First time on St. Martin, first time writing a trip report! It's only fair, since we got so much info from this board that we should give info back.<br>Flew out of Boston/Logan on GWV charter Icelandic Air, no problems. Ground transportation through the charter company again went well; the ability of the bus driver to back down the road to Mont Vernon and to Cap Caraibes astounded us all.<br>We (mom, dad, 16 yo son and 13 yo daughter) stayed in two rooms at Cap Caraibes on Orient Beach. The beach was fantastic, gorgeous, perfect --- how many superlatives are there? Others have expressed concerns about bringing kids to a nude beach, but mine didn't seem too impressed one way or the other. Not a big deal.<br>The hotel was very nice. Not a big resort, but very clean, comfortable, and convenient. I really liked the proximity to the beach, but also the proximity to the little shops at Le Village d'Orient Beach. Breakfast every morning was croissants from Tap Five, the little grocery two minutes' walk away, with juice and coffee, on the balcony overlooking the ocean and the palm trees. Tell me how that can be improved upon!<br>We did very few "activities". We did go horseback riding at Bayside,and swam with the horses. My daughter is an excellent rider, and although school horses are always a challenge (because they get into bad habits that inexperienced riders <like her mother> don't know how to correct), she was very impressed with the barn and its facilities and the condition of the horses. These owners really take good care of their animals. <br>We also went snorkelling at Dawn Beach, Baie Rouge, and Le Galion. Lots of fish, but the coral looked pretty sick. Someone said it was the effect of the hurricanes. My daughter and husband saw a huge stingray at Baie Rouge, and followed it for a while.<br>Eating out. We had good meals everywhere, but the kids were a challenge. A lot of places weren't even attempted despite a lovely-appearing menu because they didn't see anything that they thought they would like. (Pizza, burgers or no sauce.) And a lot of the time we found ourselves tired after a hard day lounging in the sun and playing in the water! That said, we were very successful at La California in Grand Case, with a nice mix on the menu of pizza and "plain food" and some interesting choices for the adults. We tried the duck breast in raspberry sauce, and snapper , and the kids had shrimp kebob and ribeye steak. The highlight of their meals was the dessert crepes -- pear, chocolate and whipped cream, and the same with banana instead of pear. We rolled out the door after that meal! Another night in Grand Case we ate at Bistrot Caraibes. I had a wonderful meal of scallops and shrimp in lobster sauce. My husband had snapper again, which was good but not great. Son had pork tenderloin and mashed potatoes with the light mustard sauce (ignored) on the side, and my daughter asked for the kids' menu "steak" which turned out to be ground steak (i.e. burger) not in a bun. She was not happy, and sulked a bit until dessert when she cautiously sampled the creme brulee-- and devoured atleast half! The most exciting part of the evening came just as we were finishing the meal, when a street brawl erupted outside. It was all in French, so I don't really know what was going on, but it looked like a young local was fighting with a middle-aged French-speaking tourist. The local ran off, the tourist was left shirtless and nursing an injured finger and probably a bloody nose or split lip. I found it all unsettling, but it was exciting to see from the safety of our back corner table. <br>Due to the previously described inertia (and electing to have a rental car for only part of the time) we had several meals within walking distance of the hotel. Cotes Plages was very good, probably the best of all the restaurants we tried anywhere. My husband had grilled tuna, I had lamb, and our daughter had pasta. She didn't like the pasta (too many herbs) but we had it for lunch the next day and it was superb. The trio of creme brulee was succulent. <br>We also tried Le Fish Bar, very reasonalby priced, good fresh fish. I had the fish fondue -- raw fish bits that you cook yourself in hot spiced broth, then dip into one of four sauces. My husband had a tuna burger, but it was overcooked. <br>The best "undiscovered" gem we found was Le Bistro Belge, right next to Tap Five (the little grocery store). Fantastic mussels! We went there twice. It's not got decor, or a fancy wine list, but they do have Stella Artois on tap, and it has an authentic local flavor. We tried moules creme, moules Belge (with beer and bacon) and moule vegetable. The mussels in cream sauce tasted like a thin New England chowder, only with more seasoning. The kids had burgers, or beef kebobs, so they were happy too. At the end of the meal they went off around the corner to the ice cream/creperie and brought back (with the acquiesence of our waiter) their desserts -- banana split and chocolate crepes. <br>(With all the dogs everywhere on the beach and in the restaurants, I warned the kids that next year, instead of leaving the dog with grandma, the kids are staying with her and the dog is coming to St.Martin!)<br>That's enough for now -- we do have to go back because I have such an long list of things that we didn't do. Thanks to all who contribute to this forum.