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Joined: Dec 2014
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We just got home last night/early this morning from a truly perfect trip - we rented a car (which we totally did not need - drove just once and could've taken a cab) - stayed in an apartment within walking distance of Orient beach and mostly just vegetated and drank wine, after starting the day off with walks from one end of the beach to the other and back (about four miles in all)

The new stores/restaurants are close but not ready yet - Aloha is close but needs electricity - SunBeachClubber was selling beverages out of an ice chest but no bathroom facilities - no other real sign of life from the restaurants - Adam and Eve were fully up and running - Sexy Fruits was almost there - Luiz also up and running... I would think at least another month until everyone is up and going... So much for taking advantage of the high season - felt really bad for all of those folks.

Found some very, very cool shells, but needed a snorkel and mask and they were primarily on the Club O end... Hope nobody there thought I was being a creep - totally only looking for shells - I snorkeled on both ends of the beach and out at Tintamarre but the best snorkeling was right in front of Pedro's -

Lots of terrific food - please try BO - it was excellent and seems not to have been discovered yet - also Thai Chi, L'table Antoine, and L'Ptit Bistro - we went to Ocean 82 one night and had our favorite meal of the trip - if you're into wine, the Viognier was delicious....

We didn't do much exciting - mostly we came early and left late from the beach - we were walking distance from KonTiki and all of their servers were amazing - Eric, Aurelian and Fabian - nothing bad to say about any of them - they really made the vacation special!

We'll be back in 354 days, which is not soon enough!

(It is 25 degrees with a 15mph north wind right now.... Not fair)

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Believe taking shells back to US is illegal. Recommend sea glass.

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That's the sign of someone who truly enjoyed their trip==just back and already booked a return trip!! Glad you enjoyed the trip. Any pro or con on the place you stayed?? Any pictures??


Carol Hill
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Oops then I broke the law.... Didn't mean to

But I found a conch that someone had already eaten the fish out of and it was too perfect to pass up

And just fwiw, the only sea glass I found was broken beer bottles just (obviously so) - I cleaned them up

Last edited by jborosara; 02/14/2016 06:44 PM.
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Thanks for a great report! We will be there in 3 weeks. Thanks for the reviews and updates. Always looking for new places to eat.
Where is BO ?
And yes counting the days til the next trip is a fun thing to do!
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thanks for your report. where is thai chi? is thai food their featured dish?

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Thanks for noting Aurelion. For years he was our favorite waiter at CO. He really is a special guy. CO's loss is Kontiki's gain. We stop to see him every trip.

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Glad you had a great time!! Got you beat though...already booked next years trip and we are 5 days and a wake up from going back!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

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Just before you go upstairs to customs at the airport, there is a glass case with examples of what not to try and take home. There it is, a big conch shell.

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Problem is that by the time you see this display case your bags are packed and already checked in, so cannot remove items, unless items are in hand luggage.

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It is not permitted to transport shells of protected species but common sea shells are not prohibited.

Some areas of the USA prohibit the removal of live shells but this really has nothing to do with travel.

Your posted bail is being returned <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Last edited by boucharda; 02/15/2016 08:04 AM.
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Thai chi is in the orient village square. Yes Thai food is their main stay on the menu. Very good.

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That is for carry on, not checked bags

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Quote
beachpeople said:
Just before you go upstairs to customs at the airport, there is a glass case with examples of what not to try and take home. There it is, a big conch shell.


Bringing a conch shell back in to the US is legal, depending on where you are coming from.

From What you need to know from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Quote
You may import queen conch into
the United States from parts of the
Caribbean not subject to the trade
prohibitions, provided it is allowed
by the country of export and it is
accompanied by any required CITES
documents. Countries from which
import may be allowed include: Anguilla,
Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda,
Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Cayman
Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Grenada,
Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Jamaica,
Mexico, Montserrat, the Netherlands
Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts
and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and
the Grenadines, Turks and Caicos, and
Venezuela.

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We stayed right behind Kakao, so I have a good idea where you were staying. We too liked just being able to walk across the road to the beach. Back today, miss that morning walk.

Re – “another month till everyone is up and running” – I don’t think so. Four are standing together [so far] wanting the resto buildings to be done correctly – Cheryl’s [old name], Chez Leandra, Ethnic and Orange Fever. A ton of issues to be dealt with as well as lease terms. I suspect if they dig in too hard, the gov’t will ask others if they want the spaces and then the owner of the northern beach bars will take over some spots – only my guess.
Otherwise power and water hook ups are the most pressing issue.

Note the sail awning, protects about 16 sq of deck from any rain – that’ s why Sun Beach, Aloha and Le String have built roofs with some sort of side walls being built

“Where is BO’ – In the village, if Cotes Plages is 12 o’clock, BO is 2 o’clock

J&B

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Has anyone heard anything else about the status of the negotiations, if there are any, with the Collectivite' regarding the leases? I do not blame the holdouts at all. The government has been so unfair in this whole situation. I guess that the people who have gone forward to get open feel that the government will have to modify the leases? This is just such a total no win situation for them. They are basically going on 9 months with no income. What small business can survive that, and then afterward, pay 500% of what their previous rent was, per month? It's crazy...


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Regarding shells and rocks. I collect rocks, mainly for use in bonsai arrangements, a few just for display. Absolutely NOT allowed in carried luggage--viewed as weapons maybe. No problems in the past in checked luggage, although it does make the luggage heavy. A friend takes back urchin shells--checked luggage--but he puts them in boxes for safety.

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You cannot bring a conch shell in carry-on bags since it could be used as a weapon or hide one, but checked luggage is fine.

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just for the record - it was not a huge conch shell - it had already been fished and was not really different than any other sort of abandoned shell -

I did, however, carry it in my carry on as I was afraid it would get broken in my suitcase - I made no secret of it - no attempt to hide it and if they had tried to confiscate it, would have willingly turned it over...

don' know if that means that what I did was legit or that security is lax - it is what it is

great trip - best snorkeling of the trip right in front of Pedros

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Thanks for posting. The most important thing is that you had a great time! Sorry the responses got sideways about that one issue.


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it's OK Carole... everyone has to have a hobby:-)

it was a cool shell and as soon as I got out of the water with it, there were a half dozen people asking where I found it - broken shells were all over the beach - the almost intact one was the only one I found...

to be fair - there were plenty of live conch further out and deeper (as I would have expected) - I left them alone as I had no intention of eating the conch (don't know how to prepare it - had a delicious conch stew on super bowl sunday so no objection to eating them) - but it's sort of how I feel about hunting - shouldn't kill things just for the heck of it - only if I was going to eat...

anyway - we booked the exact same unit for next year - cannot say enough nice things about the St. Martin rentals staff (Lydia and Christine) or about the unit (Blue Fish Condo - though I hesitate to mention it because I don't want it to get too popular:-) We did exactly what we wanted to do - which was wake up every morning - cross the street to KonTiki - walk four miles on the beach - then drink wine and watch the ocean the rest of the day... I did some swimming and snorkeling, too - but only when I wanted to


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