Rick Mollica
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I authored this travelogue describing our family's trip to Saint Martin in January 1997.
My wife, my 11-year old son, and I went to our timeshare at the Pelican Resort on St. Martin between January 11-18th, 1997. This was our third trip to SXM during January, and as usual, the weather was wonderful. Here's a recap of the highlights of our trip. ARRIVAL We took USAir Flight 1441 directly from Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) Airport to SXM. The flight leaves BWI at 8:40AM and arrives at SXM at about 1:30PM. Subtract the hour added by one time zone change and you have a flight that takes a little less than four hours. The first difference we noticed upon arrival was a Steel Band playing enthusiastically as we entered the terminal. What a nice greeting! The immigration process went very fast, as always when you take this flight, and we were treated to complementary glasses of guavaberry juice as we waited for our luggage. After retrieving our luggage and grabbing tourism booklets and coupons from the racks in the terminal, we headed outside to get our rental car.
About a week before we left the states, we had telephoned Summer Set to rent a jeep. They met us with the jeep at the airport and we did the paperwork right on the jeep's hood. Summer Set gets rave reviews on the Prodigy travel boards, and we liked them when we used them two years ago, but this year they foisted a real piece of junk on us. They disguised the fact that the removable roof had no anchoring snaps by tucking the ends of the plastic roof material into the rear (tailgate) doorjamb. There were no windows mounted on the sides or back, but we figured they were under the seat (they weren't). There were no seat belts in the back seat, the visors kept dropping down, the radio barely pulled in a channel, etcetera, etcetera. For this the charge was $350 per week (jeeps are quite a bit more expensive than cars).
I shouldn't have been in such a hurry to get our vacation underway, so I take the blame for not being more careful in checking over the jeep before driving off. Anyway, the whole roof collapsed (because the roof material in the back doorjamb came loose) as we proceeded down Airport Road - the sound of my wife’s scream and the sight of the collapsed roof flapping in the wind behind us were clear signals to my keen intelligence that this jeep really wasn't a keeper. I called Summer Set from the Pelican. At first they said they'd give me a 10% discount to make things right (no way!); then they said they'd give me an air conditioned car, which I didn't want; then they kind of chastised me for taking the jeep in the first place, because if I hadn't taken it, they could have rented it to a couple of kids from Baltimore. They were not unfriendly during all of this, and they were very courteous and apologetic when they picked up the jeep and returned my credit card slip.
The next morning I got the same model of jeep from Empress Car Rental at the Pelican Resort. The jeep was practically new and came equipped with a locked spare tire, tire-changing tools, the "club" to lock the steering wheel, seat belts, an excellent radio, a cigarette lighter that worked, and a roof and windows that snapped into place properly. They even have a hotline phone number to call if you need road service. Imagine! And this jeep cost $300 per week vice Summer Set's price of $350. The Empress jeep provided trouble-free service all week and we would recommend Empress to anyone (their phone number is 011-45293 Ext. 5190). The only disadvantage is that the turn-in was at the Pelican rather than at the airport, so we paid $10 for a cab to take us to the airport when we left.
Here's a thumbnail sketch of the beaches we liked the best.
is my favorite beach. The surrounding scenery is beautiful (in addition to the tops-optional aspect). The beach itself has one section where the waves have a lot of action (which my son absolutely loved) and the rest is fairly calm. There are two lo-lo's on the beach (Gus's Place and Chez Raymond) with a handful of tables with umbrellas where you can get all kinds of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, barbecue, and sandwiches. You can rent beach chairs and umbrellas ($5 each), buy T-shirts and wrap-arounds from local "entrepreneurs", and even get a massage right on your lounger (mine was 30 minutes of heaven for $20). Another nice feature is that there is a security guard who watches the cars in the parking lot now.
is another great tops-optional beach. There aren't any food services here, just a beautiful stretch of sandy beach with mild wave action. This is a wonderful place to go to get away from crowds.
is in great shape and is simply a beautiful spot. There were quite a few people there, about 75% of whom were nude or topless.
was at its best. The beach itself was in wonderful shape, the wind conditions were the mildest I've ever seen, the concessions were all back in full swing, and the place was packed.
is one of the best kept secrets on the island, in my opinion. We stayed there two years ago and loved it, and now it’s better than ever after being refurbished. But even if you don’t stay there, you can use many of their facilities. They have a great tops-optional beach at the north end of the hotel, a nice casual restaurant right at the waterfront, waiters who serve drinks to the sunbathers, a small store, clean public rest rooms, and rental equipment (chairs, umbrellas, floats, snorkeling gear). We really love that place.
My
11-year old son snorkeled at Pelican Resort's little beach and loved it. It's
no great shakes for an adult, but my son had a ball while gaining snorkeling
experience in a relatively safe spot. That's Joey at the left letting me know
that this snorkeling thing is okay.
The Grand Case Beach Club runs two trips a day to Creole Rock (11AM and 2PM), which is less than a mile from the hotel. A former French Navy diver named Philippe took my son and me in a small Zodiac boat out to the rock. Hurricane Luis destroyed most of the coral, so this is a far cry from its former glory, but again, my son absolutely loved it. The trip cost $20 per person ($25 if you need to rent snorkel gear) for about an hour. Veteran snorkelers or divers wouldn't enjoy Creole Rock in its current condition, but people who are new to the sport would love it.
My son and I snorkeled around the cave at the north end of Baie Rouge, but the wave action in that area on that day was enough to kick up too much sand. Visibility was about zero, so we headed back to the beach.
Prickly Pear is an island off the coast of Anguilla
and is reportedly the best snorkeling
trip left in the SXM area. My son and I signed up with about 35 other people
for a snorkeling tour aboard the Lambada, which is a 68 foot catamaran. We had
a blast! The Lambada is spacious, comfortable, and smooth sailing. The sail
to the island takes about 90 minutes. There is an open bar and snacks on board,
and we had a BBQ lunch on the beach at Prickly Pear at a bar/restaurant called
"Johnno's" (this place was rated one of the top 10 bars in the entire
Caribbean by a national travel magazine, the name of which escapes me). The
coral is in good condition and there are plenty of fish. We snorkeled before
lunch, relaxed on the beach after lunch, and then snorkeled once more before
leaving. 
The
whole trip is a 9AM to 5PM deal which costs $65 per adult (children were less,
but I forget how much). I strongly recommend this trip; my 11-year old says
it was the highlight of the whole vacation. Two tips: There is a coupon in the
discount books at the airport that gives a 10% discount on the Lambada package.
And consider buying one of those Kodak underwater cameras so you can bring home
some great shots of you snorkeling.
In the picture at right Rick is enjoying the 85-degree weather during the cruise from St. Martin to Prickly Pear. What a life!
This is a little side trip not to be missed. I don't know which is more exciting - the trip up and down the road or the incredible view from the top. In any case, take an hour out of your day to go up to Paradise Peak - it's worth it, and it's free.
Not in a million years did I expect a tour of a butterfly farm would be interesting, but it was fascinating. A guide named Laura (an expatriate from Canada) showed us around and made the whole trip very interesting. It even merited my son's approval! A ticket that was good for our whole vacation for our whole family cost $20.
The market is a little smaller now because the film set for Speed2 took some space, but it's just as colorful, just as crowded, and just as fun as always. My favorite stands are the spice stand and the French painter's concession, but they're all fun. We were pretty successful negotiating at most concessions, but there were a couple that wouldn't budge from their prices. I also happened upon a funny episode in which a cab driver made the mistake of parking in front of a very large woman's stand. She wanted one of the buses from the tour ship to park there, so she was screaming and gesturing at him in a heavily Creole accented English to move his cab, and he was yelling back at her in the same very loud voice. At one point she announced to the whole market that the cabbie was an "ignorant a..hole", to which he hollered, "You can call me ignorant, but don't call me an a..hole!" Seeing that he was fighting a losing battle, the cabbie started looking for help. Unfortunately, I was right there. He turned to me and explained that the REAL reason the woman was yelling at him was not his color (they were both black), but "it's my education, 'mon". "But damn it 'mon," he said, "she and I went to school together so she has no right!" I was trying to figure out the logic of that statement when a beleaguered looking policeman (who seemed to fear the oversized woman himself) finally hustled the maligned cab driver into his cab and away from the parking spot. The woman in the concession had that same smug look of satisfaction at having won the argument that men the world over recognize.
...was filming the finale of the movie while we
were in Marigot. 
We
watched as the forward half of a ship moved on a track into a Hollywoodized
Marigot as "shoppers" ran from the disaster. It was pretty interesting
to see how they do it. That's Joey, my eleven-year old, in the picture to the
right.
We did pretty much the standard shopping stuff that everyone does in Marigot and Phillipsburg, so I won't belabor that.
This is an exceptional restaurant, the one we would choose if we could only eat at one restaurant on the island. I raved about this restaurant last year, and it's even better this year. Located in Grand Case in the oldest house on SXM, Le Pressoir combines absolutely superb French cooking with exceptional service and wonderful ambiance. We had three dinners with wine for about $100. Go there.
...in the Palapa Center in Simpson Bay was another outstanding restaurant. The steaks here simply melt in your mouth and the service was attentive. There was a three-piece combo playing calypso music, which added nicely to the ambiance. Three steak dinners with wine and a couple of fine Tiramasu deserts cost just $71. We didn't need reservations.
...in Sandy Ground is a favorite of SXM regulars. The food this time was very good, well above average, but not "to die for" as we had experienced in the past (maybe it was just the dish I had - scallops - that was the exception to the rule?). Two waiters, two waitresses, and the ever-present Martine (owner) provided great service. The place was packed. We spoke at length with Martine, and she's really concerned that we Netizens are over-hyping Mario's. She's afraid people's expectations are too high when they arrive, and she can't possibly meet such high expectations. She asked us to tell our Prodigy and AOL friends and others on the Internet that she appreciates our enthusiasm, but asks that we not overdo the hype. "We are just a casual three star restaurant, and people might come here expecting something much more fancy," she said. Martine is really a sweetheart. She's from Canada, has two kids, and is working 80 hour weeks at the restaurant. Incidentally, we called for reservations early on a Tuesday and couldn't get anything earlier than 9:00PM on Thursday, so call ahead for reservations (011-870636). I would definitely return.
Wow! What a great surprise! This is a small, unassuming, place which, according to their advertisement, is "on the first paved road on the left after crossing the bridge on the way to the Airport." They serve Creole and Italian food, and every morsel of it was outstanding. I mean really outstanding and the portions were generous. We had three dinners and drinks for $61 and had to take half the food home with us. We didn't have reservations and the place was empty when we pulled up at about 7:30PM, but in just 15-20 minutes every seat in the place was full. Ren & Stimpy's is an exceptional value.
Another
pleasant surprise. While schlepping around the Marina Royale at Marigot (wondering
how we could retire and live aboard one of those great boats), we stopped at
this French restaurant for lunch. I ordered something called the "Romance
Kabob" which consisted of marinated scallops, shrimp, tomatoes, and oranges
- grilled and served with a scrumptious sauce with a mouth-watering seafood
risotto. It was all so unexpectedly delicious that I couldn't stop babbling
about it! My 11-year old ordered a trusty cheeseburger which he acclaimed to
be the "best on the island." With drinks our whole lunch cost $38.
I imagine dinner would be just as outstanding. That's my wife Pam and son
Joey relaxing while the waiter brings cold drinks.
We ate lunch at Turtle Pier, located right across from the Airport. This is a fun place to eat, especially for kids, because the restaurant has a miniature zoo there. Monkeys, parrots, turtles (of course), and gila monsters make for quite a show. The restaurant area is built on a deck over the water, so kids seated along the edge can entertain themselves by tossing bread crumbs to the fish lurking nearby. The food is good, service is adequate, and the price was fair (about $35 for our three lunches with drinks).
This is an Italian restaurant located at the Simpson Bay Yacht Club complex. Prices for each entree are a couple of bucks higher than last year, but the prices are still reasonable. Unfortunately, we were disappointed in the quality of the food and service this year; they are not as good as I wrote about last year. The tomato sauces were too heavy this time and the service was mediocre. The ambiance in the Tutta Pasta is nice though, and they still attract a good crowd. We spent $66 for three dinners and drinks. We probably won’t go back.
In this category I place the Pelican Resort’s CROCODILE restaurant; INDIANA BEACH (formerly Felix's) down the hill from the Pelican; SURF CLUB SOUTH on the road between Grand Case and Orient Beach; and SUNRISE CAFE at the Grand Case Beach Hotel. The first three serve American-style breakfast fare for $5 or less; but Sunrise Cafe is by far my favorite place to eat breakfast. Situated on a deck over the water facing Creole Rock, this little open air cafe has magnificent ambiance - precisely the ambiance I imagined when I first decided to come to the Caribbean. The waiters are from France, speak good English, and are very attentive. This is a place where I languish over coffee and croissants to watch the incredibly clear blue-green water set against deep blue skies, to admire sailboats moving lazily in the distance, and early morning swimmers enjoying the nearby beach. It's one of the scenes I daydream about long after the vacation is over.
If you want to catch an important sports event (as I wanted to catch the AFC Championship game last week), there are several restaurant/bars that have satellite hook-ups and show sports for patrons. The ones I know about are Cheri's (Maho Bay), Surf Club South (has a nice big screen TV), and Turtle Pier. I'm sure there are others, but these are the ones I noticed.
This one is a no-brainer now. The new Food Center on the road between Cole Bay and Phillipsburg is like shopping in a U.S. Supermarket, and the prices are fair.
If one were to purchase Cuban cigars, the best prices I saw were in the Connoisseur shop in Simpson Bay (you can't see a sign with that name from the road, but you can see a neon sign that says "Havana Cigars"). A box of 25 Monte Cristo #5, for example, costs $125 there, which is $10-20 cheaper than I saw in Marigot.
I have a Pagenet alpha-numeric pager with nationwide service. The Pagenet folks said they had a customer who received pages in Jamaica, but mine didn't in SXM (for what it's worth).
That’s it for this year, Folks!
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rmollica@erols.com
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