Flew Jet blue out of Boston 11/14 no issues expected much more security presence but was very normal in spite of the Paris attack
Arrived sxm and villa people met us at airport took the four of us to Triple A car rental to pick up other couples rental quick and easy brought us to Villa Zepher.. we had stayed here 15 years ago and found it to be very nice and comfortable.. had a few issues this trip such as power going out..but there is a generator.. this are three bedroom and only rooms with air are the bedrooms so it was very hot when we arrived only 1 fan in living room but we would open bedrooms and let the air spill into other rooms.
Other issue with villa was it is for 6 people and only 3 knives???? We brought steaks so this was a challenge but we shared and made it work ..

The island is alive with butterflys unbelievable site.. millions .. as you drive along it looks like twinkling lights in the flowers and shrubs.. all types beautiful..asked a local friend and he said it happens every now and then and he was on his boat and could see them following the boat ½ way to st barts..

The island is busy …,
Beaches.. went to Mullet Three times my favorite on the island .. lunch was good ribs and chicken.. not fantastic but good.. drinks were great.. zero seaweed… waves calm
Karakters 1 day .. was beautiful..easy in and out of water and no seaweed..lunch was fantastic.I got the chicken Caesar and it was perfect drinks good great day
Dream beach 1 day very nice place music during the day lunch was incredible.. had the onion soup and husband had a roasted chicken dinner plenty of food to share and the gravy for the chicken was wonderful.. seaweed on scale of 1 to 10 a 3… really loved it there but the beach is not that clean ..lots of plastic bottles, caps, husband found lots of broken bottles one was quite large and sharp he pulled out..they had a man raking the beach of seaweed and debree … too bad because it was calm and easy in and out
Tried to go to Palm Beach but water was very rough so we went further down to Orient and a little calmer.. seaweed was a 4… had lunch at Kakao and it was fantastic..again so much food I ordered a salad and husband ordered a calzone with ham and egg and all kinds of vegetables’.. so good
LeGalion- beautiful no seaweed.. water was too warm … but if you walked out further it got a little cooler.. so nice had lunch there and again it was great had a tuna salad in baguette and fries very good we actually split it as we were not that hungry..
Day sail ..Chartered with Ian Martin again.. 15 years of chartering with him what a fantastic day.. he has a new boat – double hull and very roomy .. there were 10 of us and very comfortable.. He picked us up at the yacht club and we sailed past Phillipsburg onto Tintemere we anchored had snacks and swam with the turtles what a great site.. they are all around the boat lots of fish ..Ian cooked up ribs and chicken Katherine made Pasta salad, tossed salad plenty to eat and delish.. Plenty to drink and great music on board something for everyone.. Water was clear no seaweed absolutely gorgeous.
Then we left there and sailed to Creole rock.. again swam, snorkeled, drank, ate, laughed danced .. saw lots and lots of fish .. Sailed back around the island past Bae Rouge and past plum back to simpson bay..
Sat on boat anchored and had some more cocktails met some really nice people.. Katherine and Ian the crew are such nice fun people .. If you have not done a boat day I highly recommend them and doing it .. to see the entire island from the water is awesome.. got back to yacht club and Ian and Katherine and all the guests on board had another cocktail and laughed and chatted about what an awesome day..
This morning is day 8 and leaving Saturday ..wish we had another week . Not sure what we will do today
Love the island
Ended up going to Phillipsburg shopping.. bought a watch and husband cigars.. very hot 4 boats but did not seem crowded.. shops said day was not that good.. my observation is more and more buses taking people to watch the planes and buses of people at Mullet beach not as many shopping???
We ended finally getting to Chesterfields after all these years of hearing about and it was great.. they had a thanksgiving meal that our friend Donald devoured and I had chicken with shrimp on top with string beans and carrots.. the vegetables were cooked perfectly..the sauce was awesome.. my husband got the fresh mahi mahi and he ate it all and raved about it.. great portions could not finish mine.. beautiful view to sit out on the deck we will go back next island visit for sure ..
Day 9 arggggggg….. I don’t want to pack or leave.. not sure what beach we will hit today but I am sure it will be great day
Tried to go to copecoy but the waves were to huge ..so went to Mullet.. the waves were huge.. tried to go in but got knocked down .. still opted to stay and sun ourselves..
Back to villa change and to the yacht club to meet some Island friends for drinks and toppers for dinner.. had the roast pork excellent .. Shawnee had the lamb chops which she said were excellent and our husbands had the brisket which was excellent..
Went back to pack and an early night.. Flew back jet blue direct.. love that direct flight .. Through immigrations was a breeze we were the only flight in at that time.. looking forward to my next trip

Thanks for your report.

Thanks so much for the report! Sounds like a great trip. Glad you shared it with us.

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. It sounds like you had a great time. Now to start planning your next island visit!

Very nice, Patty. I chuckled over your comment about the three steak knives. We stayed in a very nice two bedroom unit at BSV last year and I think there were two complete sets of dinnerware......we could have invited everyone there and still had dinner plates left over. Somethings just make you smile.......

BSV does seem to have everything you need, for sure!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Smile.gif" alt="" /> I wonder if someone made off with the steak knives at that villa, as that's something that should be there, enough for everyone, for sure..

We find that most places where we have stayed including BSV do not have sharp knives available. I guess most people don't bother to cook much so they don't care if the knives are sharp or not. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

I took a set of knives with me last year. Even though I don't cook a lot on island, I still need to cut up fruit, slice cheese, etc. Impossible with knives provided at Divi.

I know the thread has taken a turn ie knives, but I agree with Jazzgal, we take a knife every yr. In fact it's only a holiday knife, goes to the cottage in the summer, SXM in the winter - has it's own plastic guard. At La Plage we found the knives dull, glad we had our own. Last yr at Les Balcons - the supplied knife set was excellent!
This winter who knows, but nice to know we can cut up and prepare food as needed - hate a dull knife!
J&B

We keep a small very effective knife sharpener in our storage box. Comes in real handy. we also keep a set of steak knives and a nice carving knife there too.

I just has to reply to your knife problem at BSV. Yes, you are very correct. For years, their kitchen knives would not even cut air. So bad I started bringing my own knife sharpener and even bought 2 knives at Ace one year (they disappeared next year).
NOW THAT PROBLEM IS OVER! This year we enjoyed a full set of chef's knives - all good quality & very sharp.YAHOO!

UPS Man

We usually bring a set of sharp knives with us too, but this year they didn't make it into the luggage. We bought some nice sharp ones at Ace and I will take them home with me and leave them in the luggage for next time. Then there will never be a dull moment!!!!

That is great news!

Thanks for taking time to post your report and make us miss the SXM even more. 2months to go.

Enjoyed your report. Thanks for sharing.