St. Martin

[Indapool]

Hey guys,
Boss just called and want's to head to St. Martin for a week
Anyone been down there lately?
Any good leads on affordable hotels? Say less than $150. Beach would be good.
Is a rental car a must have?
French or Dutch side?
And MOST importantly..where to drink??

And on the flying side..
Any "gotcha's" ? catering, fuel, etc..
Anything out of the norm on clearing Customs?
How is the handling through the FBO?
Multiservice for everything or do I need cash for "extra's"?

Anything else you can thing of would be appreciated.

 

[Delta3]

Never Been There But...

The approach into St. Marteen is amazing! There are 747s that pass only a few feet above swimmers heads.

Check out these pics from airliners.net :
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/027599/M/
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/201517/M/

 

[Don]

Unless you want to be up close to a Casino stay on the French side. La Flamboyant is pretty nice.

There really are no great beaches there, most of the coast is rocky. If you like to SCUBA dive make a trip to SABA.

I'd skip on the rental car (the driving is a bit nuts) and just take a Taxi around. The Island is pretty small.

Any place will take American dollars so don't worry about that.

 

[Jeff Helgeson]

St. Maarten

Great island!

French and Dutch make for two vacations for the price of one.

Rent the car, it is usually pretty cheap (under $30), but this is the high season and we have had a lot of snow.

I suggest applying the factor 30 spf liberally BEFORE you venture off to the nude beach and leave the camara at the hotel.

Get a 5 kilo cheese wheel at the airport with the crew member discount.

Hold on to the fence facing the runway when the B747 takes off; it's a real sand blast!

The locals will ask you to visist a time share presentation at least about 50 times the week you are there.

Have fun!

 

[airgator]

Stay at Maho right by the airport. Great hotel and casino. Dutch side is where the party's at, French side is for if you're with your wife. As soon as you clear customs, go grab some brews at the Sunset Beach Bar, right under the approach end of the runway. It's a site when the AF 747 lands around 6pm. Go to the Greenhouse in Phillipsburg on tue for $1 heinekens. There is a club across from Maho that goes off on Fri and Sat nite, lots of girls. Definitely rent a car, very cheap, but GET insurance. Also go to the Winair counter and go to Saba for a day, most times they have a deal $1 a mile=$50 bucks rountrip. The landing alone is worth it. If you Scuba, you're in for a treat, Saba is tops in the world, over 30 dive sites around the island. I've done every dive and thet're all amazing. SXM has "the Maze", which is a great dive as well, check it out. You're gonna have a blast, nice people, nice women, something for EVERYONE on the island.

 

[Jeff Helgeson]

airgator is spot on

The Maho Beach resort is nice,close to the airport if you need to keep tabs on your ride.

Cheeries is nice, good food and Caribbean party place. The rent-a-car at the Maho is cheap and there is more secluded (suit optional) beach all within walking distance from the maho.

 

[Chas]

was there last week...

The travel inn is near the airport and cheap but no access to the beach . I would definitely go to the bar at the approach end of the airpoprt There is a little boat which is a bar Gets a lot of people between 5 and 7 pm People just love looking at the planes land. I rented a car for $60 a day but that was spur of the moment . To be honest I was not super impressed with the island I think it can be a dangerouis place mostly on the on the french side .But to each his own Most of all HAVE FUN!! Chas

 

[Indapool]

Thanks guys!
Looks like the Maho may be the one. Anyone know if the FBO has a crew rate there? Expedia shows $199 per night and Intl. per diem is $250, how the hell am I supposed to make any money AND drink on $50 a day???

 

[Timebuilder]

The Maho isn't bad, by any means. As a newbie to the islands, I found the lack of carpeting in the rooms to be a little odd, mostly because it makes your room have the accoustical quality of a locker room.

There is a clothing optional beach just up the road (north) of the Maho. As a former nudist (when I was younger, and didn't frighten children and small animals) I can suggest Orient Beach, on the French side. The food and drink prices are outrageous, because these people are catering to the Hollywood Beautiful People types. I saw several young models au natural, and too many guys older than me, who I wished had kept their clothes on. If you buy a soda, expect to pay the price of the soda each and every time you get a refill. I had three ginger ales, and was charged almost four American dollars for EACH ONE. A simple lunch for two was over $80.

We had a little white Corolla to drive around the island, so underpowered that we had to turn off the A/C in order to climb some of the more steep hills above the city. There is a poor section, almost like a Kingston Town (Jamaica) that you might want to avoid. Having a captain that speaks Spanish is a big plus, as we were searching for a gas station that takes credit cards, and we had no luck getting directions to such a station when using English. We found a station just over the line in the French side. The fuel is priced per litre in Euros, and your card company takes care of the conversion. Most food is priced in dollars for the tourist trade.

Enjoy!

 

[Sctt@NJA]

Flew down there a couple weeks ago for the first time. Was only there for an hour so I can only speak to the flying part.

Flew from Miami and had good english speaking controllers whole way. Had radar contact till about 30 miles from st maarten. Non- radar busy little airport. Had to do a 360 on final to accomodate traffic. The tower controller will ask you your dme, radial and altittude passing to keep track of where you are. Phrases it kinda funny, something like "request altittude"

Handlers are great, there is no fbo they are based out of terminal so you need a ride back and forth to airplane. The ramp is small and crowded and I understand you need permission if you want to remain overnight.

Oh yeah, they are one of those places where you don't recieve a clearance until they tell you "line up and wait" (position and hold).

Looked like a cool place. Hope I can stay awhile next time =P