We recently experienced the nightmare of our vacation lives in January from Sxm to st Bart's by popularly acclaimed powerboat. Check the weather waves and winds yourself before going. We were told we might get a little wet. Well, we got beat to death both ways for an hour with bruises to show for it. We could feel our spines compression when the water left beneath the boat and we hit the troughs of waves. We all got sick. We were bombarded by water so much we couldn't even communicate or wipe the water from our eyes before getting deluged over and over the entire hour. We forewent a stop at tintamare to just get back on land. We all feared for our lives as no way to get life preservers if capsized if we didn't get hit by the boat in process. When we got back, I checked the buoys for weather. 3.4 meter (11.2 ft) waves and 45 mph winds.

Recently I saw coast guard hearings on the El Faro accident where the CG Captain stated a severe weather rescue is 8 ft waves and 30 knot winds.

Again, check your weather yourself before making the crossing. They do sell good sea sickness stuff at the pharmacy in Gustavo's and 2 cheeseburgers and fries will cost you $50 bucks.

My recommendation, F L Y!