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Wednesday- day 6
fabila
48 minutes ago
We decided to take a ride over to Marigot for breakfast at Croissant Royal. It had been several years since we’d been there or spent any time around the Marigot Marina, so it seemed like the perfect morning outing.
The restaurant was extremely busy, and while the service was warm and friendly throughout, it was noticeably slow. It took quite a while for our drinks to arrive, and the kitchen seemed to be struggling to keep up with the volume of customers. That said, the staff remained pleasant and apologetic, and it was clear they were doing their best.
We arrived around 10:00 a.m. after leaving a little later than planned and encountering only light traffic. The restaurant was packed, and I noticed there were very few outdoor tables. When I asked about it, one of the staff members explained that they had to reduce their outdoor seating because the building next door was supposed to be demolished. That was nine years ago, she said, and they’re still waiting. She also mentioned they have a liquor license but haven’t added a full bar yet, although they do serve wine.
We ordered 2 plain croissants along with two savory breakfast crêpes. After waiting about 20 minutes or so, I asked if we could have the croissants first. The server smiled and explained they had run out and a fresh batch was in the oven. She thought they would probably be ready around the same time as our crêpes, and that’s exactly what happened.
We both ordered the breakfast special crêpe with ham, egg, and cheese. David had his egg over medium, while I chose scrambled. The crêpes were generously sized and packed with filling. The croissants arrived hot from the oven and were served with a choice of strawberry or raspberry jam. We chose raspberry, and they were absolutely delicious. Despite the slower pace, the food was well worth the wait.
After breakfast, we spent the rest of the day at our beachfront. The water was a choppier than the day before. We had several brief showers throughout the day—mostly light sprinkles with two two heavier downpours—but nothing that lasted very long.
In the evening, we headed to the Yacht Club, where Wednesday night’s entertainment featured Gabriel singing and playing guitar. He was good and encouraged requests.
David ordered the grilled chicken breast with mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables. I chose the ribs with French fries and a salad. Both tasty and satisfying. To finish, we shared a slice of apple pie served with ice cream and fresh whipped cream—absolutely delicious. I also treated myself to one of Koko’s beautifully made espresso martinis, the perfect ending to a wonderful evening.
Our trip is beginning to wind down, with only two more days left. As always, the time has flown by.[b][/b]
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Saturation point..
Manpot
Yesterday at 08:32 PM
...and I think we have reached it. Yesterday on White Bay , JVD the endless flow of cruise shippers made it impossible to find a chair ,very hard to order a drink and food..and just when one wave left another followed.I ran a tab at Gertrudes for close to $200 and it took me 20 mins in line to pay it. because people lined up with tickets for a "free' rum punch! Think this is good for our economy?Then today I made a blunder and went to CGB thinking the cruise ship left at 2.30...the place was more jammed than I have ever seen it..ever.I made it to the ATM and then was completly jammed in by double parked "Safari' buses..with others trying to get down the road.. As I sat..completely jammed in a group of cruise shippers passed me and one said" God..they must really hate us!".Nuff said..Oh and was there a cop to be found directly this romeo foxtrot???Its really time to look at the number of passengers we can handle and the nub ler of massive Safari buses on our narrow windy streets. Sadly this just drives awy the folks who come to "Nature;s Little Secrets" and rent a villa, car and dine out..Rant over. and I hope the Tourist Board reads this ( yeah right).
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La Playa Orient Beach
dbarr
Yesterday at 05:15 PM
Planning a future visitor. Thinking about stay at La Playa. Can anyone tell me how the restaurant/beach bar is?
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July 21 , day 5
fabila
Yesterday at 12:08 PM
A very mellow day today. We didn’t feel like venturing too far from the villa, so we spent most of the day on-site, in the water, floating on noodles. The water was incredibly calm, making it the perfect place to relax and unwind. Best of all, there was no sargassum!
Later, we headed over to D’s Beach Bar & Grill for Taco Tuesday. They offer a special menu on this day where you can order single tacos, burritos, and nachos. One fried fish taco for me, and off the regular menu, the Bang Bang Shrimp appetizer. The single tacos come with lettuce, tomato, shredded cheese, and pico de gallo.
David ordered tacos from the regular menu, which come with three. There are several different protein options, and he went with the panko-fried fish tacos, which include slaw and pico de gallo with a side of chipotle crema. All tacos are served in flour tortillas.
We returned to the beach for the remainder of the day.
Continuing with a laid back day dinner was at the Driftwood We shared the Driftwood Special pizza with sausage, ham, green and red peppers. Their bottled spicy infused oil is a nice touch to add on top of the slice —adds a kick! Thin crust with a crisp underside, sturdy enough to fold without flopping and not greasy perfect eats. We wanted to order the medium, but the bartender said it was too small, so we ordered the large, which came with eight slices. Two slices too many for us.
We enjoy going to Driftwood for a casual meal that’s close to home. The music is always on point, and tonight made the world feel a little smaller. They were playing Now That We Found Love by Third World, and sitting opposite us at the bar was the drummer from the band. Such a cool and unexpected moment! 🎶✨
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Controls arrest scooter driver
SXMScubaman
07/21/2026 10:41 PM
"Scooter rider arrested with firearm.
On July 20th, at approximately 9:50 p.m., officers of the Korps Politie Sint Maarten (KPSM) Patrol Unit were conducting a routine patrol when they observed an individual riding a scooter.
Officers attempted to stop the rider for a control; however, the individual initially failed to comply. Following the stop and subsequent control, officers discovered that the suspect was in possession of a handgun.
The suspect was immediately arrested at the scene and transported to the Philipsburg Police Station, where he remains in custody pending further investigation.
The firearm was confiscated and taken into as evidence. The investigation into this incident is ongoing. KPSM remains committed to conducting regular controls and proactive patrols aimed at removing illegal firearms from the streets.
These enforcement efforts are part of the police force’s ongoing commitment to enhancing public safety and ensuring that the community remains as safe and secure as possible.
KPSM urges the public to continue cooperating with law enforcement by reporting suspicious activities.
Together, we can contribute to a safer Sint Maarten. "
Keep up the good work.
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July 20-day 4
fabila
07/21/2026 12:29 PM
Another fabulous day on the island!
We don’t normally travel to SXM in July. In nearly 25 years of visiting the island, I think this is only our third July trip. The occasion? Our 30th wedding anniversary and a milestone birthday for me. I can’t say we celebrated the way I did when I was younger, but I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day with my husband, David.
We started the morning with a quick drive to Orient Beach with no traffic delays. We settled into our front-row chairs at La Playa before 9:00 a.m. Even though several staff personnel we’ve become friends with over the years are no longer at La Playa, we still enjoy the comfortable chairs, the facilities, and the beachfront location.
The umbrella was much appreciated because the July sun was strong. The water was delightfully warm, although there was quite a bit of sargassum floating around, so you had to weave your way through it.
For lunch, we stayed at La Playa and shared a tempura tuna specialty roll, and some pieces of tuna and salmon nigiri. Along with teriyaki chicken wings. I couldn’t resist dessert and ordered a lemon cheesecake with a graham cracker crust, accompanied by a cappuccino. It was the perfect ending to lunch. Then it was back to the beach for more reading, sun, and another swim.
On the way home, we stopped at the Yacht Club for a cocktail before heading back to get ready for dinner.
Dinner was another first for us: Altro in Porto Cupecoy.
They had two chalkboards—one featuring the evening’s specials and another with their three-course prix fixe menu, now €41. Since neither of us wanted dessert and the appetizer choices on the prix fixe menu didn’t really appeal to me, we both ordered from the specials instead.
To start, I ordered the goat cheese salad wrapped in puff pastry with pistachios. It may not have been the prettiest dish on the table, but don’t let that fool you—the flavors were excellent. David, who is definitely not a salad person, tried one bite…and then kept coming back for more. That’s how good it was.
David chose the lamb shank, which was big, fall-off-the-bone tender, and served with delicious mashed potatoes and crunchy vegetables. I had the pan-seared scallops and shrimp, both perfectly seared, served with rice and the same crispy vegetables. I have to admit, I kept stealing spoonfuls of the rich lamb sauce from David’s plate to drizzle over my rice. It was absolutely delicious.
We were too full for dessert, even though they all looked tempting. David had made the reservation several weeks ago and mentioned it was my birthday because suddenly i heard birthday music playing while our waiter surprised me with a bowl of ice cream topped with a sparkler. It was such a thoughtful touch.
Our waiter was wonderfully personable. We mentioned to send our compliments to the chef, and he laughed and said, “Oh, I can’t tell him that—then he’ll want more money!” It gave us all a good laugh.
To finish the evening, he brought us complimentary passion fruit Rhum shots, along with a small carafe if we wanted more. It was a lovely, breezy night, making for a very comfortable outdoor dinner experience .
We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and will definitely be back.
A 15% service charge was added to the bill.
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Beware "iVisa Scam"
TJTrippe
07/21/2026 08:43 AM
looking for sxm entry and began filling this out luckily all they got was email address.
i looked and been mentioned here before but we fell for it ALMOST anyway.
been badgered since by emails to finish
SXM should do something to shut this down
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Trip Report Orient Village
Jim_Laraine
07/20/2026 04:38 PM
We had an outstanding trip to SXM from June 23 to July 7.
Getting there:
Our nonstop back and forth flights on United from Dulles IAD were happily uneventful, but with full flights each way. Getting through security at Dulles for our trip to SXM was a pain since TSA screening didn’t open till 5:30 am and TSA Pre-Check was not available. I can’t believe that this is normal since they had to hold flights for people. Since our flight was not leaving until 8:15 am this was just a minor issue for us. In and out of PJIA was a breeze both ways.
Accommodations:
We stayed at a lovely condo, Ti-Paradise in Residence Alamada right behind the Orient Village restaurant circle. The pool was right outside our bottom floor unit and the beach right across the sandy road. $2200 total for the two week stay was a nice deal since everything to do with the studio was perfect and Thomas, the host, was meticulous and very responsive. The water stayed on for the whole trip but the power did go out for one hour in the early morning. Guess this might have been load shedding.
Getting Around:
Traffic was not much of a problem. We used Google Maps which worked quite well for choosing routes. Stupid scooter and motorcycle tricks provided the usual stress and annoyance. Driving back from the Dutch side at night was nice with no traffic, but there always seems to be someone riding right on your tail with headlights blinding you. I finally started disabling the rear view by tilting it up to minimize the distraction and stress. (Hey most trucks don’t have rear view mirrors)
We rented our standard issue Toyota Corolla from Hertz ($460 for 2 weeks including 3rd party liability). The car was a bit scratched up but otherwise fine, so I just documented the condition with a video. We always cover the collision with our credit card. (We have had to use the collision on a past trip and it worked perfectly with no expense to us.)
Paying for Stuff:
We brought a bunch of cash but we ended up using a credit card for almost all purchases. (Based on input from our TTOL friends) Our Fidelity Card gives us 2% cash back on everything, has no foreign transaction fees and has a very favorable exchange rate on the French side.
Shopping:
Super U in Hope Estates was our primary spot for provisioning with good prices for food and wine. We also found that the Petite Casino market in Orient Village prices were not significantly more than the big markets so we ended up going there more as the trip progressed. They also had fresh baguettes and pastries every morning.
We did not do a lot of serious shopping on this trip, but we did pick up a few items at Blanc du nil on Front Street. A stop at Juggies for a few milkless chocolate milkshakes was in order along with a dose of Juggie’s BS. Laraine donated a bra to hang from the ceiling which generates a donation from Juggie to breast cancer research. Some beach towels, shirts, a Christmas ornament and a windchime were grabbed as well.
Family Visit:
Our daughter, her husband and our granddaughter arrived on the gargantuan Star of the Seas while we were on the island. We picked them up outside the cruise terminal and took them to Sunset Beach Bar to watch some planes come and go while they jumped in the water. From there we were going to take them to Front Street for some shopping but the parking lot at Bobby's Marina was full so we scrubbed the shopping. Plan B was a nice lunch at Chesterfields before dropping them back at the ship.
Beaches:
Some seaweed was around, but not objectionable on any of the usual beaches that we frequent. There was quite a bit around the Pinel Ferry terminal in Cul de Sac but the Ferry seemed to be running. We did not visit Pinel on this trip but we heard that the beach was clean. We stopped for a drink at the Dawn Beach Westin pool bar which is a nice (expensive) place but their waterfront was nasty and unusable due to the seaweed.
Rocks were a drawback in the Orient Beach water. It seems that erosion has uncovered rough coral type rocks several inches in diameter. The south Club O end of Orient beach was basically not swimmable for us without water shoes (We picked up good water shoes at the Shipwreck Shop for $25) . You could walk into the water up to your knees but the rocky area extended from there out for about another 5 to 10 feet. Beyond that it was fine. Some people seemed to have some success floating over the area to get back and forth to the deeper water. The beach around Aloha / Le String / Orange Fever was a bit better but not great. We did not get in the water in the Bikini Beach area so I’m not sure about the rock situation there. Hopefully this is a temporary situation with shifting sand.
Beach chairs were $30 for the day at Club O beach but you can bring your own and just rent an umbrella for $8. We did this one day (since we had chairs in the condo) but decided it was not worth the effort. On the return trips we just paid the $30 (and provided a few drinks for the chair guys). July 4th was a hoot on a packed Club O beach with a DJ and Cedrick overseeing the festivities. That was the only time the beach was crowded.
Friars Bay (978), Little Bay (Divi) beaches were all good for swimming. We did not get to Mullet and we saw that there was hardly any sand at Maho with large rocks. We did not swim on Simpson Bay or Great Bay but they looked ok.
One day was spent at Le String on Orient. John and the staff were wonderful and chairs and umbrellas were free since we had lunch and a number of drinks. Trigger fish was great for lunch.
We also had a relaxing afternoon at 978 on Friars Bay. The staff there are very nice and accommodating. We had good burgers for lunch and a bottle of pinot gris. They charge $20 for two chairs and an umbrella. It was a Tuesday so Friars Bay Beach Cafe was closed and we’ve always found the people at Calis to be very rude.
We were looking for something different on our last full day and Laraine saw something on line about the Little Divi Resort having day passes available. It turned out that no day pass was required. We drove in and told the gate guard that we wanted to check out the restaurant and he said no problem. We had an excellent chicken caesar salad and wine at the beachfront restaurant / bar and then rented two beach chairs and an umbrella for $15 total. This turned out to be a home run. There was no problem with bringing a cooler on the beach but we opted to get drinks from the beach bar.
Dining:
Dining is not our strong suit. We end up many times just sharing a combination of appetizers or a main course. But nonetheless….
Bamboo House - wins the prize for ambiance up on the mountain, we had a couple of appetizers which were decent. Good happy hour from 5 to 7pm at the bar. We did valet parking for $10 or you can park at Carefour and take a shuttle up the hill. (Not sure how you get the shuttle)
Sint Maarten Yacht club was a treat for breakfast with eggs benedict and bloody marys. For lunch we had beef carpaccio and jerk chicken salad which were wonderful. Our kids had given us a gift card for the SMYC which covered everything. Anna, Brian and the staff are all great!
La Trattoria in Orient Village - nice ambiance, pizza and chicken parmesan were all very good with several return trips for us.
Favela in Orient Village - nice ambiance, we just had an appetizer which was fair but not really enough to make a recommendation.
Rancho del Sol - amazing ambiance, pizza and salad were excellent along with a bottle of pinot gris. Peacocks walk around the tables looking for donations.
Chesterfields - Several nice visits here. Fried grouper was yummy. Shrimp fettuccine was good as well but very rich.
Mango Cafe Orient Village - we had several breakfasts here, bagels and lox were great. The avocado egg toast was nicely done.
The Perch Lite - Drinks and lunches were excellent and very reasonable. Tuna salad, chicken caesar, chicken club sandwiches were all great.
Cynthia’s Lolo Grand Case - Ribs, beans and rice, mac and cheese were all good with some to take home.
Calmos Cafe - nice ambiance, tapas were good.
La Bomba - Boardwalk Philipsburg - had a good burger and fries.
Music:
Rendezvous Cafe Cupecoy - Sunday afternoon jazz 1pm to 4pm is not to be missed. Ronnie Santan, Alfredo and others with a female vocalist.
Three Angle Cafe Simpson Bay - Ronnie Santana and Lee Hardesty, great music and it gave us the opportunity to hang out with some of our SXM US Expat friends.
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