM Back in 2012 I think TMM had two Lagoon 50's. One was named Hotel California. Does anyone remember the name of the other one?

2 115 Read More