Toss up between 2 islands & 2 Resorts

[rachel]

If you had your choice (which I do at the moment) where would you go;

The Sea Aquarium Resort , Curacao
Pelican Resort, St. Maarten

We have been to neither. I have been to Aruba and loved it.
Also have been to Jamaica, Antigua, Bahamas, Grand Cayman.

Love the landscape of Jamaica!

Help!

Rachel

 

[rsnash]

I would go with the Sea Aquarium. I haven't been there, but I have been to St. Martin. While I love the island, I would not want to stay in the Simpson Bay area. Also, the Pelican is rated about a 7 in the TUG Resort Database, while the Sea Aquarium is rated a 9. So, all else being equal (unit size, airfare), I'd go with the higher rating. Check on the airfare, it's a lot more to Curacao from NY than St. Martin generally, but it might be different for you from Texas.

Also, and this is personal to me, but I haven't been to Curacao, so I'd like to see a new island. Have you already been to both or neither?

 

[rachel]

I have not been to curacao or st. maarten. We have been to Aruba, which we love. they say the landscape of curacao and aruba are the same.
what is the landscape of st. maarten? Is it tropical? Aruba is dry and desert, I am assuming curacao is the same.

And why not the simpson bay area???

Thanks,

Rachel

 

[rsnash]

Well, when we stayed on St. Martin, we were at Oyster Bay Resort by Dawn Beach (I think it is the eastern most point of St. M, right near the border of the French side). Which is away from the congestion of Phillipsburg. We really liked the island - friendly people, good food, good beaches, easy to drive around. Since we planned to return, I toured a few of the other TS listed by II. Simpson Bay is a more crowded area, lots more resorts. I also didn't care for the ones at Maho Bay, closer to the airport. Very bright lights, little Vegas looking at night.

There's a forested mountainous area to explore in the center of the island, but we didn't go there. When we drove around we usually circumnavigated the whole island, stopping for a beach, a meal, or shopping along the way.

The main thing to me, since you haven't been to either resort, is the ratings (2 points is a big difference), and other major expenses of the vacation, i.e. airfare.

 

[rachel]

Well, I just switched the pelican resort for the sea aquarium. it is not until 2010 so I have time to research. I liked the look of the sea aquarium and I read alot of negative about st. maarten, not any area in particular just over all. Not sure why. But alot of members on tripadvisor do not recommend. Or I should say they recommend other islands instead.

Thanks for the info.

Rachel

 

[krmlaw]

We went to curacao as a cruise ship stop on our honeymoon, and really liked it. We did this cool trip where we kayaked and snorkeled. It was fun. Also we liked the floating bridge too!

 

[nickis]

We own at the Sea aquarium and love the island for it's diving, it is a lot larger than Aruba but yes just like it. If you dive you will find many a great places to do so and most can be hit from the shore. I would get a car as there are many beaches to see all have a small toll but it's worth it.
They were hit hard this year by OMAR so only time will tell we will be there in june so can update all after then and we won't pull any punches, if the beaches and reef are bad we won't have a problem telling you.

 

[Cathyb]

We have stayed at both and go for Curacao!