[Linked Image]<br>Just back from a week at Grand Case Beach Club. Instead of posting what we did each day (we did a lot) I’ll put everything in categories. This was the 8th island Ive been too and it was beautiful, much prettier than st. thomas though it reminded me more of this island than any other. I mean its no bermuda but I’ve been to much worse places (like jamaica). We had no prob. w. crime, not sure if that was luck or the norm.<br><br>Hotel – highly recommend. We were upgraded from a 1 to a 2 bedroom gardenview on arrival and I loved how much space we had (including 3 terraces. We could see the water from one of them). Pierre the water sports guy is very nice as were the men who man the desk at night. The women are more ‘business like and curt. The security guard even walked us to a nearby restaurant our first night bc we were a little skittish. Not sure why people bitch about the beaches. They were plenty big for me and I liked the choice b/t the busier one and the quieter, more shaded one. Also it was great being able to walk to dinner though I’d avoid Fri and Sat nights. The road is narrow (one car only can pass at a time) and when you add throngs of people and cars parked on the roadside its just too big a pain (literally as my friend was hit by a rearview mirror of a car that decided to pull off where she was walking. Luckily only her hand was injured). It feels a bit creepy for the short ways until the first restaurant but we survived. You CANNOT walk to restaurants via the beach despite what I was told on another forum. Manager’s cocktail party had good hors d’s.<br><br>Grand Case does look kind of scuzzy by DAY but at night restaurant row is very quaint, I thought. Overall I didn’t see the poverty or run down areas that I saw in St. Thomas.<br><br>My complaints:<br>- extremely rude wait staff at sunset café and lousy basket of bread for continental bfast<br>- very low ceilings in parts of the upstairs (hit my head twice) lol<br>- we had no water for 30 minutes 2 different days<br>- no tv for the same amt of time<br>- kitchen wasn’t great; fridge was full size but had no shelf space, frying pan wasn’t non stick and we didn’t get dish soap till our third day<br>- odd sewage-like smell in our upstairs bathroom. We also smelled this on prickley pear. I have no clue but it seemed to get worse when we ran the water (?) Not unbearable but still….<br><br>Restaurants<br>Sunset Café – very good food at dinner despite rudeness (we were told ‘I couldn’t carry all the plates’ when asking why a couple who came in 20 min after us was served first). Major attitude, but amazing locale right on the water.<br><br>Spiga- very good food, reasonable (appetizer portion of pasta was enough for me and cost $13). Short walk from hotel.<br><br>L’Pressior – beautiful inside but horribly slow service, small portions, not so great taste wise and the waiters had foul body odor that didn’t help my appetite. <br><br>California – pizza for one $7; oceanfront dining, okay décor, very loud and busy and when we were there people were smoking cigars. Not a ‘romantic’ place. More like a pizza hut on the water. Cute shop at the front where you can buy decorative things and incense.<br><br>Snorkeling/Beaches<br>Orient: went here on a stop during a taxi tour of the island. Pretty but good only if you want a grand central station vibe. I was glad I didn’t spend a lot of time here; the fewer nude misshapen bods I see the better. No prettier than some other beaches I saw.<br><br>Dawn: we saw this one from a nearby cliff on the taxi tour but it looked amazing; was sorry I didn’t spend the day here. I’d consider staying on this beach next time.<br><br>Grand Case: EXCELLENT snorkeling, best I saw on the island. Creole rock (you can kayak over for free or pay $25 for them to take you in a boat) and along the rocks that extend into the water at the far end away from the hotel are both beautiful. If you want to stay closer to shore, the shoreline on the second half of petite plage is rocky so snorkeling along there, in knee deep water I saw LOTS of fish, which got bigger the closer I got to the rocks at the end of the beach. I saw a barracuda farther out. Great sunsets from the observation deck between the 2 beaches.<br><br>Great Bay: too congested and loaded w. tourists. Didn’t snorkel here.<br><br>Bay Rouge: nice, large but not overwhelmingly beautiful (Dawn was prettier). Best thing about it here is the deserted beach I swam to around the rocks. I was all alone though the swim was farther than I’d anticipated but well worth it. Its small and surrounded by cliffs. My only company was a pelican and I realized if I called out no one would hear me. I snorkeled and saw only rocks but it was choppy and rainy that day.<br><br>Happy Bay – took a speedboat from the hotel for 10 bucks. Very pretty and deserted, w.one cliff-face w. lots of cacti. Nice sunset but better at the hotel. Still it was great being away from crowds.<br><br>Pinel - $5 ferry at cul de sac takes you there in about 10 minutes. Snorkeling is a WASTE of time; only grass and a couple fish. Hike across the island (not too bad a walk) to a rocky semi deserted beach w. a small access area into the ocean (rest of shore is rocky). More for sunning than swimming here. The side where the ferry drops you is horribly crowded on land and in the water and the restaurants arent too good. <br><br>Prickley Pear – snorkling not so good; water very choppy and a pretty good swim to shore (far enuf that the boat, the Scooby Doo which leaves from GCBC, offered dinghy rides to the beach to anyone who needed one.) They don’t dock very close to shore. Still well worth the trip. Beautiful water, amazing beach that gets more deserted as you walk around the island. Great food for lunch and large portion (included in price of trip, $80). Crystal blue as far as you can see and on the way back, you get a good view of st. martin and part of its west side. Didn’t get too close to Anguilla but we could see it okay.<br><br>Driving<br>Nightmare. I got a deal from my package for $31 for one day from alamo. I rented it for 2 days and after one day returned the car for a refund for the second day. Ive never been more stressed trying to drive. Cows, kids on bikes, people, cars all darting out at me. No one looks before they go, cars from side streets pull in w.out yielding, honking the horn means go apparently bc no one heeds it. I tried making a right turn once and a car in the far lane decided to dart out to pass the car in front of him and almost hit me head on. And in grand case, the streets are so narrow, only 1 car can pass and cars are all parked along the sides. I’m amazed there aren’t more accidents and im a good driver; have driven in many different places. By the time you get insurance (which you’ll need) it’s over 60 bucks a day w. most companies. We just took cabs save the one day I drove.<br><br>Grocery<br>Match in Marigot. First grocery store Ive been to on an island where nothing is in English. If you’re a label reader and don’t speak French good luck. I did find some familiar things like Dannon yogurt, not too bad pricewise but they charge for shopping carts! I didn’t find too good a variety though; a lot of imported cheeses and other things that I personally couldn’t use but it’s a large store and we got enough to eat lunch and dinner in our condo several times. Still, gimme the IGA on Cayman anyday where I can be in an out fast. <br><br>Marigot/Phillipsburg – not too impressed w. either. Marigot is pretty well, scummy on some streets. Looks like a poor man’s french quarter though the open air market is fun and you can see Fort St. Louis from the water front. Phil. has very narrow crowded streets, reminded me of charlotte amelie in st. thomas. Nicer than Marigot but not as ‘quaint’. Overall I thought the Dutch side looked a little better kept but I’m not sorry I chose the French side bc I really liked GCBC.<br><br>MISC<br>Watersports are plentiful at GCBC. We took advantage of the paddle boats twice and had a waterskiing lesson for free. Snorkeling overall is much better on Cayman, Turks or Jamaica based on what I saw but I’d return to St. Martin. It’s far from the ‘dump’ some posters have called it and I’m VERY picky.<br>Any questions ask away……….<br><br><br>