Travel to SXM:

2/5 7:45 AM car picked us up right on time from home for our 11:51 AM flight from SFO to MIA on American Airlines. Flight was delayed 45 minutes and we only landed 10 minutes late.

We were overnighting in Miami, so we caught a cab to the Hampton Inn & Suites Airport South Blue Lagoon. Very nice and friendly cab driver. Room was adequate, friendly staff and had a free breakfast buffet.

2/6 Utilized the free breakfast buffet at the hotel. We took the hotel shuttle to MIA. Our flight departed and arrived on time.

We collected our bags, exited the airport and Lesley Bruce (whom we highly recommend!) was waiting for us and led us to our car, took care of paperwork and we were on our way in about five minutes! Lesley also had our rental phone in the glove box that Sharon the Queen of SXM had delivered to him for us.

It rained hard at times most of the way from the airport to Club Orient. Traffic was the worst we've seen between Marigot and Grand Case, probably due to road construction. Arrived at Club O about 6:15 PM, check in was quick and easy.

We quickly made our way to our Waterfront Chalet and unloaded our bags and parked our car in one of the parking areas. Went to Papagayo for our traditional first night dinner, then back to our chalet to unpack and for a good night's sleep.

2/7 I woke up early, made coffee and made the short walk to the beach to tag our chairs for the duration of our stay, then proceeded to walk the length of Orient Beach. You have to touch a rock at the Mt. Vernon end, otherwise it doesn't count! We pre-ordered some groceries from the Club O store, so after my wife woke up I made bacon and eggs for breakfast.

On recommendation by someone who has stayed in the Chalets before, we stopped at Ace Hardware to purchase a fan to circulate to cooler air from the bedroom area that has air conditioning to the kitchen and living areas. Went grocery shopping at Le Grand Marche. Returned to our unit, unloaded and put groceries away, had lunch and finally hit the beach!

We met up with our Iowa friends and visited with lots of our other February friends!

Since it was Tuesday we made plans with our Iowa friends to go to Grand Case for Harmony Nights (I know it's called something different now). Our friends like the Lolos, so we had dinner at Sky's The Limit, did some shopping and watched the parade.

Since we were staying in a Chalet this year we ate most of our meals in, with the exceptions of: Orange Fever - lunch, once by ourselves & once with our New Jersey friends. Food was very good, as well as the BBCs! The service was on the slow side.

Pirate Hideaway - lunch, also once by ourselves and again with our New Jersey friends. Food and service was exceptional! Their Tropicolada frozen drink was very good, too. I don't recall what was in them, but they're good!

Papagayo - lunch, twice. Food and service was very good.

La Playa - lunch with group of friends. Food and service was very good.

La Table De Antoine - Anniversary dinner. Food and service was very good

Our Iowa friend's villa for BBQ'd steaks - Food and company was outstanding!

Other Activities:

I usually walked the beach in the mornings, sometimes all the way to the end by Mt. Vernon, sometimes not. Always finishing with a short morning swim.

Went snorkeling twice, just off Orient Beach seeing conch, rays, starfish and miscellaneous fish.

Butterfly Farm, which we always enjoy.

Parotte Ville Bird Park was very enjoyable and their history room was interesting.

Marigot market to purchase Secret Spot shirts.

Weather:

The weather was simply beautiful for the most part, it rained quite often during the nights, and only one morning and one afternoon. It was the least windy visit we could recall, except when we used to visit at the end of October/early November.

2/23 - Checked out of Club O, returned our rental phone and rental car. Lesley sure makes things easy!

At the airport, checked our bags and headed upstairs. We used the Executive Lounge for the first time and it was a very pleasant experience!

Our 4:36 PM flight left on time and arrived in MIA a few minutes early.

Customs & Immigration was smooth and quick using Global Entry, which we've had for a few years. It only took us about five minutes to clear customs after arriving in the C&I hall. We waited for our luggage about ten minutes, rechecked them and went back through the security check, which was quick and easy with TSA Precheck!

Our flight to SFO left on time and arrived a little early. Our driver met us near baggage claim, we had our bags within ten minutes of arriving at baggage claim and we were headed home. We arrived home about 2:30 AM PST.

The only thing we plan on doing differently in 2018 will be to overnight on our return trip like we did on our way to SXM to break up the long trip.

We had a wonderful and relaxing vacation. For us it's mainly about beach/chill time since we're both very busy at home. We already booked at Club O for 2018 and have purchased our airfare for the trip to SXM, we need to wait for it to become available for the trip home.

Thanks for the report!
"...it's mainly about beach/chill time..."
Sounds like the perfect vacation to us!

Thanks for the report! Sounds like a really lovely relaxing time!

How big did the beach seem, compared to previous years?

Pirate Hideaway--is that what used to be Ethnic, in the 'new' restaurants on Orient? What types of food do they serve there?

Now that's a standard Sxm, grand case,Club O vacation. Everything perfect as expected and no hassles or stress.

Lucky dogs.

Nice report.

Curious, where did you park for "Harmony Nights" ?

We also love the Secret Spot T-shirts. Everyone in our family has a bunch. They last forever.

Loved your report.

The beach was a little smaller than previous years, although we were able to walk on the beach in front of Pedro's every day of our visit.

Yes, Pirate Hideaway is what used to be Ethnic. We had seafood and it was good.

Thanks!

We parked in the dirt lot off of Rue des Ecoles near Boulevard de Grand Case. It was either $3 or $5, our friends wouldn't let us pay.

I have a closet full of Secret Spot shirts as well!

We too love the Secret Spot shirts. Wrote a story about them on my blog and when we returned this year, there was the story laying out for people to read. I have 12 shirts from previous visits and I just had to retire one since the long arm sleeves are getting too frayed for my wife. I will use it to paint. Exactly where is the Parrot place located? Would love to go there, but not sure where it may be. We stay in Orient Village. Thanks for the report.

Parotte Ville Bird Sanctuary is on Bishop Hill Road in Belvedere. A good reference is the McDonalds at the roundabout on A.T. Illidge Rd. that Bishop Hill Road connects with.

Come out of Orient Village and make a left, to go toward the Dutch side. Just as you cross the border to the Dutch side, there is the place on the left hand side, where they used to have the tourist shops, but has been abandoned in recent years. Then very close, there is a relatively new roundabout (maybe 2 years old??). If you go 3/4 of the way around the roundabout, you end up at the fairly new McDonalds. If you go sort of 'straight', you end up eventually by Fresh Market. Instead, go only 1/4 of the way around the roundabout, and Parrott Ville will be about 1/4 mile up that road, on the right hand side.

Thanks for sharing. Staying at Club Orient, lunch at Papagayo = perfect.

The meals at Papagayos have greatly improved the last 2-3 years last year we only ate off Club O a couple times last year we felt the meals were excellent I believe Carlos is the manager and since he took over it's been a much needed improvement

Hi Carol,

Please delete this if I am incorrect but I am reliving driving to ParrotteVille via your directions and I believe you have it backwards... when coming from Orient and turning left toward the Dutch side, after you cross into the Dutch side you will come to the roundabout ... 1/4 way around is the McDonalds ... straight ahead is the Fresh Market ... and 3/4 around is the road to ParrottVille ... ParrottVille will be shortly thereafter on the right hand side.

All the best, Karen

Sorry, yes, you are correct.. I was seeing it in my head correctly but wrote it backwards!!

We ate lunch at Papagayos and perch last year and both were excellent! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/chef.gif" alt="" />

I agree about Papagayo, they've stepped up their game. I make a few meals in the chalet because I like to cook, but otherwise we eat there and make a night of it. We rarely bother going elsewhere.