Saint Martin | Sint Maarten

Jul 22

In 2016, I’d just started dating Todd when he randomly asked if I’d like to join him on a trip to the Caribbean to celebrate his 50th birthday. Um… Yes! Little did I know at the time that not only would he later become my forever travel (and life) partner, but this would be the start of a love for adventure that would take us around the world.

We spent the days and weeks leading up to the trip reading books and websites about the island. We learned about its uniqueness of being one island ruled by two countries - the north side is French, the south is Dutch. We made a list of things to do, places to go, and interesting facts about its culture. That list went with us and became our inspiration for each day. We’d wake up, grab a cup of “Joy in the Morning” Caribbean coffee and the list, and ask, “What would you like to do today?” while the waves crashed on the beach.

The first night we arrived, after checking into the Hilton Vacation Club Flamingo Beach St. Maarten hotel, we simply soaked in all the goodness of island life…

From “the list,” Day 1: French pastries, Marigot Market, Snorkeling, Rum

Our first full day on the island was full of fun, adventure and tropical rain storms. We treated ourselves to mimosas and galettes (a delicious, savory French crepe) at the French Bakery “La Sucriere” Pastry restaurant, then headed off to find the Marigot Market.

Why was the Marigot Market our first choice? Because it encompasses so much of the Caribbean, and it’s only open two mornings a week. There’s a plaque with a poem imprinted on it that reads, in part:

Generations have seen me basking in the sun.
Market Queens with callous hands preciously hold the food they sell.
Around them shouts, greetings and laughter swell the air.
Visitors come and go, they happily say we’ve been to the Market.
I am the Market, pleasing one and all, I am the Market.

To this day, we do happily say we’ve been to the Market! At the Market, we sampled LOTS of infused rums and bought some amazing, fresh Caribbean spices and vanilla extract. We brought home six rum flavors that later became the inspiration for a “Caribbean Christmas” party.

After browsing the open-air stalls for souvenirs and stopping for a cappuccino at Sarafina’s French Bakery across the street to wait out a sudden cloudburst, we headed back toward our hotel. Thanks in part to my terrible sense of direction, we wandered a little off course and found a tiny French market where we sampled meats and cheeses, bought a baguette, and called it lunch!

We ended the day with my first ocean swim/snorkeling adventure, shuffleboard, rum punch cocktails and a stunning sunset over the beach.

From “the list,” Day 2: Hike to the highest point on Saint Martin

On the French side of the island, near Saint Martin’s center, is the highest point - Pic Paradis.

The trail was steep and rocky, and it was a crazy hot and humid day, but the promise of spectacular views kept us going. We stopped at vista points facing opposite sides of the island as we wound around the mountain, and on our way back down to the trailhead we experienced one of the most special and unique things ever… We played peek-a-boo with a family of black-faced varvet monkeys who live there. Who gets to play with monkeys in the wild? We did!!!

The trailhead was at Loterie Farm which is home to a host of other activities. After our hike we enjoyed cold tropical drinks and tapas in the open-air Jungle Room Restaurant and watched as other tourists came to experience the adventure course and zipline.

Back at the hotel, we got dressed up (island style) and enjoyed a prime rib reception on the beach. We met some nice people from New York, Todd danced to the steel drums, and we drank way too much rum punch.

From “the list,” Day 3: Take a catamaran ride to a nearby island, Go snorkeling

Like at so many resort destinations, there was an opportunity to sign up for any number of excursions. Our first was a catamaran ride north around Sint Maarten and out to the neighboring island of Anguilla.

Our first stop was at Maundays Bay, named one of the most beautiful beaches in the world according to our boat captain and home to a prestigious hotel renting for up to $4,000/night! Needless to say, we swam and snorkeled in this stunning, secluded turquoise bay, then moved on.

We had lunch at Smokey’s and did some more swimming in Cove Bay, then it was smooth sailing and rum punch all the way back. *UPDATE: I was disappointed to read that Smokey’s was destroyed by hurricane Irma the year after our visit.

From “the list,” Day 4: Explore Philipsburg

Marigot is the capital city of the French side of the island; while Philipsburg is the capital of the Dutch side.

Marigot borders quiet Marigot Bay with quaint little shops, art studios and cafes; while Philipsburg borders Great Bay, where the cruise lines stop, and is full of colorful alleyways, shopping and sidewalk cafes.

In Philipsburg, we found a cute little art gallery, a delicious island food and rum boutique, a cultural art co-op and more. True to our spirit as wanderers, getting “lost” in Philipsburg led us to discover murals painted on the sides of buildings, a “keep calm” message we both strongly agreed with and beautiful views of Philipsburg’s stunningly turquoise Great Bay.

From “the list,” Day 5: Climb through a cloud forest

If you ever have the chance, make a point to visit the island of Saba. Nicknamed the “Unspoiled Queen,” Saba is a tiny, 5-square-mile, island that once was a volcano. Today, the island features four main villages and three distinct ecosystems - a dry, arid foundation; a tropical rain forest center; and the summit of Mt. Scenery, shrouded in a cloud forest.

From Sint Maarten, we took a 90-minute high-speed ferry ride to the neighboring island. Then, we took a taxi ride up the narrow “road that could not be built,” climbing the steep topography through a series of intimidating switchbacks to the Windwardside village and Mt. Scenery trailhead.

Our task was to hike the 1,064 steps from the Trail Shop in Windwardside up to the top of this beautiful island - the highest point in the Kingdom of the Netherlands at 877m. It wasn’t the hottest day of our trip, but it was SO humid I felt like I could wring myself out. The moisture in the air of the rain forest kept much of the trail mossy and slippery in addition to being steep. But... We made it safely up and down, and along the way we saw goats, lizards, roosters, hens, one hermit crab and some of the most gigantic leaves I’ve ever seen.

From “the list,” Day 6: Drive around the island, Take an art class with Sir Roland Richardson

Yes, you can drive all the way around the island in a pretty short time. We decided to do so with several stops along the way.

We snorkeled at two different beaches (Little Bay and Friar’s Bay)
We had an amazing lunch at a lolo in Grand Case, then did some shopping in this cute little beachside town
At the end of our drive, we were back in Marigot and took one last leisurely stroll through the shops

On our list of things to do was “take an art class with Sir Roland Richardson.” Random and uniquely Caribbean, this was something I really wanted to do that turned out not to be possible during our stay. But, in the true serendipitous nature of wandering, we happened into a little art gallery in Marigot and struck up a conversation with the woman working there. It turned out the studio was none other than that of the renowned artist and the woman was his wife!

From “the list,” Day 7: Watch the sunrise

Some people think that vacations are for sleeping in and relaxing in a chair on the beach with a good book and a cold drink. I think that is nice for awhile, but there is so much to experience everywhere we go, that it’s hard for us to do. And, of course, we couldn’t just fly home in the afternoon without enjoying one more aspect of this amazing island - sunrise!

To catch the sunrise on the eastern side of the island, we were up before dawn (4:30 a.m. to be exact!) to make our way around to Dawn Beach. We were the only people on the beach at that time, watching the waves roll in and out as the sun made its way up through the clouds. It was incredibly beautiful!

Since we’d come that far, we decided to drive one more time around the island to our favorite spot - Marigot. Early morning in Sint Maarten felt so different than all the other days. People were greeting each other on the street, service trucks filled the roads and we even got caught up in our first “rush hour” traffic jam.

Toi la! Je t’taime, Sint Maarten! We’ll be back...