I know I will love St Maarten!

Getting very excited about our trip to St Maarten. The more I read and the more pics I see I know I am going to love it. It reminds me a lot of the Greek Islands as far as beach cafe's and European flare. I know the french side will give me that feeling for sure. The only other islands I have been to are Grand Cayman, Aruba, and the Bahamas. I love to mingle with the locals native to the island. My favorite day in Grand Cayman was when we met some local fisherman on the beach that helped us get some coconuts down from the tree then cut it open for us so we could drink the milk. Little things like that to me are most memorable. I hope to make lots of fun memories this trip too. Thanks again for answering all of my questions on here. :wink

When is your trip?

I found Grand Cayman to be an extremely friendly and comfortable island.

July.....we always travel during summer months because of school for the kids. Yes we also loved Grand Cayman however our rental car was a victim of an attempted break in. While we ate at a roadside restaurant someone tried to use a screwdriver or something in the keyhole to the rental car. The hole was mangled when we came out. There was nothing in the car to steal so not sure the motive.

They don't know that when they try to break in. Many car rental agencies in SXM recommend that you leave your rental car unlocked. Check with yours.

I've read other posts about car break-ins but, thankfully, we've never had such an experience. Just park in areas that are well-lit at night or there are security guards/parking attendants around. We leave things in the trunk like towels, hats, sunscreen - basically things that won't hurt our feelings if they are stolen - but, again, we've never had a problem. Been to every beach on the island except the beach at Coralita.

If I'm not mistaken, Lesley still suggests we lock our car but NOT at the beaches and particularly at the beaches with unsupervised parking like at Mullet.

Sadly, five or six years ago, our locked rental car (through Lesley) was seriously vandalized by someone trying to gain access to the trunk. There was absolutely NOTHING in the car but they still destroyed the electronic locks and the car couldn't be driven.

I guess, given all the many trips we've made to the island we should count ourselves fortunate that it's only happened once. And of course, Lesley - being Lesley - told us, "Don't worry about it, folks" as he handed over the keys to his personal car and waited for the flat bed to come pick up the rental.

It can and does happen and that day there were four or five cars parked in the back row at Mullet, ours included along with other visitors and residents alike, that had all been damaged.

Edited to add: Next rental we may not lock the car at all and of course, we leave nothing in it anywhere when we're out of the car. If nothing else this might save the car rental company the expense of needless repairs. But ONLY if Lesley says it's okay. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Visitors should always lock their vehicles when not in use unless specifically told by the rental agency that they should not lock them.

Leaving the vehicle unlocked may void your insurance coverage and alarm systems generally will not activate until the vehicle is locked.

You may be held responsible for any damage to the vehicle if not secured properly so again do check with the agency and get it in writing.