St. Maarten Vacation

EXCITEMENT, FOOD, FUN AND SUN are just some of the things that you can experience during carnival in St. Maarten/St. Martin (SXM). Have you ever wanted to getaway and have the best time of your life? I certainly did this past April in SXM for its 40th Carnival Celebration on the Dutch side of the island. It all starts the last two weeks in April. I was there for the exciting final week and was entertained at the Calypso competition and the festival village. The festival village was the location of the local food vendors serving the best of their dishes. You have to try the conch and dumpling soup. It was my favorite. The rest of the week in the festival village were various artists performing all kinds of music from Soca to R&B. There were artists such as Mario. I had the best time of my life and you can too if you go to SXM for carnival.

The carnival parade is towards the end of the final week and is filled with the most beautiful costumes I have ever seen. I attended my first Jouvert (pronounced Joovay) ever. You must attend Jouvert in SXM. Jouvert is just a big street jump-up that follows a designated route. In SXM, the route can be as long as 5 miles or more with live bands on top of big trucks and thousands of people dancing or “chipping” (tiny steps to the beat of the bass) in the street behind the bands with their favorite drink in their hands. Jouvert starts at 4 AM and doesn’t end until 10 AM or so. Make sure you are well rested the night before and be ready to Dance and Have Fun until mid morning. You will find some of the most friendliest people in SXM and you will meet some along the Jouvert route.

SXM is where you can experience the food, style and hospitality of two separate countries in an exotic West Indian setting. The island is divided between French St. Martin in the north and Dutch St. Maarten in the south. Both sides of this 37 square-mile island offer beautiful ocean vistas, gourmet cuisines, first-rate water sports and beaches, and some of the best duty-free shopping in the world. Now you may be asking where is such a place and how do I get there? The island is located in the Netherlands Antilles. It sits southeast of Puerto Rico in the Atlantic Ocean. It is about a 45-minute to an hour plane ride from Puerto Rico. You can visit the island by plane or cruise ship. Many of the major cruise lines sail to SXM on their 7-day or longer Eastern Caribbean routes. In addition, most of the major airlines fly to SXM and some even have nonstop flights from the US mainland.


During my visit, I stayed on the Dutch side of the island in the Maho Bay area. It is surrounded with fun from Casinos to shopping to spas to nightclubs all within walking distance and oh yeah plenty of restaurants for all your taste buds. In the heart of Maho Bay is a restaurant named Cheri's. Tell Cordell (bartender) and Spicy (server) I sent you and I said hello. They have a variety show that starts around 8:00 or 8:30PM each evening. Don’t miss this show! You will fall out of your seat with laughter. The food is also great. Cheri’s is closed on Tuesday for a well deserve rest for the staff.

Another place you want to visit on SXM is Simpson Bay. It is in the heart of the Dutch action and it is not far from Maho Bay. There are many restaurants and bars on that strip. I ate at Pineapple Peters for lunch one day. They have some great stuffed shrimp. Also I went to Phillipsburg (capital of the Dutch side) and ate on the boardwalk at Barefoot Café. I had the club sandwich but one of my friends had the grill grouper and he said that was the best he had tasted. I think he had the Creole sauce if I am not mistaken. Make sure you try the grill grouper at Barefoot Café.

SXM is also great for Sun and Beach. You must go to Pinel Island. It is on the French side of the island. You will need to arrange a tour or ask your resort front desk how to get there if you are driving. They have great local cuisine restaurants on Pinel Island. Make plans to get there early (before 11 AM) and stay for 4 or 5 hours. You will take a 5-minute boat ride over to Pinel Island and it will cost you about $7 per person roundtrip. Make sure you go around the whole island while you are there. It has such warm, shallow and clear water that it is a beach lover’s delight. Take your own towels though. You can rent chairs and umbrellas if you want. One other beach that is popular on SXM is Mullet Bay. I didn’t get to go to Mullet Bay because of all the Fun I was having but ask about it. It's right next to the Maho Bay area.

If you want to dance the night away then SXM is the island for you. There is Tantra ($10 cover) next door to Cheri's on the side of Casino Royale. It was just recently renovated and they play the latest sounds. Also ask about Boo Boo Jam (free admission) which is located on the French side. It is very popular with the locals. It’s one of the favorite hang outs on Friday nights. Check out its website, www.booboojam.com . There are several other clubs that you might want to get your groove on while in SXM. Make sure to ask about Lago Nights on the French side and Bliss which is in walking distance from Tantra.

While in SXM, you have several ways to get around on the island. You can rent a car which is what a lot of visiters do. Once you get use to the round abouts (circles in the street to regulate traffic flow), then you will be comfortable driving. They do drive on the right-hand side as well. The local buses (cost about $1.50) are a great way to get to the downtown areas. The buses are actually 15 passenger mini vans. So they can get full really fast. Don’t worry though there are plenty of them on the road from about 6 AM to 12 midnight.

If you take a taxi which is more private, you may get lucky and have a driver and a tour guide all in one. You can also hire a driver for the day to take you around the island. Note that the local buses and taxis can be identified by their license plates. Another way to see the island and its features is through guided tours. There are tour companies to take you out on all types of adventures and excursions. You may check with your hotel’s front desk for information.

There are 36 beaches on the island, 12 casinos, duty free shopping on both sides, over 20 different day trips to other islands or visit the butterfly farm, an 18-hole golf course in Mullet Bay (the only one on the island) and plenty of water sports from rafting to parasailing and diving. Whatever you decide to do in SXM just enjoy yourself but be safe and take proper precautions as you should when you go anywhere local or overseas.

Take a look at the photos and you can see for yourself. I had so much FUN on SXM that I am going back.

Please note that you will need a valid passport to travel to SXM. If you would like assistance in planning and booking your getaway to SXM feel free to email us at email@yourvacationhotspots.com or contact us by telephone at 240-474-5020 for more details.