Sint Maarten, Netherlands

January - February 2023

This is truly one of the very few, as we are not in the habit of taking winter vacations and going into warm places (although Jan.2020 Palm Springs, CA would qualify).
In any case, never been to the island (either side) and looking forward to it. Read more

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Traveler Sint Maarten, Netherlands
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- Jan 28, 2023, 12:59pm
- 🌬 77 °F
- Altitude: 16 ft
- Sint Maarten Simpson Bay Princess Juliana International Airport 18.045, -63.11166718°2’42” N 63°6’42” W
Day 1
Welcome to Sint Maarten
January 28, 2023 in Sint Maarten ⋅ 🌬 77 °F
The beginning of the trip went off without a hitch... we made good time to JFK, reasonably breezed through TSA and took of on time.
SXM welcomed us with slightly overcast skies but typical 80 degree weather.
Our driver Kris was waiting for us once we got through customs ( also a breeze) and off to our Caribbean adventure we went.Read more
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Traveler Sint Maarten, Netherlands
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- Jan 28, 2023, 2:19pm
- 🌬 77 °F
- Altitude: Sea level
- Sint Maarten Dawn Beach Ravine Rouge 18.053333, -63.01518°3’12” N 63°0’54” W
Day 1
Oyster Bay Resort
January 28, 2023 in Sint Maarten ⋅ 🌬 77 °F
Check-in was also very easy; we took a look at some options of activities that we will take advantage of in the upcoming week and went to our room - we have a Marina View, after which we did a preliminary walk through a small portion of the resort and participated in the Welcome CaribbeanRum punch reception....
And a door...
AND CANNON (Hark,I hear....)Read more
Traveler A door and a canon, what else do you need! 🤣
1/28/23Reply
Traveler I'm sayin' 😊 Perfect Vacation already😋
1/28/23Reply
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Traveler Sint Maarten, Netherlands
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- Jan 28, 2023, 6:32pm
- ⛅ 75 °F
- Altitude: Sea level
- Sint Maarten Dawn Beach Ravine Rouge 18.053333, -63.01518°3’12” N 63°0’54” W
1
Day 1
Caribbean Night Din din
January 28, 2023 in Sint Maarten ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F
Rice and beans steamed and grilled veggies plantain and creole shrimp
Laurie opted for BBQ chicken and pronounced it amazing so I might go and get me some as well...
And so I did with some barbecue riblets to boot and Johnny cakes which is very reminiscent of New Orleans beignets but a little bit more savory
😋
...and a little lap around the pool afterwards...Read more
Traveler Beautiful resort! Enjoy! 😊
1/28/23Reply
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Traveler Sint Maarten, Netherlands
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- Jan 29, 2023, 7:57am
- 🌬 75 °F
- Altitude: Sea level
- Sint Maarten Dawn Beach Ravine Rouge 18.051667, -63.01518°3’6” N 63°0’54” W
Day 2
Oh what a beautiful morning
January 29, 2023 in Sint Maarten ⋅ 🌬 75 °F
Woke up , fell out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head...
Actuallythereisnoneedforthecomb so we simply got up at 7:00AM quite refreshed and having a simple breakfast of cereal and coffee on our balcony.
We can see a small part of the bay, which has a marina; there is a big white house that Laurie really loves right in front of us and we can also see a sliver of resort's Beach.
Morning doves and other birds are providing a bit of an entertainment and we actually saw a pelican flying by most likely going to the water.Read more
Traveler What a great view.
1/30/23Reply
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Traveler Sint Maarten, Netherlands
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- Jan 29, 2023, 10:07am
- 🌬 75 °F
- Altitude: Sea level
- Sint Maarten Dawn Beach Ravine Rouge 18.053333, -63.01518°3’12” N 63°0’54” W
Day 2
Orientation
January 29, 2023 in Sint Maarten ⋅ 🌬 75 °F
What could possibly be better after cereal and coffee...why mimosas of course! 😋 ...so we have a couple while we sat through orientation presentation that told us about various tours by their representatives.
We got pretty good idea as to what we might be doing through the rest of our week and went on a island highlights tour
The bus was filled to the gills

So... Saint Martin (French: Saint-Martin; Dutch: Sint Maarten) is an island in the northeast Caribbean Sea, approximately 300 km (190 mi) east of Puerto Rico. The 87 square kilometres (34 sq mi) island is divided roughly 60:40 between the French Republic (53 square kilometres (20 sq mi))[1] and the Kingdom of the Netherlands (34 square kilometres (13 sq mi)),[2] but the Dutch part is more populated than the French part. The division dates to 1648..
Of course you can get more information on WikipediaRead more
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Traveler Sint Maarten, Netherlands
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- Jan 29, 2023, 10:44am
- 🌬 75 °F
- Altitude: 36 ft
- Saint Martin Embouchure Caye Chateau 18.066667, -63.01518°4’0” N 63°0’54” W
Day 2
Oyster Bay
January 29, 2023 in Saint Martin ⋅ 🌬 75 °F
Some shots of Oyster Bay and our Resort as we slowly start climbing to the French side of the island
Traveler Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!
1/30/23Reply
Traveler Again, gorgeous scenery!
1/30/23Reply
Traveler thank you ladies
1/30/23Reply
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Traveler Sint Maarten, Netherlands
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- Jan 29, 2023, 11:56am
- 🌬 75 °F
- Altitude: 59 ft
- Saint Martin Mont Saline Ravine du Paradis 18.07, -63.0318°4’12” N 63°1’48” W
Day 2
Iguanas
January 29, 2023 in Saint Martin ⋅ 🌬 75 °F
So so there is this whole bunch of iguanas hanging out next to the road at this particular place and of course you can feed them, touch them, pet them, take pictures with them...
we're really didn't get out of the bus, just looked at them from the side...
by the way I did and do have more pictures but I took them on my 35 mm camera and I thought that I would be able to upload those pictures here,
unfortunately that is not the case..
I still might be able to do that but only after I come home, so if anybody is so inclined has to go back and revisit some of my days - feel free to do so sometime after we come back
... and by the way we are on the French side of the Island right now so we are officially in Saint MartinRead more
Traveler Wow!
1/30/23Reply
Traveler tastes like chicken...🤣
1/30/23Reply
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Traveler Sint Maarten, Netherlands
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- Jan 29, 2023, 12:13pm
- 🌬 77 °F
- Altitude: 39 ft
- Saint Martin Grand-Case Salines de Grand’Case 18.103333, -63.05518°6’12” N 63°3’18” W
Day 2
Grand Cage (La Grand-Cage)
January 29, 2023 in Saint Martin ⋅ 🌬 77 °F
First small town that we stopped at; you know it is a little bit disappointing because these towns, if one can so call them, is really nothing but tiny little villages ...nothing is going on here and it's being Sunday pretty much everything is closed
we had about 1.5 hours here which allowed us to check out very few shops that were open and had nothing- at least for us, and have lunch
At least that was plenty
we had a barbecue combo which had both ribs and chicken along with vegetables and salad
I also tried one of the local beers and it was pretty good

We are contemplating to rent a car for a day, and if so we will return here while at it (as well as many other places on the island)Read more
Traveler Sounds like you are enjoying the weather, the food, and the charm of the place.
1/30/23Reply
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Traveler Sint Maarten, Netherlands
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- Jan 29, 2023, 12:15pm
- 🌬 77 °F
- Altitude: 52 ft
- Saint Martin La Savane Baie de Grande-Case 18.100531, -63.05759718°6’2” N 63°3’27” W
Day 2
Grand Case 2
January 29, 2023 in Saint Martin ⋅ 🌬 77 °F
Grand Case Beach
YEah - I'll take any of those :)
Cactus almost ready to bloom
King King - La Grand Case style
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Traveler Sint Maarten, Netherlands
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- Jan 29, 2023, 1:45pm
- 🌬 77 °F
- Altitude: 23 ft
- Saint Martin Morne Valois 18.075, -63.07833318°4’30” N 63°4’42” W
Day 2
Lady Liberty
January 29, 2023 in Saint Martin ⋅ 🌬 77 °F
Theo Bonev is in the Agrément roundabout in Marigot, the capital of French St. Martin.

The “Lady Liberty” statue at the Agrement roundabout was unveiled on July 12, 2007, the 159th anniversary of the abolishment of slavery in all French territories in 1848
It is by a Bulgarian sculptor Theodore Bonev
Localsrfequently celebrate the end of slavery at its base.
I also took a picture of the hair of a young lady sitting in front of me... basically for no other reason but "just because "Read more
Traveler She looks patterned after OUR Lady Liberty.
1/30/23Reply
Traveler Funny you mentioned that. There is enough stuff floating on the Web that she was "the original" one offered by Bartoldi to USA and rejected because of the color.... 🤨
1/30/23Reply
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