St. Maarten Suggestions
 

After seeing all the great pics from OSO members visiting St. Maarten, I want to plan a trip there this coming fall. Can you recommend good resorts or a particular part of the island? My wife and I are focused on the water activities like the beach, fishing, snorkling, and boating. Thanks!

We've stayed at the Divi Little Bay. Nice water for swimming, and you can swim off the beach to one of the areas where they take the snorkling party boats. Nice gentle bay to snorkle in, and some great fish / corals to see.

Easy to get to Phillipsburg, etc. Lots of boats / sailing in Phillipsburg. Of course, it's not hard to get to anything on the island. Dutch side is cheaper than the French side also - but if you want partially/unclotched scenary, you need to go to the french side for the best of that. The Divi beach does have some topless sunbathing though.

http://www.diviresorts.com/DiviLittleBay/index.html

I stayed at La Semana Resort on the French side of St. Maarten.... The food was great, the people were very nice and the resort was only 10 minutes from the airport.......beach was gorgeous too...... In case you didn't see my thread on the sonic I chartered in St. Maarten here is the link.........it made the whole trip that much better....


http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...xperience.html

Thanks, I saw your pics. Please PM me Pascal's contact info for the Sonic charter. That would be a must do!

This is the resort La Samanna.....and I sent you the contact info.......

http://www.lasamanna.com/web/omar/la_samanna_resort.jsp

I would also recommend staying on St Martin (the french side of the island) because they sure know how to prepare food. Even the simple things like the bread and cheese were wonderful. We spent a week at Le Meridien and it was very nice. We did the usual day trips to St Barths, Anguilla, and the topless beach (forget the name). But for me the best part of the vacation was just hanging out on the beach in the litte bay at the hotel, sipping drinks and eating great food.

I've been all around the island several times... one of my favorite destinations.

Philpsburg is kind of a touristy sh!thole IMO, but if you're looking to buy jewelry, booze, or smokes it might be of interest to you.

Orient beach on the east side is the most famous and noted for being a 'nude' beach, but I've always found the beach to be a little dirty and the majority of the people that elect to go nude there to be downright sterilizing! The water is sometimes rittled with weeds and crap that occasionally gets blown in from the ocean.

I actually prefer the western side of the island... IMO, there's a lot more going on and I think the beaches are nicer. Mullet bay beach is fantastic. Maho bay is right around the corner is kind of neat to experience. It's located right in front of the airport (with a nice bar at the edge of the beach). The jets literally land a few feet over your head and take off at full thrust right at the top of the beach. It's worth experiencing. Cupecoy beach is somewhat secluded and is the other significant nude beach on the island... and probably the most beautiful beach as well as there are large cliffs that surround it. W/o a doubt, it's a must see beach. But again, most of the life of the island IMO is in the west - southwest area on the dutch side. There's a casino, shops, strip club, golf course, etc, and if you're into the outdoor club scene, you should do Bliss at least one night! If you go to Bliss on a weekend, bring lots of money and your camera... it will be worth it. ;)

[QUOTE=SS930;3399190]

Philpsburg is kind of a touristy sh!thole IMO,[QUOTE]

I definatly agree with that ....but I did get a great deal on a Chanel watch for my wife in Philipsburg.........

Yeah, you can get some great deals there on jewlery, but you have to really beat them up hard to get the best prices out of them...

BTW, don't go nuts with the rental car there. The roads are tight and people treat cars like bumper cars there! Most have spray paint touch ups. Smaller is generally better and dont leave anything valuable in the car, especially in plain sight.