TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Simpson Bay Yacht club

Does anyone know if this is a good place to stay? I love the location but there are no reviews to be found on the internet.

Any help appreciated.

I could be wrong, but I think they are all individually owned, and mostly owned occupied, so that may be the reason for no reviews. The location is good, in Simpson Bay.

Exactly Carol....they are all individually owned condos.. I have friends that live there...they love it. There are a few different pools, tennis courts....but if one is looking for beachfront it won't work. It is on the lagoon, but no beach. The owners park their boats on the docks.

Yes it's on the lagoon. But you CAN walk to Kim Sha and Buccaneer Beach Bar. And lots of restaurants and shopping.
Some units are for rent. Owners rent them out.
Cheers

It's gated too, right Irina?

Yes privately gated.

You can rent some of the units through VRBO. There are reviews for individual units there. We rented a two bedroom a few years ago and liked it.

Yes, gated. With 2 large pools and tennis courts. We would walk to many restaurants. Great location.
Loved our time living there.
Cheers
irina

Irina,

You sold your unit when you left the island, right? Does anyone else we know still own a unit there, if you know, and is it a long term rental or weekly rental? Always looking for new places to stay......

Yes Pat,
Someone else we know owns there. 2 units. One in Phase I, downstairs from my old unit , and the other in Phase II facing Snoopy Island I believe.
The one in Phase I is where Zelphina used to be docked.
Tell me how long you need a unit for. I can try to get you a deal!
I can at LEAST put in a good word for you. Vouch for your trustworthiness. Stuff like that!
Cheers
irina ;-)

We don’t know what we’re doing, Irina, but I’ll keep your offer in mind.

Trustworthiness? You sure about that my friend? Not so sure the owner would buy the ‘good word’ in our case, but if the need should come to pass, I’ll let you know.

We had planned on an island month in Oct/Nov but there’s serious talk the Towers won’t be open when we hope to go down. We have ten days firmly booked but the first part of the trip is very much up in the air. 😊😊

Just wondering Irina, if you could look at the Simpson Bay Marina? We heard they are still clearing the sunken boats there but are not sure if the marina is open and operational?

Thank you for any help!

I will ask Maria and Steve. Will let you know.

And you Ms Pat! Time is a wasting! My people are tough but fair.
I will PM you with the details.
xxx
i

I don't know about the Marina, but there are a TON of wrecked boats, sunken and floating, still in the lagoon.

Thank you Carol for letting me know about all the boats in the Lagoon still. So sad.

That is why I asked irina about the marina too, to get a first hand report.

If I remember, I'll take a couple of pictures of the lagoon. I see a bunch of floating wrecks still, and several that are just sitting on the shore. So I have to assume that there are a ton of them on the bottom. What used to be Pink Iguana is around the bend from the airport, just laying there, along with the remains of what used to be a tall ship, not sure which one.

The Passaat is still off the dock there.

Many, many boats yet to retrieve. As we were at BSV we watched 3 get pulled up in Simpson Bay. Took two days to get them onto the barge.

I'm not there Maria and Steve. I'm just contacting people down there for info. Lagoon is pretty shallow.
I'm sure its dangerous now.
Will let you know if I get any more info.
Cheers
irina

Regarding the Lagoon

http://www.naturefoundationsxm.org/...ndoned-or-wrecked-in-simpson-bay-lagoon/

https://www.sxmstrong.com/2017/11/01/shocking-story-simpson-bay-something-must-done-immediately/

101 vessels still in the Lagoon abandoned or wrecked? That is terrible! Unfortunately this creates a situation where sailors wishing to visit SXM are limited with safe places to anchor.

The Lagoon is usually the preferred anchorage, both the French Side and the Dutch Side, for cruising sailors especially during the months of December - May. Having wrecks litter the Lagoon makes it very risky to anchor without causing damage to a vessel. In 2018 some insurance companies have refused to provide insurance coverage for sailboats visiting St. Maarten/St. Martin because of this potential risk, unfortunately.

Hopefully the government will help speed up the clean-up effort in the Lagoon and by doing so will attract more tourist dollars into the damaged economy.

That is the reason I asked about Simpson Bay Marina - having that marina, along with any others around the Lagoon available, would give sailors a place to tie up if the Lagoon is not safe to anchor yet.