Our final stop on this fantastic cruise and it was at my absolute favorite island – St. Martin. This island is actually split into two parts – one owned by the Netherlands (Sint Maarten-Dutch) and the other is owned by France (St. Martin-French). You can pass easily between each side – there are no checkpoints or obvious borders. Most ships dock in Philipsburg on the Dutch side.
We were up around 8am again today as we did not want to miss a minute of our final day! There was much to be accomplished. We went to the Pacific Dining Room for breakfast and I had Belgian Waffles with Strawberry sauce, bacon and hash browns. Yum!! We were off the ship around 9:45am and we headed directly to Rebecca’s favorite spot – the Coconut Smoothie kiosk on the pier.
Rebecca has been dreaming about coconut smoothies since her last cruise over three years ago. If you like coconut, without a doubt, this is a necessary purchase!! Once the coconut monster had been fed, we enjoyed a leisurely 15-minute walk to downtown Philipsburg. There are tons of cabs at the pier that will take you into town for around $3 per person but we enjoyed the walk. There is a small shortcut with a bunch of little shops and bars done up in delightful Caribbean colours.
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| The view across Great Bay |
Once downtown, we did some browsing along Front Street (the main street that runs closest to the water) and then hit Old Street for a bit. Our goal was the bus stop that is situated at the far end of Old Street.
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| Old Street |
The local buses are white vans and way cheaper than taxis. Check the license plates as buses have license plates that start with “BUS” and taxis start with “TAXI”. The destination will be on a sign posted in the front window of the van. We hopped on the bus and told the driver we were heading for Mullet Bay Beach…and he immediately changed his sign to “Mullet”. Cab drivers on the island will try and talk you out of taking the bus and tell you that it takes an hour to get where you’re going. Actually, the only difference between the bus and taxi is that a bus will stop to pick up and let off people but they all still have to make their way through the same traffic so a cab would not be much faster. One other element to consider is that the buses don’t go very close to Orient Beach so it is best to take a cab if you want to go there. It cost us $2 each to get to Mullet Bay instead of $7 each by cab.
We soon arrived at Mullet Bay Beach and immediately rented a couple of loungers and an umbrella (for $15). I just can’t do justice to any description of the water on St. Martin. It is an unreal colour of turquoise and is so clear you can see all of the small fish swimming around your feet. Even pictures can’t quite capture how beautiful it is! We spent the next three hours swimming, walking the beach, reading, chatting with some “lounge neighbors” and watching the planes on their approach to the airport near Maho Bay, just down the coast. The beach has some BBQ spots so the guys grabbed themselves a couple of delicious hamburgers for $4 each. There is also a bar at one end of the beach and washrooms in the opposite direction. Let’s just say that you will not want to hang around the washrooms too long as the cleanliness leaves much to be desired. On the positive side…they have washrooms! Another thing that you will run into at a lot of beaches are the beach vendors. Usually, a polite “No, thanks” will send them on their way but if you show any interest at all in what they have, you will find yourself looking at tons of dresses or necklaces and having a hard time getting them to leave. They can be very persistent!
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| Mullet Bay Beach |
It was getting close to 2pm by the time we packed up our stuff and walked down to Maho Bay (10 minute walk). Maho Bay Beach is located directly in front of the runway at the Princess Julianna International Airport. It is one of the craziest and adrenaline-packed experiences that you will ever have when you are standing on the beach and a huge 737 flies directly over the top of your head!! The first time I did this, my knees completely gave out and I found myself kneeling in the sand without ever really intending to. Sunset Beach Bar is located at the far end of Maho Beach and has all of the day’s flights listed on their board. The best time to see the most large planes is between 1pm and 3pm.
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| Maho Bay Beach (Sunset Beach Bar at far end) |
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"Danger - Jet blast of departing and arriving aircraft can cause severe
physical harm resulting in extreme bodily harm and even death!" |
One of the funniest things that happened on this trip was when we first arrived and were just standing in front of the runway checking things out. A large plane taxied toward the end of the runway and I said “We do not want to be here when that thing takes off!” and I picked up my stuff and ran down to the far end of the beach. Rebecca looked at Dave and said “Is Angie exaggerating??” and Dave told her that I was slightly exaggerating. Well, she soon found out that I wasn’t!! When the plane fired up its engines, the wind was incredible and the sand started pelting all of the people who hadn’t moved out of the way. I crouched behind a car, doubled over with laughter as I watched Rebecca bookin’ it madly toward me…her beach bag swinging from one hand, her sandals from the other, her towel was streaming behind her and her sunglasses were hanging crookedly on her face. I was laughing so hard that I forgot to video it with my camera so everyone else could enjoy the image that is now imprinted in my brain. Trent had run down the edge of the beach into the water to stop the sand from blasting his legs. Needless to say, the next time a plane took off, they stayed near the end of the beach ☺
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| Rebecca covered in sand from her encounter with jet blast |
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| Dave and Rebecca headed into the water to wash off the sand |
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| Crazy tourists!! |
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| Airbus from Paris |
We watched planes land for about an hour and then headed back to the main road to catch the bus back into Philipsburg. You just have to stand by the road and wave down any bus that has the sign “P’burg” in the window. We had the bus drop us off in front of Rima’s on Salt Pond Rd (right along the bus route). Rima’s is a large tourist shop that carries every possible souvenir or clothing item that any tourist may want. We always wait to get our souvenirs here as they have much better prices than other places. Actually, word is that the beach vendors buy their inventory here and then mark it up for sale at the beaches. We spent about a half hour and grabbed some mementos for our nieces and nephews and then made a quick stop at the Belgian Chocolate Shop on Old Street to pick out some delectable chocolate treats. They even had white chocolate so I could indulge too!! We were running close to ‘all-aboard’ (which seemed to be the trend of this cruise) so we hustled back to the pier. However, we had to make yet another stop at the Coco shack to get a smoothie…well, three! So delicious and refreshing after a hot day in the sun!
Supper was Mango Cream Soup, Fatoush Salad and Southern Fried Chicken (oh man, if you ever have the chance to try this, definitely do). Dessert was a Grand Marnier Soufflé. We had to head back to our cabins to pack (sob!!) and get things settled up for our debarkation in the morning. We went to see the Carnival Legends karaoke show where all of the passengers, who had tried out for the show earlier in the week, dressed up like a star and sang for the audience. They had Elvis, Britney Spears, Aretha Franklin and Frank Sinatra, to name a few. For amateurs, they did a great job! We put our suitcases out in the corridor and only kept the things we would need for the morning. Our final night to be rocked to sleep on the Caribbean Sea!
Sint Maarten/St. Martin is a wonderful island to visit! This is another island that I could easily spend a week at as you can also catch a ferry to the nearby islands of Saba and Anguilla. The water is so blue, the sand so white and there is so much to see and do on this island. If you want to find out more, you can check out my detailed St. Martin blog posting for a summary of beaches, excursions, etc.
