This is my 4th land visit to St Maarten and I always find new reasons to love the island even more!! As a background I am 31 and my husband of 8 years is 32. We have no children and have traveled extensively (for our age) in the Caribbean. I was a travel agent for almost 10 years!!

Flights: We flew US Airways thru Philadelphia and had no problems. Our flight down on a Friday was full and our flight back on a Wednesday was only about half full. Customs was fast and our bags were received in a reasonable time.

Car Rental: In the past we have rented from Thrifty and had no problems. This time we rented from Ace/Safari and again had no problems. We got the standard i10 in white. We planned ahead and got an antenna ball to put on our car. Otherwise it can be hard to identify your car from all the other white economy cars. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" /> We did have to have Ace come and jump our car one day because we left the lights on. We get so used to our automatic lights and always forget on vacation. It took about 45 minutes to come out and they jumped our car without a major lecture.

Hotels: For the first week we stayed at the Royal Palm Beach. It was a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom unit with a full kitchen and a great view. There was only my husband and myself so this is way more space than we needed. It was nice to have the 2nd bathroom though. It is a great location and you can walk to just about anything. The pool was very nice with a gradual slope and a great temperature. It did become crowded with kids in the late afternoon but hey I used to be a kid once too.
For the last 5 days we stayed at Sol Hotel in Oyster Pond. This is a small hotel with limited amenities but it was fantastic! Our room was a studio setup with a small kitchenette. There was also a great barbeque by the pool that you can use. The pool was nice with beautiful landscaping and you can see the boats in the marina below. It is only a block from Captain Oliver’s so you can walk to several restaurants and bars. Very reasonable prices!!

Beaches: We visited Maho/Sunset Beach Bar and it never gets old watching the newbies being blown into the water when the 747 takes off. Hehehe… We went to Cupecoy for the first time. I always heard it was rough water and little sand but the day we went it was great. It is a nice escape when the winds are battering Orient. The day we went it was about 75% nude. Snorkeling at Dawn Beach was good but the current can be a concern for some. Start by the Dawn Beach Club and float down. The water clarity was amazing the day we went. Orient was really good this trip. We escaped the strong winds that were there the week before. I won’t go to Orient now if it is blowing more that 10mph. Just not worth getting windblown!

Activities: We went on Peggy and Paul’s around the island trip for the first time. It was a little rough but fun. I just wish we had more beach time. It is great to see all these wonderful beaches by sea and I just which we had time to stop at all of them!! We also rented kayaks and made our way to Pinel. What a great day. It is a bit of a trek to get over against the current but worth it! On the way back we stopped at the sandbar and had a beer from our cooler. Nothing better than drinking a beer on a sandbar!!

Restaurants/Happy Hours: We love to cook on vacation so I don’t have a lot to add here. My favorite happy hour in Simpson Bay area was at the yacht club. I loved watching the mega yachts come in for the 5:30 bridge opening. My favorite happy hour in Oyster Pond was at OBBR and 25 cent or 50 cent Coronas. No more explanation is needed. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cheers.gif" alt="" /> We ate at Pineapple Pete’s and were underwhelmed. I would try it again but I would try something else. We also ate at Dinghy Dock Bar and it was good. What I would expect from a dock bar. Lunches were generally chicken shacks or pizza at Orient. Nothing really special but all were really good. For those that do like to cook we still find Maho Market to be the easiest, best selection, and most reasonable market for us.

I miss St Maarten already!!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" />