Anniversary in the Caribbean (St. Martin)

Ah... the Caribbean! Sun, coconut trees, unbelievably blue water. Sounds like a wonderful please, doesn't it? I knew I wanted an unforgettable anniversary trip with my boyfriend (now fiancee), so I thought... why not go somewhere in the Caribbean? Which island to pick, though? There are THOUSANDS (no joke!) of islands and they're all gorgeous! The decision was not easy.


We eventually chose St. Martin (St. Maarten) located in the north-eastern part of the Caribbean. One of the reasons was the combination of beaches and green mountains. I think that's the best of both worlds. This small 34 square mile island has been divided between France and the Dutch Kingdom since 1648. We stayed on the Dutch side on our vacation, but we also experienced a bit of the French side while we were there. They are both equally beautiful, but I think the French side has better beaches. In case you were curious, St. Martin was discovered by Columbus in 1493, but it had been inhibited since around 800.

The flight was fairly short. We departed from Miami, FL, had a layover in Puerto Rico and a few hours later, we were in St. Martin. I took a few pictures from the airplane which you can see below. It was my first time seeing this part of the world and I was very impressed. So blue! So exotic! :-)

Flying to St. Martin

The Caribbean from Above

We went in August, a not so popular month because of the moody weather (many storms and even hurricanes). However, we had plenty of luck. It was cloudy for one day only.

When we got out of the airport, I expected heavy humidity, but it wasn't like that at all. The humidity level was perfect and very comfortable. The thing that made me happiest on first sight, though, were the palm tress, the coconut trees and the mango trees. Understandable since I was 20 when I saw my very first palm tree! :-)

We jumped in a taxi to get to our resort. After a 20 minutes ride, I concluded that we were definitely in a third world country. Even though the geography of the Caribbean is gorgeous, it's extremely poor. If not for tourism, I think it'd be worse than Africa, but this applies all over the Caribbean, not just in St. Martin. The beaches are dominated by expensive houses and resorts while the inhabitants of the island live in poverty towards the middle of the island. The roads are small; traffic is hectic; people aren't ashamed to honk... a lot! :-) Also, from the conversation with our driver I concluded people around there are very religious. There were church songs on the radio as well! :-) The only negative thing that bothered me during the taxi ride was that the driver initially told us it would be $30 to take us to the resort, and instead asked for $40 at the destination. Not very Christian of him!

Once we got to the resort, it felt like we left the poor St. Martin and discovered the opulent side of it. Everything was luxurious and pretty. However, no air conditioning in the lobby. :-/ I have to say air conditioning is like oxygen to me after living in the US for 4+ years. I notice when it's missing! ^_^ I guessed the reason for no air conditioning in the lobby were the large open doors to the pool area and the main entrance. Makes sense! Thank God there was air conditioning in our room. :-)

We checked in, took our stuff to our room and decided to go explore. We hadn't come all that way to just sit around in the room after all. First we walked around the resort. They had a few restaurants, grill area, pools, activities' booth, spa, sports courts, bars, souvenir shop, pretty much everything you'd find at a resort.

Picture from our Beach

After a quick bite, we went to explore the town. I had gotten some postcards I wanted to mail out, so the post office became our next destination. The town looked a lot better than what we saw from the taxi. This was obviously the touristy side of the island. There were shops everywhere, especially jewelry stores. I have never seen so many jewelry stores per square mile and their owners inviting you in to buy something. There were also booths were you could get your hair braided by pretty local girls which was nice to watch. We then stopped at a beach bar and had some Coke. I wanted coconut water, but I guess they didn't have any. I admit that that didn't sit well with me. It was like going to Italy and not having pizza. :-/ Anyway, we also discovered that there was a harbor nearby and sure enough, we saw lots of cruise ships dock and tourists invade the beaches. Sadly, the litter left behind was disappointing and disgusting.

We also saw stray cats, one of which only had one eye. As an animal lover, I wanted to find the person who did this (if it was human inflicted) and take their eye out myself, but Patrick calmed me down and we kept walking. Here are a few pictures I took on that walk.

Possibly a Statue of Atlas

A very Interesting Tree with Bright Red Flowers 

My Obsession, Coconuts :-)

On our walk back to the resort, we ran into this local lizard. Out of respect for my touristy spirit, the lizard posed for me

Palm Tress Everywhere

Cruise Ship (Possibly Disney) in the Evening

Evening Walk

Food was good, varied and plenty! I can't say the staff was professional, but it's tough to compete with American customer service. We took it as it was. In general, we noticed that the locals were not very friendly or hospitable even though they live off of tourism. We had no choice but to put the little disappointments aside and enjoy our anniversary anyway!

The best parts of this vacation were the sunset cruise and the pirate tour. Let me tell you about both! I've always wanted to watch the sunset from the water, so as soon as I run into this opportunity, I snatched it! We chose a medium sized ship so there wouldn't be too many people on board with us. The owners were a 50 year old Dutch couple who lived their lives sailing in the Caribbean and making money by organizing these sunset cruises. They were very nice and even though there were about 10 other people on the boat, it didn't feel like it. They were all quiet, respectful of everyone else's space and very sociable. It was a great experience. I took a ton of pictures, so it was tough to choose just a few. Here are a few...

Waiting for the tiny inflatable dingy to take us to the main ship. I was a little scared to get in it because there were many people in it and it didn't seem very sturdy, but all worked out in the end.

A Small Yacht Nearby

The Island from the Water

Sunset

In the last pictures you can see an aircraft carrier. We waived, but I don't think they saw us :-)

The cruise lasted about 3 hours. We enjoyed appetizers, beverages, and the other tourists' company, not to mention an amazing sunset. Our anniversary was precisely on that day, so the activity was well suited I believe. It was wonderful!

We did the pirate tour the next day. I'm smiling as I'm writing this just thinking back at it, it was that much fun! :-) We were greeted by our South African captain/guide with a lot of energy, and that made us feel good about the trip from the beginning. There were a few other people in our speed boat, Americans and Australians, all very nice people. Even their kids were well behaved! Speaking of the Australian couple... they told us they had visited Romania a few years back and enjoyed it very much which naturally put a smile on my face.

The boat ride was CRAZY at times. That thing was going so fast, I thought I'd fly off at some point. I loved it, though! The waves hitting us in the face made us feel like we were kids again. I couldn't wipe my smile off my face, and neither could Patrick. We sailed around the island and saw the French side. Then we stopped on a pristine beach (protected by law) where we did snorkeling. It was my first time!

I was a little scared to try it at first because I was afraid water would get in my contacts and I wasn't sure I knew how to breath through that tube. Silly, I know... but I gave it a shot and I was hooked. It made my day! I'd probably snorkel everyday if I lived by water. I only wish I had taken pictures of what I saw. Next time, I'll get a waterproof camera, I promise.

After an hour of snorkeling, we sailed around the island some more and then stopped at a beach shack on the French side. I loved that place because the beach was empty, and the restaurant was steps away from the water. It didn't look like a 4 start establishment, but that is where Patrick and I had our best meal while in St. Martin. They served us with a tangy salad, grilled chicken dabbed in local condiments, beans and rice. It doesn't sound fancy, but it tasted great! After lunch, we lounged on the beach for a bit, some people did some more snorkeling and then we continued our pirate tour. This time, our captain took us far from the beach, a place that seemed like it was in the middle of the ocean. We stopped by a large rock and were invited to snorkel for a while. Apparently, the marine habitat in that spot was far better than what we had seen before. I only wished I hadn't watched Shark Week before our trip. :-/ Indeed, the sight was wonderful. I had never seen sea urchins bigger than my head or such colorful fish! :-O However, I always felt like looking out in the darkness of the water... waiting for Jaws to appear. Luckily, that didn't happen, but I don't plan on pushing my luck next time. After all, this is THEIR habitat. I prefer snorkeling by the shore. :-)

We also went to a different spot where we fed a large bank of fish. There were hundreds, if not more, trying to get bits of bread. All was fun until a barracuda decided to check out the scene. One look at it and that was enough to get back in the boat. :-)

We left the hungry fish behind to go watch the planes land at the airport at sunset. You see, the landing strip begins a few feet from the beach, so it's quite an amazing view. When you're on the airplane, you feel like you'll land in the water. When you watch the airplane land, it feels like it will land on you! I didn't take a video, but here's a link to what it is like. Pretty crazy, huh?

Pictures from the Speed Boat

We did lots of other stuff, but these were the most interesting and fun in my opinion. Patrick would have written about renting a jet ski and scaring the crap out of me with his insane maneuvers! Boys...

We concluded that we actually had the best time when we did stuff outside of the resort. I mean, the resort was nice, but laying on the beach and having someone bring you a cocktail every 10 minutes can get pretty old. When I go places, I like to explore as much as possible, go outside the bubble. I guess I have a little bit of Columbus in me! :-)

St. Martin is a beautiful place, no doubt! The pictures speak for themselves. I wish we had more time to get to know the culture a little better. I want to go back to the Caribbean despite the terrible customer service and see what else it has to offer.

If you have comments or questions, you can leave them here, on the blog, on my Facebook page (which I'd like you to give a Like and Share :-) https://www.facebook.com/pages/Traveler-Through-Life/1390363281184181) or at lauraanamariahurjui@gmail.com.

Yours,
Laura