CUR trip continued- We stayed at Piscadera Harbor Village and rented a 2 BR condo with an absolutely amazing sunset views over the ocean! PHV is located north-west(?) of Williamstadt about 8-10 kilometers. We figured it was close enough to eat downtown and head up the coast to the amazing beaches, which were 10-20 kilometers depending on which beach. This is a relatively new development but has fallen on hard times(so if anyone has a bunch of money it is for sale!). The units were clean and wonderful; were cleaned during 3 times during our stay; sliding ceiling-to-floor windows looking over the bay and ocean; a gate with a guard during the evening; fully equipped kitchens. Only had 3 head scratching quirks. #1 the only TV was in one of the bedrooms #2 this same room had an elliptical exercise machine (which we totally ignored) and # 3 it did not have a turner in the kitchen to turn our eggs. BUT it did have a coffee machine and a fantastic blender to make our pina coladas for our beach trips!! Every time we grumbled about the turner we looked at the views and instantly forgot about the turner. LOL

Head scratching observations- The main industry of the island is a HUGE oil refining complex and IF the wind is blowing the wrong way it is VERY noticeable. This industry makes the island pretty independent of cruise-ship type tourism. The other observation is that on the beach, English is rarely heard! It is usually Dutch, Spanish or the local language. It's been a long time since we felt like.. well....a tourist in a foreign country. LOL

Beaches-all had similar characteristics.They were coves with tall cliffs, clear clear blue water with excellent snorkeling, small rocks going into the water. Most had shade (umbrellas and such). Places to eat, rest rooms, showers and admittance charges varied from beach to beach. One beach that did stand out from the rest was Playa Grandi. What made it truly unique was the green sea turtles! Apparently fishermen cleaned there daily catch and thru the heads in the bay and this brought in the turtles in. Standing on the peir I saw 4 at a time and one of them was 3 feet in diameter. Of course there was a flock of snorkelers swimming all around them. Other beaches claim, or may actually have turtles, but there was no hunting for them at this beach!