St. Martin, Part 3 & Final

Just a final follow-up to anyone that might be interested…

We had a lovely time staying at Villa Canoua, as several have guessed. It has a beautiful view, private pool, and is very well stocked. We hope to stay there again.

We tried Orient a couple of days… looking for comfy chairs as our main goal since I am still recovering from a broken tail bone in the spring. We headed to Coco beach, as I had read they had comfortable chairs. But, upon inquiry, the cost was 20 euros per chair, even if you ate & drank there. No way I was paying that when just up the beach they were free. So, due to sargassum & cost, we just left and went to Friar’s Bay. Had a lovely lunch there and much cheaper chairs!! We tried another day and just picked the most comfortable looking chairs… they were at Sun Beach (I think was the name). In retrospect, we’d probably pick Orange Theory, since they also had padded chairs and looked to be run by locals (as opposed to all French at the Saint Bart’s owned place we went). We had a lovely day, but the seaweed and wind were pretty bad. I am not too bothered by the sargassum as I rarely swim at Orient anyway since it’s so windy I don’t get hot!

Our dinners were at Bistro Caraibes, Le Pressoir, Le Bistronome, Spiga, Lolos & Charcuterie a couple of nights at the villa; lunches at Friar’s Bay Café, Sun Beach at Orient; Dany’s at Happy Bay. All were good to great! Highlights, in our opinion (including our 6 days in Simpson Bay from previous post) were: The Calvary Platter at Palapa Grill, Rum Crème Brulee at Pineapple Petes, Lobster Thermador at Bistrot Caraibes, Raw Oysters with citrus fruit pearls at Le Pressoir, Iced Coconut with Chocolate sauce at Friar’s Bay, Charcuterie Platter at Spiga, and LITERALLY everything at Le Bistronome (Our pick for best meal in 20 days).

We are also enjoying the wonderful quality French Rose wines we are able to find here!! $10 or less for wonderful quality that cost more than 2x that at home. I was able to find a lovely rose from Bandol... almost impossible to find in Tennessee!

I seem to have a tendency to pick bad days to fly….Monday this time. While we were down here, requirements changed to 1 day before, rather the 3 as the previous requirements. As far as I know, no one but the airport tests on Sunday. However, Cindy told us about the walk-in COVID testing clinic in Grand Case, about 2 minutes drive from the Villa. So, we decided to just test early on travel day, since the flight didn’t leave until 4:10pm. We arrived at 8:00 (they start at 8:00), were numbers 13 & 14 in line, and had our negative test results by 8:52. If we’d arrived at 8:30, the wait would have been only about 25 minutes total. Cost was 25 Euros each. We were pleased. We had brunch at Rainbow and were able to stay at the Villa a little longer since no one was checking in today. We left the Villa at 1… encountered a little traffic in Marigot, but arrived at the airport by 1:45. Nothing remarkable happened on the way home… check -in at airport easy; Global Entry in Atlanta…easy… waiting to fly home now, but everything looks to be on time. All in all, a wonderful trip as always. Thanks again to all of you who always help make our trip so much better!

Pics are Charcuterie at Spiga, Brunch at Rainbow, and Friar’s Bay.

Sounds like a great time was had by all! Thanks for taking us on your vacation! Lovely pixx too!! Talk about comfy chairs and great beach service. We stay at Kontiki! All new chairs with think cushions ! And they rake the beach!!! Food at there restaurant is really good, service too!! Swings at the bar! LOL!!! Put it on your itinerary for the next trip!! Safe travels!!

thanks for the report and the pictures! Glad your trip home was uneventful. That is a nice change these days! Thanks for taking us along.

Very nicely done.

Thank you for sharing with those of us who have months to wait until it’s OUR TURN!

Last May we went to Orange Fever for their free chairs with cushions many times over our 4 week stay. Great good and service either at loungers or at the tables. Give them a try next visit to Orient.

Unfortunately, the free chairs went away at Orange Fever during our stay. They were still only $10 which was half the price of most of the others on Orient Bay and still 1:1 dollar to euro if paying cash. Photo taken on December 2nd.

Did you eat/drink there or just going by the sign?

While I appreciate your concern over the cost of chairs at Coco, they are not 20 euros per chair, but 20 euros for two chairs with an umbrella. That includes a nice beach blanket for each chair, a bottle of water, and consistent beach service including fresh ice all day. Definitely not the cheapest place on Orient, but we think the value is worth it. And as much as I love Friars, including the beach, the calm water, and most especially, the restaurant....sorry, but the chairs there don't even remotely compare to those at Coco. We enjoy both beaches while we're there, but I'm surprised that you would choose Friars over Coco if you had issues with your back. Regardless, I'm happy you were able to find a beach that met your needs; just wanted to clarify the cost of the chairs.

Correct. And cost for 2 chairs and umbrella was 10.00 total if not eating at OrangeFever. Free if eating or buying drinks.

A couple of weeks ago Orange Fever was $10 for chairs even when eating, guy placing chairs out on the beach (guess owner guy?) said was because of high season.

Sorry Scuba! I should have clarified that the cost for the chairs was regardless of eating there or not. The food and service is the same as it’s always been…..excellent! We spent two of our beach days at Orange Fever this last trip (Nov. 26-Dec. 4). Very little seaweed on Orient Bay during our stay and the weather was perfect every day, except for the day we arrived which is a wasted day due to travel. I asked J.C. why they started charging and he said everyone else on the beach was and they were still half. I’m hoping it goes away in the low season when they’re less busy but we’ll have to see.

They were packed both days we went on the beach and for lunch.

It’s still our favorite spot on Orient Bay based on food, service and price. Throw in the charismatic J.C. and you have a winner no matter what they charge for their chairs.

Cheers!

That's interesting, because the day we were there he plainly told us it was 40, because I was shocked and asked him again... 20 euros per person? He said yes. We we saw another couple leave right before we went in and I asked my husband, I wonder what was up. The only thing we can surmise is the Sargassum was not down at that end of the beach at that time or he wanted a little extra money from us. We probably would have stayed for 20 euros, but not for 40. There's lots of other places to choose, so it's not a big deal. We were just surprised.

I was able to swim, snorkel, and eat at Friar's and we went back to swim at the villa fairly early because it was so close, so I spent very little time in the chair. We would not have gone swimming at Orient that day. Too windy and rough. The day we went back to spend the day at Orient we chose the new chairs.



Ah... I guess that explains why the brand new chairs that we sat in for free were much more popular than the other spots around us. They were much nicer chairs and they were "free" if you drank or ate lunch. Maybe we made the right decision after all! I just assumed Orange Beach was free because that was the case when we were there in January. I can't really see how that makes them much money.... we spent around $80 for a few hours in the "free" chairs.

I do know that some places increase their chair prices during high season, so perhaps that's the case at Coco. I agree that 40 euros is outrageous.

And many places will "negotiate" over the prices. It all depends on supply and demand and what they think they can get.

I wonder if the other big places, like Bikini, etc. are getting those kinds of prices for chairs? That's ridiculous. Another reason why we never go to SXM in high season.