Just some personal thoughts, for what they may be worth, if anything....

We (2 50-some baby booomers) had a wonderful seven days/six nights on SXM, arriving Thurs, Dec 2, from CLT; leaving Wed, Dec 8, to CLT. The flights went well and we faced very short lines and a very easy time both arriving and leaving the airport.

We had been considering a trip to SXM for some time. We have been to SXM about ten times as a port of call on a cruise, but until this trip had never stayed on the island. I was checking Expedia and some other sites this spring. When the price seemed really good for a stay at Cap Caraibes, which had gotten some good reviews, I decided to ask Sandy Molloy, Molloy Travel, if she could beat the price I had seen. She was able to lower the price, plus provide transportation to and from airport; not to mention the bottle of wine in the room (thanks, again, Sandy). Dealing with Sandy did cause us to stay one more night than originally contemplated, but I suppose I will forgive her that - maybe if she gets me another good deal... I heartily recommend Sandy to anyone.

We had thought about a rental car for at least some of days but I decided not to do anything until we were there. As things worked out, we did not need or want a car. Other than one trip to Phillipsburg for shopping and dinner, we very happily stayed on Orient, but for boat rides to Pinel, Green Cay, and Tintamarre. For the one cab ride to Phillipsburg, we just did the $5 per person van thing from Pedro's with cruise pax. Getting back proved more challenging, but worked out OK. After shopping, we made a deal with a driver to meet in front of Courthouse at 6:45 for return after dinner at Greenhouse - he quoted the standard $18 fare - I probably should have offered him more at time. He stood us up. We didn't mind too much because we sat and chatted with a very nice woman who, it turned out,sold timeshares for a living. She laughed at my look of horror when learning what she did and told me not to worry, she was done for the day. After we had waited about one-half hour, she took out her cell phone and tried calling some drivers she knew, to try to get us a ride. She could not get anyone, so she then called over a police officer and told him that he needed to get us a cab. It was not clear that he thought this assignment part of his job at the time, but she made it clear that it was. He said he would get us a driver, but that if he did, we HAD TO take the specific cab he arranged. We agreed. He then called someone on his hand held radio and got them to send a cab. He told us we should pay $20 (not sure if he promised them that or was just expressing opinion that we should tip $2) - I told him that was great and really appreciated his help. The driver he had arranged showed up quickly and he got us back fine. The driver had his wife and a grandchild with him and it was a fun ride back. I gave him $22.

While in Phillipsburg, among other places, we went into DK Gems for the first time. I had my TTOL hat on which of course immediately marked me as a very discriminating and very important customer. Not sure I was able to maintain the strong start - the fact that I know absolutely nothing about jewelry except that my wife likes it and it costs more than a beer is all too apparent. Deepti greeted us warmly despite the hat. Although I recognized her from pictures I had seen of her online, I asked if she was the famous Deepti and she admitted that she was. Like all of the SXM folks who have gotten very good press on TTOL, Deepti deserved her PR. She kept offering us drinks and was very informative, while being low key. We did not buy much, a couple small items, but she and the others all treated us as VIP's. If and when my wife decides to splurge big-time, I would have no problem trusting them. Even if we could do as good on price at home, buying the pieces there makes them special.

While speaking of SXM folks with good press on TTOL, there are Andy and Cheryl of Baywatch. Like the situation with Deepti, I had to wonder before meeting them if they could be as good as advertised - no need to wonder, they are. We only exchanged a few words with Cheryl on the 3rd at the TTOL party (great job by the hosts), but she was able to make a very favorable impression on us. Andy - well, I think he is just Andy. We had our first significant chance to see him in action on Tuesday morning at breakfast, when he was really grumpy because no one was showing up for work and his cell phone was not working right. Even grumpy, he was a great host and funny as can be. Wednesday morning at breakfast, our last morning on the island, we were beginning to feel like regulars. I can see why Baywatch gets the compliments it does. The only real complaints I heard were the real regulars complaining about how he was not open for dinner in the evenings. He was not very sympathetic to them, by the way.

We spent a substantial amount of time snorkelling. Our first day we got the Dolphin Watersports guys (at CO) to take us over to Pinel. $18 per person round trip. We had never been to Pinel before and wanted to check it out. I quickly learned that there was no sensible way to walk from Cap Caraibes to the ferry to Pinel, so to do the ferry we would have to take a taxi first, then the ferry. The water taxi was much easier and worked out great. We did not think the snorkelling at Pinel was as good as Green Cay or Tintamarre - but, it was enjoyable and we may not have hit the best spots there. We snorkelled at the main spot twice. In between, we had a very nice lunch at the Yellow Beach restaurant. Did not expect much, but when the food came, we remembered that this was FRANCE, and food is almost always good. Perhaps the two shots they gave me at the end without any separate charge influenced my ultimate opinion. A foursome from New Jersey was at the table right next to ours during lunch and their conversation and joking around made things more fun. Their waitress first brought two of them a good sized lobster to share, but they then asked for a bigger one. Then, the chef went out to the cage and brought back the biggest lobster I have ever seen. The only concern remaining was whether there was enough butter on the island. After lunch, we walked to the other side of Pinel, being reminded by a nice young woman at the bar off the beach flying the Jolly Roger to go left to the best beach "over there." In our brief conversation, she also warned us that there could be nude people over there - we of course expressed our shock and dismay at such goings on. When we got over to the beach, we just saw three guys hanging out, a rocky beach, a rough surf, and nothing to cause us to stay there. It did not seem worth trying to snorkle off. So, we just went back to the main snorkel spot for another swim. After that, we just hung out on the main beach briefly, before the guys showed up exactly at the agreed time to run us back to CO.

After hanging out at CO, we walked back to Cap Caraibes, going through the village and getting some food for dinner and the next breakfast at the Tap 5 minimart. I digress again or still - Tap 5 had great bagettes and some other things, but in general we thought the Boutique at CO was better stocked and much nicer. The Boutique may be slightly more expensive but not much difference, if any, in what we bought, I do not think. Couple things, e.g. yogurt, were cheaper at Boutique. The staff at the Boutique seemed very nice. The folks at Tap 5 were fine, but they did not seem as helpful. When my wife decided to buy a shirt and pareo combo at the Boutique Tuesday night before we ate at Papagayo's, the sales clerk could not have been nicer. I actually was a little surprised at how friendly all the staff with whom we interacted at CO were. The fact that we were not staying there seemed to make no difference to them whatever. We met one of the security guys our first day there while waiting to go over to Pinel. He was very friendly. Every day after that (and we spent practically all our time on Orient at CO), he remembered us and greeted us in a very friendly way. The bartender at the Perch (from the Netherlands?) was very nice. (I am not social enough to have learned any names.)The only one who seemed to need a little bit of a happiness pill was the Watersports "boss." Even he, however, by the last of our four times doing something with Watersports (he was there for last three) warmed up and was telling me that I should make our plans made for our next trip before leaving, so as to be able to leave in happier mood. I think the fact that he could not find any of his employees (the guys who actually took us on the water taxis) one morning for about a half-hour after he had expected them to finish with the umbrellas did not improve his disposition that day.

The four times at Watersports referred to above were one time to Pinel and three times to Green Cay. We probably spent over 12 hours on Green Cay - the majority of it all to ourselves. That's got to be some kind of record for a couple tourists spending six nights on SXM. We think the snorkelling there is about as good as it gets, at least that is so easy to get to. We did the water taxi $12 per person round trip twice and one day rented a kayak ($12 per hour) to paddle over. The kayak was fun but it did seem like a dangerous approach to the line of actual work, so we had to stop. The great advantage of the boat is that they jump out when you get there and set up an umbrella for you at no extra charge. My wife loves snorkelling more than I - she actually knows the names of most of the flora and fauna, unlike me. I really liked getting the umbrella set up. We of course brought water, drinks, lunch food, and snacks with us to Green Cay as nothing is there. We really were surprised at how few people came to Green Cay. I do not think we were ever alone on Green Cay when going over on ports or call visits. Our last day on Green Cay, there were 3 young (20's) couples there when we arrived, but they did not stay long. I think we scared them away. They had come over in kayaks, however, and had nothing with them so they were not going to last too long, anyway. After they left, there was no one else there for the next two hours or so. Really nice to have your own island!

On Monday, we did the Tiko Tiko. I know some of you whose opinions I value think it overpriced, but particularly given location and how easy it was, I thought it would be well worth it and it turned out that way for us. We had first talked about geting a boat out of Grand Case or the Dutch side, but then we said what the heck, this is too easy. This was the first time we had done this. I have heard the best thing about this cruise can be the people you meet and this was very true in our case. All of the other couples on board were very nice folks. For the last couple days, we knew other people that we could hang out with on beach and we enjoyed talking with them. I cannot recommend the cruise to everyone because you certainly need to be comfortable with certain clothing choices, and your luck with other pax may not be the same as ours, but I would say if in doubt, just go. And, if you do not know anyone else on island, are not that social, and would like to get to know some others there, go early in your trip with chance of making some friends. As for the snorkelling, we thought Tintamarre was better in terms of size and variety of sea animals, including a group of lobsters I saw, but we did not think the coral and other sea flora was any better, and maybe not as good, as Green Cay. Lunch on board was wonderful. Phillippe and Melanie were great. Overall, it was a really great day and we would go again in future.

We are not big food people. We had dinner "out" three times: twice at Papagayo's and once at the Greenhouse in Phillipsburg. All three were very good meals. I thought Papagayo's was much better than had been reported recently. I did hear from someone at CO (a guest who may or may not have known what he was talking about) that they had a new chef - I don't really know. The main reason we went twice to Papagayo's was the reason we did many things we did - it was just so easy and convenient. I am not a reliable source on how good food is, but I thought our meals at Papagayo's were really good.

Although at Cap Caraibes we had free use of chairs and umbrella at either La Playa or Waikiki, we never used either place. In fact, we never hung out on any part of Orient other than CO. The one day we were at CO mid-day, cruise pax time, was Wednesday and it was a bit of a zoo. Clearly, whatever else it is, CO is a tourist draw and people know why they want to go there. A taxi brochure I saw that I guess is given out at the piers lists places with the standard rates - next to "Dawn Beach" its says "Snorkelling" in parentheses; next to "Orient Beach" it says "Nude" in parentheses. Other beaches have no references. For some reason I find the reference in that way annoying and stupid.

It was a super trip and it is troubling that I still want to keep doing our other travel while working in no less than annual trips to SXM. What a nuisance that is.