May 2007 Trip

This was a last minute trip that was planned with a friend of mine from work. We debated on different places to go, from Cuba, to Europe, to St-Martin. As both of us travel quite a bit for work, FF tickets were going to be used, so it was just trying to find the right place. I was finally able to sell him on St-Martin

Accommodations:

After looking at different possibilities, we decided on a 2br apartment above Le California restaurant in Grand Case. It was a very good decision. Well situated, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, huge balcony with a great view. Private gated parking is also included, which is great, once you get back after a day at the beach. Because finding a parking spot can be difficult.

Everything you need is included in the apartment, including a washer. I would not hesitate to recommend this option to anyone

Car Rental:

Rented a Jeep Wrangler from Michael at Unity. No issues, paperwork done when we arrived, off with our jeep in a matter of minutes.

Beaches:

The only beaches we visited on St-Martin was Orient. After arriving late afternoon on a Monday, we headed off to Orient for a drink. We found both Le String and the beach bar at Kon Tiki open. We actually closed the place down after meeting a bunch of new friends. So, for the remainder of the week, we just got chairs in front of Le String. Jean , the beach guy, was great, with prompt and courteous service.

Lots of sand on Orient, both on Club Orient side and the main beach side. There has been a lot of talk about nudity acceptance on Orient. In the entire week we were there, there was almost never anyone in the nude section of CoCo, and very very few nude walkers of the entire beach.

Pinel Island:

For the first time in all of my trips, I went to Pinel. We rented chairs on the yellow side, had some lunch and drinks and just relaxed. Overall a good day, but fairly quiet. But the beach and swimming and snorkeling is great.

Anguilla:

We did take a morning to go to Anguilla. I had been before but my friend had not. We got there at 11:00am, went to Shoal Bay, and told our cab driver to pick us up at 2:30pm. Lunch at Uncle Ernie’s, which was not as good as my last time there. Actually, kind of disappointing.. Beach was pretty deserted, but beautiful. But, not what were were looking for, so off to Orient again early, as we got our cab driver to come and pick us up early.

Beach Bars:

We spent most, if not of our time at Le String and Tiki beach bar. Ray, the owner of Le String and Patrick, at the Tiki, have a nice friendly competition going, and it was great fun. At least 1, and often both stayed open until the last customer left, sometimes around 8:00pm to 9:00pm. Lots of drinks, and lots of laughs. Would recommend both.

Restaurants:

We kept it pretty simple. Some lunches were had at Le String, Baywatch for mussels and ribs, The Pirate, Pedros and Sunset Beach Bar. For dinners, we did Le California, Talk of the Town, Sky’s the Limit, Planet Orient, and Le Pub among others. We weren’t really there for the food….!!!!


Bars and Clubs:

We did experience a lot of the nightlife. Tuesday bikini contest at Sunset Beach Bar, Wednesday at Bamboo Bernies and Sopranos, where we found the best piano player ever, this cute mid 20’s girl from London. She was a fantastic piano player and we closed the place down. Thursday was kind of quiet, so we bar hopped, from Lady C, to Sunset Beach Bar, Pineapple Petes. Friday, we met a couple that I had exchanged some e-mails with at the Bikini Baech party. Starts quite late, around 11:30pm, and ends early next morning. We left at 3:30am, and the party was still going strong.

Saturday, we hit the Sunset Beach Bar to catch the De LaHoya-Mayweather boxing match, and then went to Bliss. I didn’t think I would like Bliss, but it turned out great. Nice place to people watch, have some drinks, all in open air. It’s the place to be on Saturday’s. And for Sunday, our last night, we just hung out in Grand Case

Crime:

I did not see, or experience anything different than in any other trips. We often came back to Grand Case pretty late, or early, around 3:00 am, and stayed on the main roads. There was some more purse snatchings by a couple of guys on scooters, as reported in the daily herald.

Overall:

This was a different trip than what I usually do, but we had a great time. Flights were on time. We also had to go through Santo Domingo on our way back. There was talk if you needed to get you luggage and re-check like in San Juan, but you don’t. You just follow the “connecting flight” sign, and just go to your gate. Very easy to connect. I preferred it that way, than having to connect in San Juan.

We met great people, from Pittsburgh, Piladelphia, Chezk Republic, Washington, Virginia, etc…. and a great time was had, with many drinks, sometime too many, but all in fun, and with many new frindships. Will post pictures very soon…


Marc