I tried to keep it short, but I feel it's a must for those who look for info preparing for the trip. Your trip reports have been very helpful to me so I hope mine will help somebody, too.
Uneventful direct flights on Jet Blue JFK-SXM. Slight delays departing, but no big deal. Direct flights rock.
We rented from a company that is not a board sponsor, so it'll remain unnamed. No problem whatsoever except that we got a 15% tax and a $15 fee added to the final bill that we were not told about at the time of booking. Let it slide.
Phone chip from Sharon for an unlocked iPhone 3Gs, worked great. I got about 5 calls from a cable company though, somebody that previously had my number must have a cable company problem.
A bit of history: this was our 3rd trip on SXM, the previous 2 being around New Year's '07 and '08. Haven't had vacation since and we were both exausted, so sand gravity did a number on us. All our plans of going there and doing that were dismissed with only pale regret. The only planned thing I did was to take a lot of pictures because our previous trips have very few to show.
2nd time renting at Nettle Bay Beach Club, this time a studio. While very nice studio and lovely hosts, I highly recommend the ground floor apartments. Or at least make sure the studio has a full-size fridge and separate bathroom. I have to say I like that place, call me crazy. It's quiet and while the beach is not the greatest, it's not bad for a quick dip. This time we stayed at the west end of the beach and there is a quite large area of access to the water. A bit of seagrass close to the shore, but not annoying at all. (see pictures)
No comparison to my love, Mullet beach. Went twice to Mullet, twice to Orient, once to Baie Rouge. On Orient we stopped at Bikini Beach once and La Playa the other. We didn't eat on the beach, so nothing to report there. 2 Chairs and umbrella $20 at La Playa and $15 at Bikini.
Despite the plans we had, no Pinel, no Dawn, no nothing else. Both times leaving Orient there was a check point, we weren't stopped.
Surprised to see the arch over the Devil's Hole at Baie Rouge gone.
Mullet beach, lovely as ever but the second day very crowded (Wednesday, I guess cruise ship day).
And talk about crowded, for us was an almost surreal experience to see so few fellow travelers. A visit to West Indies Mall made us feel like intruders - there was no one there but us 2. (see pictures) Can't say we didn't enjoy it but it also felt a bit weird. The Dutch side a bit more tourist-y, but not by much. Went one evening to Pineapple Pete for a coffee and a beer respectively, loved the band that was playing, but we were tired so we didn't stay long.
Food and the great US Market vs. Grand Marche debate.
One of our pleasures is to stock up on cheese and pate, wine and fruit at the market and munch at home. Prices are almost the same with a slight up at US Market by the draw bridge (definitely not 25% more, although that might be the case at the one on the road to Orient Bay), however, they have the best selection of pate and cheese. I also found US Market is a bit run down. And what happened to the bakery? they used to have distinctively good baguettes. Not that we'll complain about Sarafina's or La Sucriere's. Even the bakery close to NBBC had very good pastries and breads.
Selection wise, Grand Marche wins hands down. They also have good sales. Fresh anchovies, boudin noir, Le Felicien and St. Marcellin, crotin de chevre, etc... all on sale at Grand Marche.
We didn't make it to Yvette's and neither to the Ma Doudou shack, but we bought the latter at the supermarket. Problem is, should have bought more, I miscalculated the number of friends at home. No matter what, I'm not giving away my 2 bottles - a Guavaberry and a Orange-ginger. Tried the former and it reminds me a lot of the sour-cherry liqueur my mom used to make, just with a rum flavor (my mom's was vodka based). Love it, as much as we're not big drinkers.
Other things I always stock up on when in SXM have been shower gels and soap. Didn't buy one soap, but got a couple of shower gels. Our landlady is hooked on the Ushuaia Ylang and got Le Petit Marseillais in Lilac for me and my SIL. Planned on getting much more but was distracted by the beach and palms. Really didn't feel like shopping, and spent a as little as possible time in the supermaket, also.
We bought much more food than we were able and willing to eat. I haven't even finished the first Etna ice-cream so I can try another flavor.
At the Marigot market we bought fantastic, huge, Alonso mangoes, 3 for $5. Really, really delicious. Also, tomatoes for $5/kilo (try 20 euros in the supermarket!!!) that were much better than I expected. 8 perfect passion fruits for $2. Lovely ripe baby bananas for $2. Watermelon from GM was disappointing, but the cantaloupe was divine.
Eating out has a very short list: Talk of the Town ribs and chicken, good as always. Rosemary's, the same. Pastries and gelato at Sarafina's, very good - the raspberry ice-cream much better than the pistachio. While at Mullet I got once the ribs and chicken at Rosie's, and once only fries. I know they're frozen from the bag, but she gets them right and while they're hot they're really good.
For my husband's birthday we were way to lazy to go far, so we decided on Mario's Bistro - it showed a lot of good reviews on Tripadvisor. The bouillabaisse was disappointing, but the starters were really good. Were it half the price, I wouldn't mind the missteps with the former but as is, not worth it, wish I had 2 starters and would have been much happier. If you care about the subject, I described for each picture pretty much what was wrong.
And the way too much mentioned pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/loladear/sets/72157630168002420/All in all a great vacation, I just wish it was longer than 8 days that felt like 3.
Again, thank you all for your help, kindness and patience.
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