OK, the BEST place is to stay at Beachside Villas! But, other than that, there are several options. Mary's Boon, Karakter and El Zafiro are probably the top contenders.

My personal opinion is that the food at Karakter is the best. A couple of years ago, they were the best by a LONG shot. With regard to spending the day on the beach, Karakter has the reputation for kind of jamming people close together on the beach. When we go there, we just go for lunch and the situation on the beach doesn't concern us.

If you look at the comments here on Mary's Boon, opinions vary widely on the food and service there. Personally, I find the food at Mary's Boon to be decent, not gourmet, not as good as Karakter, but I've always had decent service there. They don't jam people in on the beach there though. If I wanted to spend the day on the beach, I would probably choose Mary's Boon.

As far as El Zafiro, I don't care for it, although many like it. IF there is a ship in on the day you are going, be aware that in the past, they have done cruise ship excursions there, so you don't want to be there for that. Absent that situation, the chairs are not jammed in close together there at all. IF there is a seaweed problem on Simpson Bay Beach, which is pretty rare, there will be an issue with seaweed there. As far as the food there, we have eaten there twice and were much less than impressed both times. Most people are happy with the service there.