First I would like to thank everyone on this forum who helped us plan this trip. It was one of our best vacations ever. All the advice from beaches to restaurants were accurate and enjoyable.
Day 1 (Sun): Jetblue JFK-SXM smooth flight. We left 20 min late and arrived 20min early. We met our rep from car rental (Banana Location) who drove us to our private rental villa in Mont Vernon (French Side) where our fairly new car Kia Rio was waiting. Settled into villa then went food shopping at Supermarche in Marigot for basics (beer, water, milk, cereal, fruit, etc), a very nice store but pricey. Since we were tired from traveling we headed to Grand Case lolos for dinner. We ate at “Talk of the Town” and had chicken and ribs. This was a great starter meal to get us in the Island mood.
Day 2 (Mon): Breakfast at the Villa then to Orient Beach for majority of the day. We had been here once before on a cruise stop and liked it so we started here. I am a person who cannot sit still and I lounged in my chair and swam for over 4hrs, guess sand gravity got to me and I needed it. We spent time at Orange Fever and Club O. Back to villa to shower then had dinner at L’Astrolabe to celebrate our Anniversary Dinner. The service and food was excellent. I had the Monday night special Surf & Turf and my wife had the chicken. Desert was Crème Brule (large portion) and Choc molten cake with a pistachio sauce – both excellent.
Day 3 (Tues): Sailed on the Bluebeard racing sailboat “The Arawak” out of Simpson bay 9:30am to Dog Island which is off of Anguilla. We have been on many catamaran sails before but never experienced anything like this. The Arawak is a high speed catamaran which holds only 12 passengers. The day we went there was only us and another couple so was practically a private tour. The boat and crew of 2 were awesome. Watching the crew work the boat and kept our thirst under control was fun to experience. Even though the boat traveled at much higher speed than we ever sailed before, it was smoother than any other we been on because it glides through the water. There are no seats but you sit either on the edge of the catamaran hull or the nets between them. They provide long sleeve shirts to keep you warm from the splash and for sun protection. Dog Island is a bird sanctuary and has a lot of catus as well as a nice white sand beach with calm water. We also observed nurse sharks in the shallows when we walked to the other side of the island. We arrived back to Simpson Bay around 5pm. Had dinner at Pineapple Pete’s down the street (mahi-mahi sandwich and a pizza both good). Tired from the sail went back to villa and early bed.
Day 4 (Wed): We returned to Bluebeard charters in Simpson Bay to sail on the BlueBeard Heineken catamaran to Anguilla’s Rendezvous Bay (approx. 2.5hr sail) then took approx. 20min bus ride to Shoal bay where we had a bbq lunch at a beach restaurant and over 2hrs to enjoy the beach or snorkel. The food was very good and beach was beautiful (rated one of the top in the world). Bus back to Rendezvous bay to get on catamaran to sail back to Simpson Bay. Although this boat held more people it never felt crowded and the crew kept us comfortable and well hydrated. Returned around 5pm. We went to Grand Case to eat at La Villa but it was closed. Although not on our list we tried Auberg Gourmade and it was our best meal of the vacation. I had Chilean sea bass/Monk fish special and wife had tenderloin. Food presentation and quality was excellent. We also felt the atmosphere was one of the nicest that we ate at.
Day 5 (Thurs): Take out breakfast from yellow sub (croissants, fruit and pudding cake) back to villa. Headed to Philipsburg for some jewelry for the wife and souvenirs for the kids at home. Lunch (pizza and wings) at Sunset Bar and Grill and watched planes in maho beach. Then headed to Mullet Beach. This beach was very calm and you could walk pretty far out without it being to deep or wavy. Back to villa to relax and swim in pool. Headed to Simpson bay had dinner at Bon Appetite (Pasta was decent) then to The Red Piano Bar for few drinks and music, nice place.
Day 6 (Fri): Breakfast at “Good Morning”. Had egg, ham and cheese croissant sandwich which was very good. Headed to ferry at Pinel Island at 9:30am, waited abut 30min for ferry. Spending a day at Pinel Island was one of our best days. The water and beach is so nice. Water very calm and soft sand bottom. We got chairs from Yellow Beach. Our waiter Oliver was awesome, don’t know how he remembered everyone’s names and their orders. He always checked to see if we were ok. Favorite part was he brought us our lunch out to a table in the water (Burger in Paradise)! 3:30pm Ferry back and got ready for Dinner at La Villa. We had mahi-mahi with Sweet Potato pie and the tenderloin, both were excellent in presentation and quality.
Day 7 (Sat): Back to Orient Beach, relaxed awhile but then we had a few rain storms. Got to relax a couple hrs and had lunch at Orange Fever (Sangria & Pizza which were very good and reasonably priced). We had dinner at Piazza Pascal (lobster/Penne and chicken/spinach/penne). The chicken penne was good but lobster penne very disappointing. But we ate so good all week 1 meal disliked was ok.
Day 8 (Sun): Packed up and worked on our tans last couple hrs before going to airport at noon. Jetblue flight back to JFK was on time and smooth. Got through security/passport quickly.
So…may not seem like a relaxing vacation but it really was. And we found our new favorite place so we will be back! Also, so many things on our list we didn't get to do so we must return. Thanks again to those who contribute to this forum.
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