TravelTalkOnline Forums Trip Reports (Read Only) SXM Trip Reports and Photos Trip Report - Part 2 SXM

Nov 19 – Dec 1, 2007
This is part two of our trip report, SXM portion.
We arrived via ferry at Marigot from Anguilla a bit later than expected due to a ferry delay but we were met by Valley Car Rental with a above average sign with our last name. We signed off the docs on a Daihatsu Sirion that we rented for two weeks at a rate of $300 total. We chose Valley this trip because of the sponsors they gave us the best rate and we wanted to try something other than the basic Corolla, and they also did a good job of communicating with us and making us feel that arriving at Marigot would be not problem, and it went smooth. I will continue with the car story for as long as I am on this topic. All the car rental places are fine if you do not have any problems, but when you do have an issue is when you separate the companies on how they handle the problem. Well, we met Dino who owns Temptation and Rare, he rear ended us as we were going back to our room at the Flamingo after eating at Lal’s. The hit took place on the road right by BBB just past the Atrium. Dino was pleasant and assured us there would be no problems, we got his insurance info and off we went. Probably would have stressed more if it had not been a known person like Dino. The back hatch of our car was dented in to where you could not open the back hatch. We tried to call Valley that night but I think I had dialing issues and was not using the best phone number to reach them and it was about midnight. I called Valley in the morning, after noticing that a tire went flat that morning as well and they sent somebody out to take care of the problem. It took about two hours from the time they called but they handled themselves well. They came over and traded us out a Mitsubishi Lancer that was near new, apologized to us like the accident was their fault, once again they handled themselves very well through this issue. The weather was a bit iffy so the time lost was not an issue to us. We left SXM on a 7am flight so when we left we were instructed to just leave the car in the parking lot unlocked with the keys under the mat, worked fine for us. I have not had a real problem with any of the car rental places we have used, we still like Unity but Valley scored high in our book as well.

We seem to do less and less each trip we make, we had our daughter KT join us for our first week on SXM which was fun as can be and it kept us more active than we probably would have been had she not been there, the second week we had a serious case of gravity hit and did less and less other than our much needed relaxation.

We stayed our first week at Flamingo in one of the upper area rooms which we liked especially since it had a washer and dryer. They do a good job at Flamingo other than their check in and check out process which has to be the most inefficient process known to mankind. The only other negative was the water pressure, which after dealing with the Allamanda pressure the week before was an improvement but not by much. We enjoyed our stay there and would go back with out hesitation.

Our second week we stayed about 50 yards away in unit 16 at La Vista. The unit had two floors separated by a spiral staircase. Had a shower and sink both upstairs and downstairs with the main bedroom downstairs. The upstairs had a nice kitchen area and a living room area with a deck that had a very nice view and access to a walkway that went down to the pool area. Check in here is simple, a small hotel feel which is nice. Tons of water pressure, which was nice for a change. La Vista also has a nice pool area that we ended up spending a lot of time at because it was just easy and we were too lazy to put much effort into going anywhere. The weather later in the week became iffy so it was nice to go down and enjoy the sun when it was out and we could retreat back to our place if the weather turned bad. We would stay here again as well.


With out going day to day and noting that we did not have a bad day or even a bad hour on the island here are our favorite highlights.

DK Gems – Deepti is simply the best, we have not tended to spend a lot of money but we are always remembered by the staff there and are treated as if we spend big bucks. I feel good about the money I do spend there, and MJ feels even better.
Lal’s – It is becoming a regular place for us, we enjoy his humor and hospitality along with the food and reasonable prices. I think we went there 4 times on this trip, enjoyed it each and every time and met some nice people there as well.
Shrimpy’s – From the Simpson Bay area this is a great place to go for free wifi. The food is very good, running around the $10 range plus or minus a buck and they have happy hour every day from 5 to 6 pm which works for us and they have $1.50 drinks on just about all drinks that they can make. We liked that we were under cover when on our computers and enjoyed the service.
Gulmohar’s – Best place to buy liquor, mainly because of their selection of premium liquors that most do not carry. The other thing that is nice is they have a knowledgeable staff to help you with making selections and can offer the story behind the brand. It is also a great place to purchase cigars. Also note for those who do not know, Harsha is now engaged to marry a gentleman from Belize where she will reside after their marriage. We are pretty happy for her, and I can see her family is happy as well.
Baywatch – This is the only place on the island I can promise I will go to every trip, excellent food, excellent service, just feel very comfortable being there. We all know this place so I will not go on and on with my praise for them. I really love the Chili Omlette and coffee in the morning, as well as the Mussels ala Andy.
Kissing Fish – First time to visit this place for breakfast and we enjoyed it very much. The Banana Pancakes are excellent as are the other menu items. Good service and atmosphere, and very nice to hit on your way to Baie Rouge or the other beaches in that area.
Pineapple Pete’s – Excellent customer service especially considering how busy they get, excellent food and at a reasonable rate. You can eat for about $10 with a wrap or a sandwich or you can go all the way up to the Lobster Thermidor that I tried and enjoyed very much. We will be sure to make future trips back here. On our last night we ran into Deepti there, and if I have not mentioned it yet we really like Deepti, she is a class act.
Calmo’s Café – Tried it for the first time this trip and enjoyed the food, service, and relaxed atmosphere of eating with your feet in the sand.
BBB – Always enjoy chatting with Neil, being a business person myself I find him especially entertaining. The food and drink is good as well.
Pizza Galley – Speaking of Neil’s, we ran into Neil of Celine fame and chatted with him for a while. His son opened a restaurant across from Tequila’s called The Stone. We picked up a couple of pizza’s to take back to our place and both were very good, kind of a nice change of pace.
The Stone – An interesting concept of serving your food on a stone in an undercooked state where the food continues to cook in front of you. Excellent presentation of the food, very good food, and something that is out of the ordinary. The price range is mid 20’s and I think the place will continue to improve as the place matures since it has only been open for about 5 weeks.
Tequila’s – Had the Fajita’s and they are excellent, we also enjoy the service by Augustus and Tony.
SSBB – Stopped by a couple of times for drinks and ate there only once. Used my Bar Hawk card and used some chairs one day and did a bit of snorkeling as well. Since KT has not ever gone snorkeling I enjoyed taking here out. I was surprised by how good it was leaving SSBB going towards Bliss.
Baie Rouge – Did some snorkeling there as well, going around towards the grotto area that is talked about. Saw lots of fish. We enjoy Baie Rouge, probably now our second favorite beach after Orient.
Bruce’s Baywatch Bash – Really enjoy these events and Bruce pulled off a good one. Lots of fun and was well serviced by the Baywatch staff. We enjoy visiting with the people we have met over the years.

That last sentence is probably about as big a reason as any on why we like SXM so much. It is very comfortable, we are amazed by all the people that remember from previous trips. When you walk into a place like DK Gems and they say “hi Todd” or “hi MJ” it is nice. With all the traffic they get it is simply amazing to me that they can remember us as well as the details of our last visit(s).

While on the island I did some cigar research which I will put into a separate post. My other research I already posted about, you can get a Heineken in the drive through at KFC, they cost $1.40 each and they open them for you. May seem wrong but in a way it also just seems right.

The traffic change in the Cole Bay area is barely any sort of solution, and I for one am not sure the traffic is getting all that much worse as much as the tolerance for lack of improvement seems to be increasing. The traffic is bad, but most of the time we seem to be going the other way or seem to be able to adjust our plans to avoid a back up.

The dreaded trip home went off with out any hassles, and enjoyed the new airport for leaving and having the AC and space, just seems more sane. SXM to SJU where we cleared customs with 6 bottles backed and declared but was no hassle. We had plenty of time for all our connectors along the way. In SJU we picked up 4 bottles of liquor there to carry the rest of the way which you can do after security. We had no issues taking these aboard the plane in SJU or when we connected in DFW before returning to PDX. It is a long trip home but always worth it, we like it so much better than Hawaii or Mexico.

Next trip for me (with out MJ) departs Dec 29th, next trip with MJ is presently scheduled for mid to late May although nothing set yet.

Once again, thanks to all of you who post information regarding SXM and Anguilla. Even after many trips we still learn.

Cheers, pictures - a properly stocked fridge and one looking out from our deck at La Vista.
Todd