Trip Report: Tuesday, July 6, 2004 through Thursday July 15, 2004

Our previous trips to SXM had been in high season - January and February.
We were interested to see what the island was like in summer.

Flights:
We flew BNA (Nashville)-CLT-SXM and return on US Air. The CLT-SXM
leg and the return leg SXM - CLT were not sold out. On both these flights
we had an empty seat beside us so we were able to spread out a little.
That made the long flight much more comfortable - almost as good as
first class. Returning from SXM, the Immigrations and Customs process
at CLT went quickly and smoothly.

Our only difficulty came on the last leg of our trip. We were scheduled
to fly out of CLT to BNA at 10:20 PM and the flight was canceled at 10:10 PM.
We got vouchers for a hotel and breakfast the next morning. It was no
big deal for us as this was the last part of the trip and we were in no
particular hurry to get home.

Car Rental and Cell Phone rental:
We rented a car from Kenny's Car Rental. It was a great white Corolla that
worked perfectly, had good a/c and did a good job of getting up the hills.
Lesley met us at the airport and we were on our way shortly.
When we returned the car, we met Lesley's brother-in-law at the airport,
gave him the keys and that was it - no hassles whatever! We'll definitely
use Kenny's again on our next trip. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

We rented a cell phone from Sharon Harris. It also worked great.
No problem with making and receiving calls from the States. We were met
at the airport by Michael to get the cellphone; however, it did take us a
few minutes, with Lesley's assistance, to find Michael. The paperwork did
not take long, but I think next time, we will just go to Royal Palm Beach
Club where their office is to pick it up. Royal Palm is not far from the
airport. When we left, we dropped the phone off at the Royal Palm with no
problem. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

Hotel:
We stayed for our second time at Club Orient. We were in beach chalet #82
which is in the area between the Perch and Pedros. We were concerned at
first with being so close to Pedros, thinking it might be too noisy or
there'd be problems with gawkers. Turns out, we really liked this location
as it was close enough to the beach for us and in close proximity to our two
favorite places, the Perch and Baywatch. It was also convenient for our
daily trip to L'Orientique to pick up the all important french bread and
pastries as well as other critical supplies (suntan lotion, six packs of
Caribs, etc).

One of our goals for this trip was to devote part of an afternoon
investigating future options for accommodations around Orient Beach.
After reading Carol and Eric's recent trip report about Green Cay
Villas, we wanted to pay them a visit. We also went to Alamanda
Resort for a looksee.

Alamanda Resort was very pretty and the person that showed us around
was friendly and knowledgeable. We were impressed.

Our visit to Green Cay Villas, however, blew us away! Brigitte
graciously provided us with a tour of an unoccupied villa. How
much did we like Green Cay? Well, we're booked there for 10 days
next April! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/circle.gif" alt="" />

We love Club O and will certainly stay there again, but we're ready
to go for a little more luxury than Club O can provide. We'll
have to see if the extra amenities at Green Cay mean more to us
than the convenience of being so close to the beach at Club O.
We still plan to beach at Club O and rent chairs and umbrellas
there, as well as hang out at the Perch.

Beach
We did the beach walk down Orient Beach every day except one.
What a wonderful way to start the day!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />

We spent every day on Orient Beach. We had planned to visit at least
two other beaches including Cupecoy, but every day at Orient was just
beautiful and the sand gravity really took effect! We just did not
feel the need to go anywhere else, with such a beautiful beach right
in front of us. We did not have alot of cruise shippers while we were
there. The weather was just about perfect all 10 days. Some days
there was a pretty strong wind coming ashore, but it caused no real
problems and helped to keep you cool during the hottest part of the
day. We had a small rain shower on most days, but they came and went
quickly.

One thing we really enjoyed was happy hour at the Perch! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/drinking.gif" alt="" /> We went
there every day to hang out and take a break from the beach. Most
days we'd get there early enough to grab 2 seats at the bar. That
way we'd have a little time to talk with Willie or Joel before they
rang the happy hour bell and the crowd began to pour in. Willie was
just wonderful! She went on vacation while we were there and Joel
took her place. He was also great and we really enjoyed his company.

Speaking of great company, we met more folks while there at the Perch
than anything else we did on out trip. Many were staying at Club O,
but most were staying at different places on the island. We also had
interesting conversations with some folks who lived on the island full
time, as well as a few lucky souls who owned property there and split
time between paradise and the real world.

Now that there's a deck and seating around the bar, we think the
Perch is a very valuable asset for Club O. Not only does it do
a good business on its own, but it's an important point of introduction
(an interface if you will) between Club O and the non-naturist world.
We met folks there who had never stayed at Club O (or any other co
resort) but were considering it. Maybe the Perch is more accessible
(and possibly less intimidating) than Papagayo's for folks who have
never before mingled with others in a c/o environment. Just our
thoughts - but enough of that!

Restaurants:
This trip was planned on the spur of the moment due to the US Air airfare
sale and we did not plan to spend a lot of money at expensive restaurants.
That being said, generally, we were pleased with all of our restaurant
choices.

Baywatch
We had breakfast there everday but one, and lunch 3 times. As we said
earlier, we really enjoyed Baywatch. It was so convenient and the food
was great. Andy and Cheryl do a great job!! It was so nice to be able
to go there even when we chose to go au naturel. For several days, they
had the most wonderful watermelon coladas. YUM!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Love.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Love.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Love.gif" alt="" />They were so refreshing!
Let me know if anyone has a recipe for those, as we've been craving these
since we got back.

Zee Best in Marigot
A trip to St. Martin would not be complete without breakfast pastries
from Zee Best!!! We had breakfast there only once this trip, but plan
to eat there many times in the future. (Baywatch was just too good and
too convenient after our morning walk on the beach!)

Calmos Cafe
We had two dinners at Calmos. We enjoyed the casual atmostphere and
"having your feet in the sand while having dinner". The food and drinks
were great and the service provided by Alex was friendly and without
fault. We will certainly go back there on our next trip to SXM.

Spiga
Probably our best meal on the island. We can recommend Spiga highly.

Papagayo's
With all we had read about Papagayo's we were somewhat surprised to have
had nothing but a good experiences there. We ate dinner there three times.
The service was satisfactory - not to Grand Case standards, but no cause
for concern, and the food was good. Their key lime pie was the best dessert
we had this trip.

Kakao
We went to Kakao on a Friday night. Tom and Darlene, who were staying at
Club O, got a group together to pay for a D.J. and we had a party. The
music and dancing was great and the food at Kakao was good. We had a
wonderful time!!! Thanks Tom and Darlene!!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Banana.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Banana.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Banana.gif" alt="" />

Le Amandier
The night we went, there were only 3 other tables occupied. We had a
wonderful waterfront table with a superb view. The food and service
were good. When planning a romantic setting for that "special" evening
together, Le Amandier would be an excellent choice.

Taloula Mango's
We had lunch there while on our one-and-only shopping expedition to
Phillipsburg. We liked the new boardwalk and the food and view at Taloula
Mango's was great! We were there on a Monday when no cruise ships were
in port. The place was not crowded and we found a table on the small
front porch. Nice choice for lunch and a good place for my husband to
regain his composure after my jewelry purchase (see below) while we
were waiting for it to be sized.

Just a note about Grand Case in general. We felt somewhat ambivalent
about the restaurants being less crowded. We could get great tables
wherever we went, but we missed some of the hustle/bustle of Grand Case
in the evening during high season. Saturday night was the only evening
when there seemed to be very many of people walking around.

Shopping:
We spent one morning and one afternoon in Marigot and one morning in
Phillipsburg doing our shopping. The shops in Marigot were all having
their summer sales and I bought a bathing suit and lingerie at the lingerie
shop in the West Indies Mall.

We went jewelry shopping in Phillipsburg. After browsing the jewelry at
many shops and pricing quite a few items, we found an 18kt gold two-tone
bracelet that I love at Trident Jewelers! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Love.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Love.gif" alt="" /> Ravi was very nice and we were
able to negotiate a price everyone was happy with.

Other Notes:
We did not see mosquitos at all during this visit. They were reportedly
quite bad earlier in the year. We were outside early in the mornings
and in the evenings. No bites while on Orient or in Grand Case!

The island was lush and green with flowers blooming all over.

We are counting the days until our next trip in April, 2005!!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/circle.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/circle.gif" alt="" />