Wow! Thank you all so much for the wonderful suggestions!
Would love to try many of your suggestions for meals & excursions but we're budget travelers. Flights & stays in both San Juan & St Martin are all on points except Winair which is a $400 splurge. When we get to travel, we try to keep our total expenses to $100/day so, after Winair & car rentals, we'll have around $100-200 for food/drinks/fun on StMartin. We'll probably stay on the all inclusive property for food/drinks with only a few small exceptions.
I just confirmed with Lesley (you didn't tell me his middle name was Elvis!) with Kenny's. $180 total for a 4 night rental. Told him we're at Secrets & he put us in a Nissan Versa. He seems great!
Here's our plan so far:
Friday:
- Arrive 2:30p
- Get car
- Stop at Sunset Bar & watch the the cruise ship crowd for an hour (this is the only day of our trip with a ship on StM)
- Check in @ Secrets, Stay on site for dinner
Saturday:
- Best weather forecast of our 4 night stay so we'll explore the island most all day
- Window shopping in Phillipsburg
- Mullet Beach, maybe a drink @ Rosie's or DaWateringHole if we want real bathrooms
- Maho again if we want to experience the fun when it's less crowded (no ships today) Maybe try Driftwood
- Will probably drive to Pinel & take some pictures for my blog
Sunday:
- Secrets all day
- Weather says "PM Showers"
Monday:
- no plans yet
- Weather says "Showers"
Tuesday:
- SXM-BNA 2pm so probably just a lazy morning @ the resort before we head to airport
@chuckval thx for the FlightRadar tip
@Carol_Hill thx for the Winair & all your other tips
I've got a few more questions if you'll indulge me.
Will we easily (& cheaply) be able to buy sunscreen & a small pair of scissors at a market when we arrive? Something like a 7/11 store?
Are bugs a problem? Do we need to buy insect repellant?
Do we need to plan around the weather forecasts of "Showers" & "PM Showers" or will any rain showers pass pretty quickly?
We're both vaccinated US citizens. It looks like we just need to fil out the EHAS form & pay $15 insurance with no test required, right? Does it matter that we're arriving from San Juan, PR?
Finally, some of you seem to love pictures & reviews. I promise to share lots of pictures here & I'll have a full post on my blog a couple weeks after our trip.
