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Cruise Port - Phillipsburg, St. Maarten Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights Reserved |
JUST ONE year prior, we stopped at St. Maarten. We bought a bunch of jewelry. We walked around Philllipsburg and just explored that very small area. We sat in the shade by the beach. It was nice. But this time, we were ready for some more in-depth exploring. Maybe for some culture. We only had 3 stops on this very short cruise: San Juan, St. Maarten, and St. Kitts. Only San Juan was new to us. Were we becoming "experienced cruisers"? Hardly. I think - with 20 plus under our belt today, we probably qualify as "experienced." Then? only 3. so not yet.
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St. Maarten Cruise Port - Phillipsburg Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights Reserved |
BUT WE had learned some things. Particularly that there are opportunities in every port, if you seek them out. Sometimes we still don't do excursions for various reasons. But this cruise, particularly since we knew we were basically on our own in ports, was the one where we really started to find and do excursions. My wife, who would make a splendid travel agent, started finding them on our own (in fairness to her, she had done that before - in Alaska). Over the years, we have done a handful of the cruise-ship sponsored tours. Some of them have been o.k. But mostly, we have been underwhelmed. As we cruised more and more, this became even more apparent to us. Anyway, for whatever reason, she looked for excursions that ran on their own. For St. Maarten, we found a driver who took a small group on a tour of the island and its main tourist sights. Not much culture. But a start, and a change from just walking around downtown Phillipsburg or going to the beach.
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Maho Beach - Princess Juliana Airport - Phillipsburg, St. Maarten (unknown) |
ST. MAARTEN, for those who don't already know it, is actually occupied by two different European nations: Holland and France. Techically, the French side is "Saint Martin," and the Dutch side "Sint Maarten." Roughly divided north and south, for cruise passengers, the Dutch side is probably better known to cruisers. The island's deep water port is Phillipsburg (capitol of Dutch St. Maarten), and all major cruise passengers port there. It is a pretty large capacity port (I have counted 7 ships there all at once during one of our visits). The rather famous airport: Princess Juliana Airport (where you can see the planes land up close and personal from Maho Beach, or perhap more comfortably and safely, the Maho Beach Bar) is on the Dutch Side, as well as the primary casinos on the island (Casino Royale and Tropicale Princess) are also on the Dutch Side, adjacent to the airport. For many of us North Americans, English is the predominant language spoken on the Dutch Side. There are many beaches and bars very close to the cruise port.
I can't say Orient Beach was a "highlight" of the tour
THE FRENCH side should not be overlooked, however. The island is a popular vacation spot for other - than - cruise vacationers, with jet service to Princess Juliana, and some very nice resorts on both the Dutch and French side of the island. Also, the famous "Orient Beach" which includes a "nude" area (which is probably what has made it famous) and the popular Grand Case beach, bar and restaurant area along the western side of the island are on the French side and are known for top-drawer cuisine. Marigot, the French side capitol is also beautiful.
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Marigot, St. Martin Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
OUR TOUR took us up through the center of the island and then over toward the eastern side, with our eventual first destination being Orient Beach on the northeast coast. Along the way, we saw what I thought was an ironic, but also sad, mix of apparent poverty and wealth. Over the years, we have heard of several of the world's "rich and famous" owning residences on the island, including Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey, among others. Our driver pointed out what he told us was Gates residence high up on a hill. I was struck by the clearly poverty-leaning structures that dotted the road along the way and on the way up to the purported Gates compound.
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View From Orient Beach - St. Martin Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
WE STOPPED for 1/2 hour at Orient Beach. Enough time to make a bathroom stop and get a bottle of water and walk around. As beautiful as the "Caribbean" water was there, this beach gets its prevailing weather from the Atlantic and it tends to be rough. My own recollection of the beach was that it was rather narrow and kind of dirty. And very crowded. Near the middle of the large parking area, there is a sign demarcing the split between the "family" section and the "clothing optional" section. I walked around with my camera (although for obvious reasons, not in the nude area). 😓 My photos were mostly toward the water, away from the beach. A brief (maybe) humorous anecdote comes to mind here. There is a large rock with a path down behind it at the beginning of the "clothing optional" area. That, I learned, is where the folks walk down to the beach, stopping behind the rock to "drop-trou" as it were. Guys - if you are thinking San Tropez - like beach covered with scantily to not at all dressed movie stars and models? Think again. We saw two "elderly" (advanced elderly, believe me) head down there and begin to disrobe. I walked away, not wanting to have to try to find a way to "unsee" that. 😐 I can't say Orient Beach was a "highlight" of the tour. We have never been back there and wouldn't do so purposely.
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Marigot Bay - Marigot, St. Martin Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
FROM ORIENT Beach, our tour continued, heading west, across the island, through Grand Case, and back south to Marigot, now on the western coastline of the island. We stopped again in Marigot, this time for about 45 minutes, to walk around the downtown area of Marigot Market. The little downtown had a decided French "feel" to it, while at the same time, still feeling "Caribbean" and, of course, touristy. I was quickly drawn to the the colorful Gazebo in the above image, in the center of the marketplace. Lines, patterns, color!
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Sarafina's Patisserie - Marigot, St. Martin Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved
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BEFORE RETURNING to our van, we stopped in a little French Cafe and Pastry shop that our driver had recommended. For certain, a tourist draw, but again, colorful and "French." No English was spoken in the shop, so there was a certain amount of pointing and gesturing, but the pastry and the coffee was very good!
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Bar at Maho Beach/Princess Juliana - Phillipsburg, St. Maarten Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
OUR FINAL stop was at the Maho Beach Bar, immediately adjacent to the Princess Juliana Airport runway. A lot of people these days know that this airport is famous for being able to be so close to landing jet aircraft that you feel like you could reach up and bang on the fusilage with your knuckles. There is a small, narrow, beach across the front section of the runway, and then a fenced - off area and road in front of the actual tarmac. There are people (braver - or perhas just dumber) than I, who set up beach chairs on that beach to be directly underneath the belly of the landing planes. I have heard that the jet wash on the sand creates a sandblasting effect. Fun! Not. There have been numerous accounts of people clinging to the wire fence as the planes land, more often that they should, resulting in severe injuries to these ignorant onlookers. Indeed, in 2017, a 57 year old tourist was killed when the blast from a jet taking off (they back the tail out over the fence as far back as they can to gain runway length), as the blast tore her from the fence and threw her into a wall.
in 2017, a 57 year old tourist was killed when the blast from a jet taking off
UNFORTUNATELY FOR us, the bar was an absolute madhouse. There is a sign giving approximate landing times for planes and we were there for one. But getting a seat anywhere near the front where the planes come by was impossible. There is also the challenge of overhanging sun umbrellas. As you can see from my photo of the people, I missed the actual plane and would not have had a very good perspective on it anyway. I think the folks who have made images like the one further above, have either been just lucky, or they have sat and waited through a few. The sound is deafening. I did get to watch one take off, but that is not very exciting.
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Water Taxi - Phillisburg - St. Marteen Cruise Terminal Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved |
OUR TOUR complete, we were dropped off back at the downtown Phillipsburg terminal where the ferry took us the short trip back across the "Great Bay," to the cruise terminal and back aboard the ship. A pretty full day. We saw some sights and experienced the tourist - side of St. Maarten. While we didn't realize it at the time, we would be back there at least 2 more times over the next few years.