TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin El zafiro

I have seen tha the restaurant at the property that was El Zafiro has opened is there any hope the the Boutique hotel will open , This location is such a beautiful place

The Hotel is also opened.

I think it opened about a month or so ago by some off island people from St Thomas. Typical beach bar nothing fancy but is a good location , when we went not a lot of breeze maybe from being in a corner but I am sure that changes daily. Nice menu. I thought the little guesthouse ( about 6 or so rooms when we stayed) had already opened even though I heard the landowner already is having some legal issues over the beach bar on property. I think it was just last year she evicted El Zafrio. That spot hasn't had much good luck, hopefully this time it will be better. Simpson Bay is a great spot.

The hotel is definitely open but I have no additional info on it. We stayed there once when we extended our trip and needed a few extra nights that BSV didn’t have and we enjoyed ourselves there but it was definitely NOT up to the standard if BSV.

I have only heard positive reviews re the restaurant and I’m still hoping to hear they will soon be offering breakfasts.

The only negative I’ve heard (negative in my opinion anyway) is they may soon offer a cruise ship package but that may or may not happen.

The small hotel and the beach bar are managed by separate entities.

CocoVaa resort - website

Dinghy's Beach Bar & Grill sxm - website facebook

Gosh Pat. Hope you are wrong about the cruise ship thing.

Dinghy's Beach Bar & Grill also now has 2 live webcams. 1 of the cameras faces the water and their restaurant seating and the other camera faces the airport. Link below.


Dinghy's BB&G - link to webcams


** There are also direct links to each camera that provide a time lapsed feature that is pretty cool. I can provide if there is interest.

Thanks for the link.

Thanks bdeeley for the link. Never enough webcams.

Truthfully, Tim, I hope I’m wrong, too, but I believe I read it either here or on FB in a response from someone closely involved with Dinghy’s. Just a little blurb that they ‘hoped’ to add cruise ship day tripper tours IN THE FUTURE. It probably won’t have much bearing on us but it would certainly change the character of the beach and so much for quiet and peaceful days at the beach, not to mention what it will do to the parking there.

Or - it might just be one more island rumor run amok!! Hope to get some first hand info soon.

Pat,

ScottW included that information in his trip report from last week. See below.

Once again, Brian, thank you for being on it. I didn’t bother looking for the quote since I couldn’t recall where I saw it in the first place.

If they go ahead with their plans to do cruisers, I get it but that doesn’t mean we have to like it and hopefully they may post a schedule for cruise days. Those buses will add some more confusion to transiting the area along Maho Beach. I have no issue and fully understand the need for the additional revenue but it will be a different place if it happens.

Pat. Maybe it’s not the organized bus thing with the hundred’s of cruisers and just the occasional cruiser that finds their way to that beach. But you’re right about it being a different place. The food and service may suffer as well as the ambiance. I guess we will see.

Looks like lots of sargassum in the water.

Let's hope they DONOT allow busses of Cruise ship day visitors! I remember when Zafiro did it and it just over ran the area with people and one reason we stopped going there. I think for $20 you got a beach chair and drink and the bus ride over. Between that and the loud music it was not a good mix for the neighborhood but unfortunately some tenants don't care about how obnoxious it gets for others. Does not hurt to speak up, it might help lead them in a better direction.

Thanks for the link to those webcams! probably will be spending lots of time watching them!

You are quite welcome. Below are the direct links to the individual cameras with features such as time lapse, local weather, full screen etc..



SXM airport & runway - view from Dinghy BB&G Observation Deck

view of Beacon Hill Beach from Dinghy's BB&G

Maybe but the all mighty dollar is stronger than words sometimes. 20pp 40 a couple will add up especially if they pop for food and drinks.

You heard right Pat, they are looking for that extra money from the cruisers!!! What that means on those day, we can check the schedule that if we have to shop, leave early from BSV and be back before the buses clog up White Sands road. The other thing, we need to be prepared for loud music until 3pm!! When ELZ was there and had the cruisers there they would walk the beach, some stopped to ask me if I lived there.(unit#1) BSV does look a lot a like a condo. That's what I thought YEARS ago. So I do my best salesmen for Tracy and the Mascarins! As of right now, checking the schedule, there isn't many ships coming in from now to the end of November!

OH NO. I remember it was a ZOO the last time El Zafiro allowed cruise ship people to take over the area, just horrible. I might say don't worry about something you can't to anything about like others say. But I certainly can do something by not spending my more at dingy beach and go someplace a lot better or peaceful like Buccaneers, Marys Boon or Karakter which are long established local business and not just off Island new people looking to make a quick buck and disrupt neighborhood. Personally I don't think they will last that long as that property has always had issues. Its a nice spot at times but still lots of nicer beach bars on SXM , I guess time will tell. IMO. All about the money to some.

Buccaneer brings in cruisers by the busload for loungers, meals and drinks on the beach. We see them setting up from the Atrium and have talked to management at BBB who have confirmed this.

That whole stretch of beach from BBB towards Royal Palm is a big cruisers destination.

Correct. Depending on the number of ships, there may be just a few or there may be several buses that bring them in. They are usually gone by mid-afternoon. I don't frequent Kim Sha much but it can be entertaining to watch from The Atrium.

Tried to look at the webcams this morning. The beach one is there, but camera lens appears to have salt on it, so very hazy. Couldn't get the other one to come up.

Beach webcam again still appears to be live, not much wave action. However, as before, salt on the lens, so difficult to see well.

Maho Beach cam looks just cloudy, but the island cam looks to have rain showers.

Maybe the forecasted heavy rains will clean the lens. 🤞