Just returned last night from 9 nights on the island. 4th trip and probably the best trip to date.
Kenny's rental car, white corolla, as usual, and served us perfectly. Put in a total of $25 in gas our entire stay...with that i was amazed as I had alotted around $60 for gas.
Divi (7 nights) was wonderful. Only meal we had there was from the internet cafe, Tomato and Mozzarella Pannini with pesto....excellent. Internet cafe open until 9pm and has soda, beer, alcohol, some foods and necessity items, etc. all at reasonable prices. 2bdrm unit was along the beach, totally renovated. Will post pics later this week if I can figure it out! Beach was perfect...beach bar not rebuilt, bartender, Leroy, advises maybe in March? I hope so, the other bar was never busy when we were there and lacked the "island feel" that the tiki-bar had. The beach at Divi was by far the calmest we encountered on this trip. No safety issues at resort (or anywhere else for that matter) and we arrived "home" after 2am on several nights. Always security at the entry gate to let you in (and out).
Mary's Boon (2 nights), got a lower-level lobby unit, nice and clean. Water pressure was the poorest I have experienced along with the toliet being very "temperamental". Beach was very nice, lots of dogs (that lived there i assumed) playing in water and hanging around resort which really made me miss our Great Dane and Weim! Brought steak and chicken home for the dogs one night after dinner!
Location is perfect as we love dining in Simpson Bay area. Karacters beach bar is a very short walk and is a super-cool little operation. Only had drinks here, but food looked wonderful.
Places we ate:
Halsey's (our favorite) Vodka Shrimp Cocktail, Shrimp and Scallops, Grouper. All Excellent. We love the atmosphere here. Next door is always Lady C's for drinks.
Chesterfields: Calamari Appetizer, Mixed Seafood Kebabs and Crab stuffed shrimp for main course. Very Good. Service was a little more "get-em-in and get-em-out" than we would have liked, but food was good and atmosphere was nice.
Peg Leg Pub: New location is nice, went on a Friday night which was VERY busy. Live entertainment. We did not have a reservation (2 of us) arrived around 8 and waited around 45 minutes for a table. Had Fried Brie for a starter which is amazing and I have tried with no luck to replicate at home. For dinner, we both had the Lobster Thermador, rich, gooey and also amazing. This really is a must-do restaurant in my opinion (as is Halsey's).
Toppers (Simpson Bay): Shrimp cocktail was average, served with more of a thousand island dressing than a cocktail sauce. I had the Crab & Avacado Salad..highly recommended and boyf had the Seared Tuna which he said was the best he has ever had. We had some king of chocolate-cake like desert that was good, served with 2 shots of mocha rum. Wanted to go back for another dinner here, but didnt make it.
Tijuana Yacht Club: Stopped for chicken nachos and marg's- wanted to do the "worm shot" to get the free t-shirt, but they were out of t-shirts. Nachos and Marg's were just okay.
Jimbo's: I had the Combo (chicken, steak, shrimp) fajitas and they were good..a lot of food. Boyf got the Seared Tuna, ordered it rare but it came out well-done with no pink at all. They took it back and returned with a rare one quickly. Great atmosphere, good service.
Zee Best: Wonderful breakfasts here. I really dont think you can go wrong by stopping here at least once. Also stopped for sandwiches to-go one afternoon (tuna and BLT).
Bel-air Restaurant (next to Divi): Shrimp Scampi and ??? can't recall what boyf had...both good. Small, casual place, but we didnt feel like venturing out that night.
I think I'm missing one or two places we had dinner?? BUT one of the best lunches we had was on the Celine Friday Fun Sail. Went to Tintamarre and did the mudbath thing and stopped at Creole Rock for some non-exsistant snorkeling but overall the day was perfect. Highly recommended.
Beaches:
Mullet several times. We love this beach and the people watching. Water always seems to be a little rough, but totally swimable. 2 little bars with burgers, ribs and drinks.
Orient Beach once. Got chairs and most drinks at Kokomarina with the exception of the 50-ounce margarita we had to try from next door ($18 and keep the "glass", its more like a giant test-tube!) Windy day but is a must-do for us each trip.
MISC:
Hollywood Casino several times for Texas Hold'em. I dont often play slots but threw a $20 in and hit $650. Hopefully luck will carry on to Vegas trip next month!
Red Piano- Very cool place (and just steps from Hollywood Casino!)
Weather- Typical! Warm, sunny, fairly windy. Very little rain...maybe 3-4 times entire trip and never lasted very long. Perfect.
Bugs- Got bit by something on first night, woke up with swollen arm and opposite hand. Freaked me out a little (couldn't even sign my name it was so swollen). Got some Benedryl and it took a few doses over about 12 hours and finally went away and all was back to normal. Not sure what got me, maybe just a reaction to different mosquitos? never had a problem the rest of trip with any critters.
Saw less stray dogs than i recall in the past. Saw one dead goat on the roadside stiff with all 4's up in air and one or two dead cats on road.
Traffic was no problem. No long waits other than a few run in's with the bridge and then we just pulled over and had a beer wherever we were near until traffic cleared back up!
Great trip, can't wait to return...hopefully I can get some pics posted this weekend. Thanks to all for the advice/opinions that are a constant source of invaluable information on this site!
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