TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin dwabid Trip Report Week1

It has been a wonderful first week! Me (Dan) and my wife (Jodi) have been absent for 7 years and I never realized how much we missed being here but we have great joy introducing our daughter (Emma - 7) to the island for the first time. I apologize to her every day because she is having a "bad" time. She usually splashes me and swims away with a giggle.

The last few years have been very hard and stressful for me and Jodi for a variety of reasons: personal, professional, health (I trashed my knee ) and are the reasons we have been away for so long....once here it took me several days to "relax".

This time we came with Jodi's sister and brother in law's family as well. They have 5 kids ages 11-18. This makes for complicated days but we have developed a rhythm. We all can be broken down into 2 distinct groups. The action group, that wants to explore, hike and discover and the beach/swim group that swim snorkel and chill. I am squarely in the latter group.

The action group (Brother in law and some kids) explores a part of the island almost every day. Discovering hiking trails, tidal pools and generally driving around discovering. A subset even caught an early morning cheap flight to Saba to hike to the top of the island and discover some of the local vendors including bringing home some Saba spice rum. Good stuff.

Jodi has been a fantastic camp director. We love to cook but Jodi even more so, and she has been going above and beyond cooking for the entire crew. There is a grill nearby at the Simpson Bay resort B pool and we are driving the guests crazy with whole spatchcocked chickens and other goodies.

For me, as I mentioned, it took me a couple days to relax and then I fell ill on day three. I stayed in bed and slept most of the day. It made me depressed, and grumpy…. but I bounced back and now 100%. Now the days are developing a rhythm form me. Coffee on the balcony…to take it all in….then swimming and snorkeling in the morning getting Emma to rest in the aft, then some late in the day pool time with Emma and the other kids. It took me a couple of days to dial it in, but snorkeling off of the SBR (Pelican) beach has been fantastic. Many fish, sea creatures and yesterday I was blessed with a juvenal sea turtle. I am making Jodi take some time off today and sending her to the beach. She is not allowed to return until she meets the turtle.

Final note the Simpson Bay resort thus far has been fantastic! For our large group it works out great. My wife bought a time share 24 years ago (before we married) at bargain basement prices and over the years we transitioned to the "points" system. I would not recommend a TS, but we have really made it work and our accumulated points allowed us 2 weeks in 3 apartments for 10 people. IT works…for us.

The days are good.

So glad that you were able to come back! Even though we were here last year, it has been a hard year for us so far, so I get where you are coming from. And glad that you were able to save up those points and treat the whole family! Carry on!!

It's difficult to not be at your best but still waning that trip. Hope all is well.

Our last trip wasn't the best health wise but it didn't stop me from booking again for 2025. Now we pray that nothing will stop us.

Thanks. All is very well. One of the reasons for coming was in honor of my mother in law Carol. She and her husband Tom bought at SBR the same time as my wife and we had back to back weeks that we shared. My father in law passed soon after they purchased but my Mother in law soldiered on and visited the island more than we did.

After a year long illness she passed away this January. Her death, combined with events of the previous several years, made for some sad/trying days. However, soon after her passing, we all decided we needed some joy and relaxation in our lives, so the family decided we would make this trip in her honor. We are all healthy and happy on this trip and fingers crossed we will leave that way. We are having a great time and the wheels are already turning in my head for next visit. We hope to no longer be strangers.

So glad you are enjoying this trip! It's great that your group has figured out how to tailor the trip to fit different interests yet still have a great time together. We brought our daughters to the island when they were about the same age as yours. Now more than 25 years later we're still coming almost every year and the 2 young granddaughters joined us this year. Maybe you’ve started a new tradition!

Great report Dan. That sounds like quite a group to navigate the week with, but lots of fun with the diversity of interest. I’m sure the stories the traveling group share at the end of the day are interesting. Hoping everyone stays healthy for the duration.

I am starting to feel like my 2 weeks in SXM is what keeps us going. It's two weeks of complete downtime. And I LOVE it.

Now planning a trip back again will keep you going longer. It works for me. Have a safe trip.