Been lurking for about four months because I like to know some things about the area, but we are finally arriving at SXM tomorrow. Figured I'd drop in and say hi. This is our first trip to the island and we will likely mostly stay in the Orient Bay/ Pinel Island area. Will probably paddleboard to Pinel. Have a VRBO booked by hotel la Playa. https://www.vrbo.com/10135072ha?noDates=true It seems like we will have plenty of places to visit on Orient Beach and really we are just looking forward to a relaxing time visiting beaches and dining sans kids.
Hoping the AA flight ( ) goes well tomorrow and it will be nice to see some sun again.

Sounds like a great first trip - welcome to the forum. Please let us know your impressions.

Hi. Welcome! We certainly will be interested to hear your impressions about your trip. I was confused to begin with, when you said "hotel la Plaza". Looking at where you are staying it is Hotel La PLAYA. Anyway, say hi to Bruno and Carol there at the restaurant LaPlaya, from all of us here!

Oops yeah. Changed that. I will let everyone know how things go.

You will have a wonderful trip. Orient Bay is excellent and there is plenty to do. Over the years we've discovered that the most relaxing trip is simply finding a spot on the beach at Club O and just hanging there our entire trip. However, since this is you first trip, I recommend renting a car and exploring the island a little. Marigot has a nice market and Gran Case has some of the best restaurants in the Caribbean. You've got to try Bistrot Caraibes.

SXM has been our family vacation for over 30 years, having first gone there is the mid 80s. Our son and daughter grew up there with our annual 2 or 3 week vacation in Dec/Jan. every year. They are adults now and we have added our granddaughter to the roster. Importantly, we have always tried to keep a week to just the 2 of us so that we could enjoy a quiet, peaceful Sint Maarten time for ourselves.
You will enjoy the "Friendly Island" as we have for such a long time and you will be back, just as we have been for so many years. This forum will help you with the essentials like car rentals, restaurants that match your desires and budget and other helpful information. You can attain valuable knowledge that will make your vacation more enjoyable. We love seeing new looks and information from folks like you that will benefit all of us since Sint Maarten/Saint Martin is a changing island for visitors like us.
Tom