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Sunny skies return - trip journal fabila 1 hour ago What a turnaround in the weather today!

We started the morning with breakfast at the SMYC—Bloody Marys and eggs Benedict for me, and French toast for the guys. Always a great way to ease into the day.

The sunshine was intense but perfect for beach and pool time. We spent most of the day soaking it up, alternating between the ocean and the pool. By mid-afternoon, we were ready for a break from the heat and headed over to check out the new observation deck at Driftwood. It’s a great spot for plane watching—we saw several smaller aircraft come in, but the highlight was definitely watching an Air France departure right over the beach. Incredible view, and I managed to get some great video. We were told the owner is planning to add bathrooms, which will be a welcome addition, though no timeline yet.

Dinner was at La Perle Bleu, and it did not disappoint. We initially parked on the lower street, only to realize there’s more convenient parking up the hill right near the entrance—worth noting if you’d rather skip the stairs or elevator.

We chose to sit on their outdoor patio deck, where the seating was very comfortable. The interior is beautifully decorated with lots of blue tones, while the outdoor space leans more neutral but is still nicely done. Service was warm and attentive throughout the evening.

We were served a complimentary amuse-bouche to start—a tasty creamy pumpkin soup with bread, which set the tone nicely. The chicken nem appetizer came with a salad and a bold dipping sauce. It was different than most I’ve had and this version wasn’t my favorite.(Also worth noting: there’s a Haitian menu available in addition to the French fusion menu.)

For mains, two in our group had the GRILLED RIBEYE 350GR WITH BÉARNAISE SAUCE with fries and a nice mix of vegetables—broccoli, carrots, green beans, and cauliflower. The Steak is “market price” and tonight it was $45. Both enjoyed their steaks.

David ordered the lamb shank, which was very tender and served with the same vegetables plus mashed potatoes—he really enjoyed it.

I went with the Thai-style beef teriyaki, served in a bowl with vegetables and jasmine rice on the side. The portion was generous, and the sauce had a strong flavor that I liked.

Overall, we really enjoyed the food, service, and atmosphere. A service charge was included on the bill, but we did leave an additional tip.

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Kalos Restaurant last night AUCspouse 1 hour ago We had an excellent meal at Kalos Restaurant last night. My wife and I ordered about 6 appetizers to share instead of any main dishes.
All the food was prepared with attention to flavor and presentation, although one or two of the dishes were examples of a chef's unnecessary creativity. (I'm thinking of the spanakopita salad -- basically a deconstructed spanakopita consisting of raw spinach salad topped with flaky thin pastry squares, with a light dressing and feta cheese. Tasty, but not as tasty as traditional spanakopita.)

When all was said and done, we both agreed that it was an excellent meal. The roasted red pepper dish was particularly tasty. The pita bread was fresh (and that is surprisingly rare at restaurants). We also had a shrimp appetizer, a raw snapper appetizer, and Greek roasted potatoes. Service was attentive and fast (although there was one error -- removing one diner's plates while the other diner was still eating, which isn't right).

We had a nice table looking over the beach. Summary: one of the best restaurant meals we've had in months.

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New Blind Creek Beach Lot Review TJTrippe Yesterday at 07:36 PM Beautiful Wednesday at 79 degrees, nice breeze out of the south and the lot was at most a 33% filled at 1130am.

I think they put a dent in peoples habits as a nice day like today should draw more.

It is paved and smooth and you can tell it’s a beach park now, before it was more easy to drive by unnoticed. I see zero increased parking capacity, maybe negative.

And they put the potties right on A1A when you drive in so have to walk at least 150 feet or more to tinkle and brink your flip flops for hot blacktop.

You can see the potty doors from A1A, so not much hope of walking au naturelle someday to the potties.

The lot is smooth but it has lost some jungle naturist charm.

Will report again on a weekend if we go.

THEY PAVED PARADISE AND PUT UP A PARKING LOT.

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Police controls set up at Festival Village SXMScubaman Yesterday at 05:24 PM Good for them.
LINK

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Grand Case/ Phillipsburg TOWZERONE Yesterday at 05:24 PM any recommendations for a place with good reasonably priced food with stellar views in both of these locations?
Thanks

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Orient - Beach Bars paul2pam Yesterday at 04:12 PM Starting at the Perch, what are the names of the beach bars heading up the beach and ending at Coco.

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SWA Scott80 Yesterday at 02:18 PM Has anyone flown or does anyone have any news on the new Southwest Airlines route? We are arriving from Houston on May 27th.

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Heavy Rain fabila Yesterday at 12:00 PM The weather didn’t cooperate today—it poured through the night and well into the morning. By midday, the rain tapered off to a light sprinkle, but by then it didn’t feel worth heading to the pool. Instead, it turned into a mellow, easygoing day spent catching up with friends and enjoying good conversation.

We kept things simple with breakfast and lunch on-site. By late afternoon, three more friends arrived, and that set the tone for the evening. We had made a reservation at JAX’s, which, of all the restaurants we’ve visited on this trip, is definitely the one that requires planning ahead. We actually got turned away there earlier in the week, and another night our friends could only grab seats at the bar—which, as we learned, is also something you can (and probably should) reserve since it’s so popular.

David and I split a Caesar salad ($17) to start. It was pretty standard—nothing wrong with it, but nothing that stood out either. They did offer to add anchovies, which I said yes to, though it ended up being just two small ones. Overall, it was fine, but not memorable, and for the price, not something I’d order again.

David ordered the short ribs, which were incredibly tender and served over mashed potatoes with grilled vegetables. Most of the dishes came with a mix of broccoli and carrots, all a bit too garlicky.

I went with the petite filet mignon (6 oz), paired with whipped potatoes and béarnaise sauce. The steak was ordered medium; it came out slightly more done than that but still had a hint of pink. It was so flavorful it didn’t need any extra seasoning—the kitchen had already done it justice. The whipped potatoes were just as satisfying. At $47, it felt like a solid choice, especially since the 8 oz option would have been more than I needed.

We really enjoyed our dinners and would recommend it—especially if you’re in the mood for a good steak, a comfortable air-conditioned setting, and a classic steakhouse atmosphere with great service.

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Flamingo is replacing beach sand SXMScubaman Yesterday at 01:12 AM Was on a zoom owners meeting this morning. Was told they are in the process of replacing the beach sand with a finer powdery sand. I'll be there inspecting May 9. Woohoo.

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Trip Report Part 2 - April 6 - 11, 2026 lhbsurf 04/14/2026 10:19 AM We moved to a small villa/studio in Les Terres Basses which we have stayed in several times before and love - feels almost like home! It is convenient, beautiful, and allows us to miss the traffic most all of the time. We restocked at Maho Market after briefly dropping our luggage off. We realized we needed chairs and called to see if Lesley at Kenny's Car Rental had any. In fact he did - we rented them for a very small weekly fee - and he met us at Porto Cupecoy to bring them to us. This is the reason we only rent from Lesley - he is always so helpful and makes everything SO convenient for us!! We forgot adapters and this lodging didn't have any. We searched at the Carrefour in Cole Bay, a small hardware store, and the huge Ace hardware - no luck. Ernie did have one for his CPAP, so we just had to rotate charging during the day when he wasn't using it. Don't forget them - they're hard to find!!! Distilled water was impossible to find - luckily he uses a travel version that doesn't need the distilled water.

We ended up having to come home 5 days early due to my step-father entering hospice care - we were fortunate to secure a same day Delta ticket on Saturday. (A quick conversation with Lesley and everything was rearranged for car rental drop off as well!) I dreaded the airport and it was very crowded, but I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly they were able to move the crowds through all the lines we encountered at the Delta check in, entry gate, security and passport clearance. Less than 45 minutes from check-in to gate.

We still were able to hit a few of our favorites:

Baie Rouge, probably my favorite beach on the island. Not crowded, but had plenty of families around. The water was calm, blue, and gorgeous.

Baie Longue, pretty quiet, still a few families around, but as always unless you walk a down the beach a while, entry into the water is impossible due to rocks. With beach chairs and umbrella shade, it was an enjoyable day. We came back with a bottle of Rose and glasses for sunset. It was delightful with a few families, dogs, and couple of guys quietly singing and playing their guitars sitting beside us. I think it was the only sunset of our trip where we saw the sun touch the water - lots of clouds on the horizon this time!

Plum Bay, biggest surprised of the trip. I have read so many accounts of people being robbed here and observed on previous trips to this beach that it was almost always deserted - I didn't take my phone and no wallets, only $20 for an emergency. When we got down there around 10:30am, the small beach was packed with families - about 25-30 people in various groups. There was a little seaweed, but the grassy kind, not sargassum. It was a nice beach day, as we happened to put our chair near a good, easy spot to enter the water. We decided to come back for sunset and again found several people enjoying the beach. My guess it is a combination of more villa/condos in Les Terres Basses and the sargassum situation at other beaches that encourage people to seek out alternate beaches - but I am not sure. It was convenient to our villa and beautiful.

With all the distractions from home, I got very few pictures. We ate dinners out and had sandwiches most days for lunch, except a lunch at Cupecoy from Dany one day. We enjoyed French Cocotte, Mr. Chow (ate at the bar at he Oasis), Altro, Pineapple Pete's, and another night back at the Oasis, where we had an eclectic combo of nigiri sushi for appetizer and pizza from Roma for entree! We got the meat lovers and it was good but very salty (I think due to the ham), we'd probably pick a different pizza next time. We enjoyed all meals and were sad to postpone to next trip our plans for Le Cottage, Jai's, Spaghetti House, and a return to JAX.

I did take a few more pictures posted below. Now just trying to decide our timing for next year's trip!

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