The Island With A Split Personality
Written: Jul 08 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Some of the best beaches in the Caribbean, great restaurants & shopping
Cons: Struggling with growth, crowding, crime & hurricane damage
The Bottom Line: A beautiful island suffering from overcrowding, infrastructure damage and crime. A good place to visit on a cruise. Be careful if you decide to stay longer.
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| rreublin's Full Review: St. Martin Island |
St. Martin - Sint Maarten is the only island in the Caribbean with a split personality. Half Dutch and half French, you can freely move across an untended border and change from one culture to another in a blink of an eye. Having lived in the Caribbean and worked on Sint Maarten, we have seen the good, the bad and the ugly.
Our Favorite Island?
There was a time when this island was our absolute favorite place to go. First, because of the incredible beaches on the French side, especially the wildly sensual and sexy Orient beach and secondly, the great duty free shopping on the Dutch side. We lived on St. Thomas and often would visit Sint Maarten/St. Martin as one of our get aways. We always stay on the French side, for reasons soon revealed, and "play" and shop on the Dutch side. Over the last few years though, we have found crime and crowding to have reached critical proportions and the islands condition to be quite poor due to the constant barrage of hurricanes over the last few years.
The Case for the Dutch Side
Your first exposure to SXM will be Princess Juliana Airport on the Dutch side. It is a pleasant landing but get ready for a scary take off when you leave. The runway is short, you'll be taking off toward a big mountain and the airship will make a rather cruel low-level steep turn (only St. Thomas, St. Lucia & St. Vincent are worse and St. Barths is a suicide run) so white knuckles are the grip du jour. Once on the ground, if you head for Phillipsburg, get ready for a real traffic hassle. From the airport to town has been over developed and traffic is outrageous, especially at "rush hour." If you stay in Phillipsburg, be sure to allow PLENTY of time for travel back to the airport for your departure. Once in P'burg, you will find lots of shops and some quaint Dutch style buildings. The shopping here is excellent but knowing your merchandise and looking out for predators is an important rule. You can find good bargains on perfumes, watches, cameras and this is one of the few places outside of Amsterdam where you can find rare Delft pottery and china. Night life on the Dutch side is somewhat better due to the Casinos. Though not as glitzy as Las Vegas, if you like to gamble, you can lose just as much here as in Vegas but have the advantage of going to a beach the next day to try to forget it.
There are lots of good restaurants here, but not as many as on the French side. If you are looking for a good beach on the Dutch side, forget it. The best one used to be Mullet Bay but hurricanes completely destroyed that area and a drive through there is like a drive through Berlin in 1945, it is awful. For beaches, open space and better hotels, go to the French side.
The Grand Case For The French Side
For us, driving around past the airport and through the devastation of Mullet Bay to the French side has always been like an escape to another world. Though you will find crowding and traffic a problem in the towns of Marigot and Grand Case, the rest of the French side is more rural, more open and more, shall we say, refined; but still in a charmingly Caribbean way. Of course, when you go to the French side you still must deal with the French who have a charming way of treating you like dog poop, but that is minor for mostly you will find yourself welcome and appreciated.
THE beach to go to is Orient Bay, a clothing optional beach that is absolutely gorgeous. In the last few years it has become much more crowded and the gawkers still come with their telephoto lenses and the drool running down their chins. Regardless, if you have the courage, you will find it to be a grand experience. There is nothing like it but if you have a problem with the human body, there are other fine beaches around the island. Be advised though that on any of the French side beaches, you will see many more body parts exposed than you would in Pittsburgh. If you have problems with this, don't cluck and criticize the people, go somewhere else and leave them alone.
The restaurants in Grand Case are incredible. Directly on the sea, there are several that will give you one of the greatest dining experiences of your life. Balconies overlooking the beach, the quiet swish of the waves on the sand, moonlight, French wine and food; Oooo-la-la, there is nothing like it. Marigot also has many good restaurants and offers some interesting architecture and a real taste of France. Shopping on the French side is less well established and is very pricey. Get a few souvenirs and T-Shirts and maybe some uniquely French items but save your serious shopping for the Dutch side.
The Crime Scene
As with St. Thomas (see my epinion on STT, "The Darker Side of Paradise") crime has burgeoned here as a consequence of uncontrolled growth. As a result, things are not as safe as they once were. On our last trip we talked with a shop owner on the French side who has lived there 25 years. She said that it is the worst it has ever been and she now frequently witnesses incidents of tourists or residents being mugged or robbed in broad daylight. She said that after 25 years she was considering selling out and moving back to Paris. We did not witness any crime, but we can tell you, the tone has changed. It is not as safe as it used to be, you can feel it and you need to have your antennas up and be smart. Lay low, forget the flashy jewelry, use the safe in your hotel, wear a fanny pack and grow eyes in the back of your head. Whatever you do, do not leave valuables in a rental car and never go to a remote deserted beach by yourself.
The Bottom Line
Though this used to be our favorite place, the conditions, crowding and fear of crime has placed it on our "endangered island" list and it is not likely we will spend as much time there as in the past. As with St. Thomas, we can no longer recommend it without you understanding the conditions. It is a great place to visit on a cruise and Orient Beach is still the greatest beach experience in the Caribbean. As for long term stays, not our cup of tea till they get the infrastructure repaired, crowding under control and the crime level back to low risk. If you want the Dutch experience, go to Aruba. If you want the French influence, St. Barth's. is the place to be.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
rreublin
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Member: Richard Reublin
Location: Germantown, TN
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
Just an average retired guy working on geezer status. Beach bum, aviation historian.
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