Monday morning, as always seems to be the case on the last day, turned out to be a beautiful day, with the beach pretty clean of seaweed, and a huge wide beach.



Our last breakfast was quiche from Le Suciere, which is always my favorite on island



Drew Mascarin, who owns Beachside along with his wife Tracy, was on island, doing some hurricane preparations. He let us know that no one would be coming in to our unit the next day, so we were able to stay in the unit until 1:30, which was a GREAT thing, since our flight didn't leave until 4 PM.

Craig from Packlight came by and picked up our cooler and umbrella, great service as always!! Linda (Jazzgal) came by and took a look at the unit, since she had not seen them in person before. We had a snack from some of our leftovers at the unit, and packed up some cheese and crackers, nuts and grapes to take with us to the airport.

Then it was one long last look at the best view on the planet



and then we headed out to the airport to meet up with Lesley from Kenny's Car Rental to turn in our car. As always, renting from Lesley is easy-peasy, pick up and drop off at the airport!

Leaving SXM was way easy. You go to the outside tent and they check your names and give you plastic cards to gain entrance to the area. Then they weigh your luggage and you head to the check in counters. There are no kiosks of course, so everyone has to stand in line to check in, but it was very quick. Through security, and then to the departure area. All together it took 25 minutes from when we pulled up until we were sitting in the departure lounge! We arrived two hours before our flight, but right now I don't think you'll need nearly that much time, especially if your plane is the only one going out around that time. There was a Jet Blue that left about an hour before our flight, but that was it.

So, the following pictures are for SXMFox, so he can update his drawing of the departure terminal and for everyone who like us, who wanted to know exactly what is available in the departure terminal.

Standing with your back to the runway, here is an overview of the departure terminal, and then pictures in order (I think!) going from the far right, across the back, and then down the left hand side



ATM and charging station (the bathrooms were to the right of the ATM)



Hot food


Build your own sandwiches



Pizza


Le Bistro




Carousel ice cream



Blue Bitch Bar


Cigs and Liquor


Ma Dou Dou


Sundries


Shipwreck Shop



Since we had brought snacks with us from Beachside, we didn't buy any food, but scored a half bottle of Cote de Provence from Le Bistrot



Our flight left on time, from gate number 7. There are six gates along the back of the room, parallel to the runway, and gate number 7, which is on the side. We also had arrived at gate 7. I'm guessing that is the preferred gate, as you don't have to deal with a bus at all, just walk to and from the plane. Neither Air France nor KLM were in when we were there.

Our flight was totally full, and we arrived basically on time in Miami. The walk to immigration was VERY long and hot, and the line for immigration was easily 45 minutes long. I think before we go through Miami again, we will probably spring for Global Entry.

Overall, a wonderful trip. Go, enjoy. SXM is waiting, battered in some places, but still stunningly beautiful, when you look...

Great trip reports. Thanks for the updates.

We use Mobile Passport on our phones which speeds things up a bit.

Mbrott

Thanks for the pictures. Id say the airport tent is much fancier than i imagined.

Mbrott--Yes, I have heard that about mobile passport, and I guess it doesn't cost?

Pelican--There was more there than I thought.

I flew in today and from the air, the streaks of seaweed were horrendous. We walked down to Happy Bay and there was zip, zero, zilch.

Thanks for pics of the departure area although leaving is the last thing on my mind right now...lol

There was no seaweed at either Friars or Mullet either. That side of the island seems so far to be clear of seaweed. The end will come soon enough..

Thanks for the airport update and all your reports. sad that it has to end.

Thanks, sad it has to end, yes, but after about 10 days, I'm kind of ready to go home and see my puppies!!!

Thanks for the picture Carol, I will have to update the new PHIA airport! Looks y’all had a great time. Funny you had mentioned about Global Entry, we are going to our interviews today, finally one of the last steps! Will let you know how it goes, but from what I hear it’s a walk in the park. Thanks again for your trip reports, makes us feel as if we were still there!

You're welcome. I thought taking the pictures in order would be the easiest way to help you update your diagram!

Carol, Mobile Passport is just an app you download & has always allowed for a fast entry in Atlanta. It only works at select airports so make sure Miami is one of them. We also have Global Entry but have not used it coming back from SXM cuz Mobile Passport has had no lines at all

And it is! Much appreciated! That helps out, now I can finish it!

Ok, thanks. We will check it out. We are hoping to get to SXM two times next year, but otherwise we haven't been outside the country for a few years, so haven't felt that GE made economic sense.