# What island to piggy-back with SXM?



## Laurie (May 9, 2011)

I just confirmed a week on St Maarten. If we want to make it a 2-wk trip, what other island has easy transportation to island-hop? (and timeshares?)

A few years back I tried to make something work with SXM and Guadeloupe, but it was harder than I thought it would be...

Or should we think about 2nd wk on St Maarten rather than a second island, and if so, where? I chose Belair Beach Hotel which seems to meet all my requirements (beachfront/view unit, not a big high-rise development, looks quiet and laid back). I wish the resort on the French side were waterfront, but it's not and doesn't appeal so much for that reason.

We haven't been to the Caribbean other than Grand Cayman and Cancun/Cozumel. Love Hawaii and are looking for something closer to the east coast.


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## Krteczech (May 9, 2011)

You could add St Kitts and Nevis. We try to see one new island in addition to our traditional week on SXM every year. Last year Saba, year before Anguilla. I am debating Statia or St Barth for this year. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we do. By the way, SXM has a lot to show for little island. You may just want to stay put and explore.


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## Tia (May 10, 2011)

One time I considered going to SXM from ST Thomas, we didn't but there was small air transport. What week you going to SXM?


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## Denise (May 10, 2011)

Anguilla, just off of St. Maarten. Very laid back, beautiful beaches, walk in snorkeling. Very different from SXM. Ferry runs from Marigot to Anguilla. You can also fly in on a puddle jumper.


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## legalfee (May 10, 2011)

+1 on St Kitts and Nevis. It's a 20 minute flight from St Maarten and a lot to see and do on both islands.


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## Laurie (May 10, 2011)

Trip will be April/May so airfares hopefully cheaper, and maybe easier to get a back-to-back exchange, but perhaps not as many flights. 

Anguilla does sound good for a day trip (or longer) since we enjoy walk in snorkeling.

I don't think most of these island suggestions have timeshares, at least not thru RCI unless I missed finding them, so if you have recommendations on reasonably-priced places you've stayed, please do pass on the info - thanks!!


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## rifleman69 (May 10, 2011)

We're doing a day trip to SABA, first flight out and last flight back.   Good hiking and culture (no beaches).


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## tashamen (May 11, 2011)

If you don't have to stay in a ts, I highly recommend St. Barts.  Our favorite places there to stay are Village St Jean (not on the beach but with gorgeous views) and Emeraude Plage on the beach.  Both have units with kitchens (outdoor kitchens in some cases) and are much like a ts.


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## Anne S (May 11, 2011)

If this is your first time in St. Maarten, you might just want to spend two weeks there, and explore the different beaches and sample the fabulous food in Grand Case, the culinary capital of the Caribbean. Day trips to neighboring islands are a breeze (pun intended). The ferry to Anguilla is an easy twenty minutes from Marigot. The sail to St. Barth's and Saba can be a bit rough, but both islands are certainly worth a visit.


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## Laurie (May 13, 2011)

Okey doke, thanks for your advice! Based on comments I decided to go for 2 weeks in SXM, at the same resort no less (never done that, especially to somewhere we've never been, so I hope we like it). 

We don't do potentially rough-water ferries or sails anymore - smooth only. But maybe we'll take a night or 2 mid-trip, and fly over to one of the islands recommended, especially if we can get reasonably-priced tickets and accommodations. Otherwise it sounds like 2 weeks there will be just fine. And I'm hoping we'll be present for Carnival, tho their dates aren't set yet.

Here was the clincher: the views shown on this airline's website:
http://www.fly-winair.com/destinations/st-maarten.html
2 photos which must be Belair Beach Hotel, especially the bigger one from above.


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## Conan (May 13, 2011)

Laurie said:


> Okey doke, thanks for your advice! Based on comments I decided to go for 2 weeks in SXM, at the same resort no less (never done that, especially to somewhere we've never been, so I hope we like it).


 
It's funny how Laurie and I are often in each other's footsteps.
For example, http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126349
(I leave for the Canaries next month!)

Just last month I booked two weeks in St. Martin (for March, 2013), with the plan to spend a couple of days of that stay in St. Barts (for which my hotel budget is $450/night). 

For my St. Martin stay I picked the somewhat odd Cottages de Lonvilliers on the French side. We've been to St. Martin once before, in the '90s before we discovered timeshares, when we stayed at what is now the Radisson Blu Resort. We prefer the French side, and Cottages de Lonvilliers is just outside the entrance to the Radisson (both require driving the twisty road from French Cul de Sac). http://bit.ly/l4CiTY (click "satellite" and zoom in) It's a short drive from there to Marigot and the French beaches. I'm counting also on being able to use the Radisson facilities (for a fee).

My quick review of St. Martin based on my earlier visit: 

Cons: Significant poverty and unemployment, bad roads, bad drivers, and the risk of petty crime (mainly car break-ins). If that's a deal-breaker you're better off in Hawaii or Grand Cayman.

Pros: Many wonderful beaches (often european style, meaning topless-allowed not to mention famous Orient Beach); good people, wonderful food (at a price). In three words: You're in France!


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## Laurie (May 13, 2011)

How 'bout that!   

Originally I was also tending towards Cottages de Lonvilliers for a 1-week stay. But after checking out availability, I took the bird in the hand, and Belair looks pretty darn nice by my personal criteria. 

Then when I first contemplated 2 weeks there, I figured on putting in a search for the second week at the Cottages, to experience something different, especially since that'd been my choice previously ... but no beachfront, and no current availability for the second week, so bird in the hand once more. With 2 weeks, we'll hopefully have ample time to explore the French side - and eat there!

That's quite a budget for a nightly stay at St. Bart's ... my internal limit seems to be about twice the cost of a timeshare exchange, but I'll be interested in learning what you end up booking.

Enjoy your trip next month, I'm sure you will!


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## krmlaw (May 13, 2011)

2 weeks there are great. 

we had bad luck at the divi. 
belair is nice
OBBR is nice
Pelican marina is our choice now
royal palm is nice
flamingo is nice
la plage is nice

ive heard towers at mullet bay is nice but havent stayed there


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## Anne S (May 13, 2011)

You'll love St. Maarten, and, believe me, two weeks isn't long enough! Our first trip was for two weeks, the first week at the Flamingo, the second at Sapphire Beach club.That time we availed ourselves of timeshare presentations (or being timeshare whores, as my husband put it) to get day trips to Saba, St. Bart's and Anguilla. Our subsequent stays have been at the Royal Palms, Oyster Bay Beach club, and Towers at Mullet Bay. Love all of them, except for the latter, which is not on Mullet Bay. Have either toured or looked at outside of almost all the timeshares in St. Maarten, and Cottages de Lonvilliers would be last on my list. 

I can understand your qualms about rough seas, but the ferry to Anguilla traverses calm waters. Not much to do there except hang out on the gorgeous beaches and drool at the very exclusive resorts.

And yes, that is Belair in the photo. The buildings on the penisula comprise the Divi, which is very nice.


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## Laurie (May 13, 2011)

Definitely planning on Anguilla, short smooth trips are fine - hmm, might think about a TS tour to pay for that! (We still do these on occasion.)

I feel good about this decision! When we first reserved our Grand Cayman vaca, I briefly thought about 2 wks there, so put a second week on hold. Then I released it, thinking we'd probably get bored after a week, since we're not really lie-on-the-beach-day-after-day types. (We'd been to Cancun, and 1 week was enough.)  Well, I wish we'd had those 2 weeks on Grand Cayman, we weren't ready to leave after the first.


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## dchilds (May 15, 2011)

*How about a boat?*

You could shift gears and try something like Trade Winds Cruise Club for the second week.  There are others, but we're Trade Winds owners, so that's all we're familiar with.  You can get a get-away or trade, or you can also take advantage of an owner referral, which doesn't cost the owner anything, but gets you on, for one time only, for a better price than owners get.  Owners do get 1/2 of an extra week if you end up joining Trade Winds.  We've been to St Vincent & The Grenadines, Belize, St Maarten, and the BVI.  We'd recommend the BVI if you want spend less time sailing and more time anchored, and St Vincent if you want longer sails.  It's all-inclusive for something like $2500 for a couple for the week, plus about a 10% tip for the crew (if you feel like it.)  If you get a get-away or trade a week, the all-inclusive fee is around $900/person.

It is by far the most relaxing vacation we have ever had.  The living quarters are small, and not a good place to spend any time while awake, but the salon and the bow make for a pleasant resting area, and the boat takes you to about 2 playgrounds per day.  The trip changes your feeling about vacationing.  We have been to St Maarten and then been on Trade Winds, and when on St Maarten, we drove all over the island visiting our various favorite places, and then spent a week relaxing on the boat.  We have also been on the boat, and then spent the second week in St Maarten, and we spent less time wanting to drive around to our normal St Maarten destinations, and ended up spending more time just relaxing.


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## krmlaw (May 16, 2011)

we had wanted to try tradewinds ... but looks like now we will be waitng ahile b/c of the toddler!  should have tried it before baby!


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## madduag (Jun 12, 2011)

St Barts is an island I would personally check out. We have vacationed there twice so I have an idea of how to stay there on a budget for example rooms and restaurants. It can be quite pricey. I feel pretty versed on the island.  There are some wonderful places to stay and it really is a safe island. Of course we aren't stupid about the reality of what can happen anywhere. 

There is a beach for everyone.

Fly St Barts Commuter or ferry. The flight is a blast if you fly in between the hills. Can't say we've ever taken the ferry. For just a little more you can fly.


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## tombo (Jun 12, 2011)

Laurie said:


> I chose Belair Beach Hotel which seems to meet all my requirements (beachfront/view unit, not a big high-rise development, looks quiet and laid back). I wish the resort on the French side were waterfront, but it's not and doesn't appeal so much for that reason.
> 
> We haven't been to the Caribbean other than Grand Cayman and Cancun/Cozumel. Love Hawaii and are looking for something closer to the east coast.



I loved the Belair for the exact reasons you mentioned.  The entire Little bay consists of 2 resorts, the Belair and the Divi. The beach is never crowded. The resort is laid back and the restaurant /bar is wonderful. Every room is oceanfront. In the distance on clear days you can see the Islands of Saba and  Eustacia (i think that is the other island) in the distance from your balcony. The rooms are older but well maintained.

The on site resaurant bar is oceanfront with open windows overlooking Little bay. Every day there is a happy hour with 2 for one drinks (good prices) and the food is really very good. They have specials every night. One of my best friends owns at Belair and he no longer rents a car or cooks in the room. He gets a cab to placse he wants to eat several nights, but mainly he eats at the on site gingerbread Cafe restaurant breakfast, lunch, and supper. 

 When you check in you go down to the beach and the beach guy assigns you chairs and umbrella for the week FOR FREE. I go down first thing, ask for front row chairs and then tip him. I wish very resort had this wonderful perk. Sleep late and you chairs are waiting for you whenever you decide to go to the beach. Tour the Island and return to the room in the afternoon, throw on a swim suit and your chairs are waiting for you. No throwing towels on chairs at 7 am or expensive rentals.

Don't fret not being on the French side. The Dutch side is much more reasonable with regards to prices. Unlike my friend who no longer explores the Island, I would never visit St Maarten without renting a car. We drive around the Island most days in the rental stopping everywhere there is a sign saying beach or baie (French for beach). There are more beaches than you will see in 2 weeks and lots of snorkelling. 

My favorite snorkelling spot was Dawn Beach. We spend one day there at Mr Busby's renting chairs and snorkelling. The food is good and the snorkelling is great too. By the way don't overlook the small rock jetties in front of the belair. I saw a surprising number of fish of different species and colors, urchins, etc swimming around the jetties. I was going to walk over to the Divi and swim to the snorkle site on the point where the pay boats bring groups, but I never did it. I saw plenty of fish on the jetties at the Belair and rocks by the Divi, so I never decided to swim that far.

Walk the sidewalk through the Divi and up the hill to an old fort with fantastic views of Great bay, Phillipsburg, and Little bay. It is free, an easy walk, yet few people make the trek. There are benches on the hill to sit and relax for a few minute, or a few hours. often we were the only people on the entire point.

Do not miss the Sunset beach Bar and Grill plane landings and take offs. The bar has the flight times listed for takeoffs and klanding of the huge jumbo jets. before the big planes come in you walk down to the beach and watch the planes come in looking as though they are going to land on you. it is an experience. if you are really brave stand on the beach for the jet blast from a jumbo jet taking off. I watched many jets land, but i only stood on the beach for one jet blast. i had to do it just once. After that i watched others do it. It is more fun watchin others do it lol. watch these videos to get an idea. You can spend hours here drinking and watching the planes and people.

Watching a Landing from the beach:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2404171/plane_landing_on_st_martin_beach/

watching the Jet Blast from Takeoff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RILkG2yhAAM&feature=related

Have fun. 2 weeks mught not be enough.


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## Laurie (Jun 18, 2011)

This is all excellent and detailed info - thank you!

It does sound pretty perfect to know we can go out exploring, come back to our place every afternoon, swim and snorkel without getting back in the car. The walk up to the old fort sounds just up our alley as well, and I appreciate the tip about the chairs. 

Any idea how they assign units & preferences? Now that RCI doesn't show unit #... I'd love to get an upper floor for view, and get to stay in same unit for both weeks if possible.  I'll contact resort to request that later, but plenty of time for that, this is way in the future -  all the more time to look forward to it.


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## Carolinian (Jun 21, 2011)

I also prefer the French side, and Cottages de Lonvilliers is the best option there.  I have traded in twice.




Conan said:


> It's funny how Laurie and I are often in each other's footsteps.
> For example, http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126349
> (I leave for the Canaries next month!)
> 
> ...


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## Carolinian (Jun 21, 2011)

YanaManolov said:


> You could add St Kitts and Nevis. We try to see one new island in addition to our traditional week on SXM every year. Last year Saba, year before Anguilla. I am debating Statia or St Barth for this year. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we do. By the way, SXM has a lot to show for little island. You may just want to stay put and explore.



St. Barths is the better choice of the two.  I always do a day on St. Barths every time I go to SXM, which is four times so far.   I much prefer the ferry, as the airport layout makes flying a bit of a white knuckle experience (high hills on the approach, short runway, and the ocean at the end of the runway).  The last time, the sailing ferry was unfortunately not running, and to me it was a lot more fun than the motorized one.


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## Carolinian (Jun 21, 2011)

I would consider two weeks on SXM, and do day trips to the surrounding islands, St. Barths (now French, formerly Swedish), Anguilla (British crown colony), and Saba (Dutch), each a very different experience.  All can easily be reached by boat or plane.  Statia (Dutch) is also possible if you want a forth island in the immediate vacinity, but I think can only be reached by air.




Laurie said:


> I just confirmed a week on St Maarten. If we want to make it a 2-wk trip, what other island has easy transportation to island-hop? (and timeshares?)
> 
> A few years back I tried to make something work with SXM and Guadeloupe, but it was harder than I thought it would be...
> 
> ...


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## JudyS (Jun 21, 2011)

Laurie said:


> ...
> I don't think most of these island suggestions have timeshares, at least not thru RCI unless I missed finding them, so if you have recommendations on reasonably-priced places you've stayed, please do pass on the info - thanks!!


St. Kitts has a very nice Marriott, but it's II only and not an easy trade except if you get lucky and see a last-minute week. I think it may still be in sales, though, so you maybe could stay for a few days at a low rate if you did a tour. I did a cruise that had a day in St Kitts and a day in Nevis, and thought both islands were great.


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## rifleman69 (Jun 22, 2011)

Saba's a great little trip.  Just be aware that there's no beaches.   It has a lot of great history and culture, plus the airport and runway are sights to see.


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