“Everyone knew that all islands were worlds unto themselves, that to come to an island was to come to another world.”
Guy Gavuriel Kay
Another relaxing beach day was in order for our group today. Our cruise ship docked in the
town of Philipsburg, Sint Maarten which is on the Dutch side of the
island. St. Martin/St Maarten is commonly referred as SXM in short.
This island is part of the Leeward islands and is located in the NE
Caribbean Sea. This beautiful island is divided in two with forty
percent of the island is Dutch owned and the other sixty percent is
French owned. The Dutch side is more populated as two of the major
tourist towns are Philipsburg and Margot. This island boasts of 37
beaches on its land mass of only 34 square miles. We just headed to the beach that was closest to the ship out
of convenience since we had such a large group.
When
we got off the ship, we walked down the path to the water taxi. Tip:
Do not wait in the long line at the Kiosk that you see near the shops. Walk
down to the pier where you get the water taxi and buy your ticket
there. It will save you a lot of time. We did walk down and bought
our round trip ticket for the taxi for $7 a head. With that ticket,
we could actually go back and forth as much as we needed for the day.
It didn't take any time before the taxi came and gave us a nice ride over
to the beach. We walked down the beach till we found a nice spot and
got four lounge chairs for $40 for the day. Tip: It is
better to walk on the beach instead of the boardwalk to get your best
deals on renting chairs. We were set up in a perfect spot where we
had great views of the ocean, plus there was a restaurant that served
drinks right there on the other side of the boardwalk.
The
sand was white and soft and the water was a gorgeous turquoise blue.
It was not as clear on this beach since there were waves as it was on some of the other islands we had visited. The water
was delightful and we so enjoyed our time getting out in the water.
Snorkeling was not good here either as the waves stirred up the
water making visibility poor. The children enjoyed playing on the beach while we enjoyed relaxing on our lounge chairs with the warm tropical breeze giving us relief from the heat.
Christina,
our granddaughter got her hair braided on the beach. TIP:
Beware. Get the full price up front or don’t do it. The other
islands charge less for getting braids done. The lady who did her
hair told her mom that it would cost her $90 to braid her hair.
After she finished, she told us that it would be $200. She started
counting the tiny braids she did only in the front of Christina’s
head and said it would be $5 braid. No, the lady didn’t get $200.
But it did cost us more than we were happy with.
Towards
the end of the day, we were hungry and wanted to grab a bite. We
gathered our things and headed down the boardwalk to find a good
restaurant. We stopped at the Dutch Blonde Beach Bar which is easy
to spot as it is built to look like a Dutch windmill. We all
ordered drinks and had a couple large plates of their loaded nachos
to hold us over till dinner on the ship. It felt great sitting down
and out of the sun.
After
eating, we headed to the boat taxi which took us back to the pier and
our ship. Our crew was fun and first put on Caribbean music for our
ride. Then right before we were to get off the taxi, he put on the
song “Sweet Caroline.” Every sang to the song and the song put
a smile on all faces. When we exited the water taxi, we spotted many
large iguanas getting a sun bath on the rocks. It was a fun and
relaxing day.
Till
next time. Bye for now.
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