Jush From Germany, joined Apr 2005, 1636 posts, RR: 4 Posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 1393 times:
Hi A.netters!
Hope everything is alright and happy Easter to all of you who celebrate it.
I just wondered why someone chooses to go to St. Maarten for a holiday.
I mean I know Maho beach is fantastic for spotting but well you can't do it all holiday long.
So what can you do, really cause Maho beach doesn't look that nice really to do the standard beach things like enjoying the sun and having a swim in the water.
Furthermore, the island is not very big and one could wonder is there anything to see/do?
AirPacific747 From Denmark, joined May 2008, 2091 posts, RR: 23 Reply 1, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 1387 times:
I have never been there, but I have been to Mallorca once. Well then tell me what is so great about Mallorca. I am sure that the beaches on Mallorca are not nicer than the ones on St. Maarten. Also, there must be other beaches on St. Maarten that are nicer than Maho beach. There are probably also a few "must see" spots on the island when you get tired of sunbathing and swimming in the sea/pool
NeilYYZ From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 2, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 1387 times:
I stopped off there on a cruise with my family in 2003, I went to Maho to spot the planes while my sister and parents did some shopping in town. They seemed to feel that there were a few shops that were alright, but I think my dad at least would have prefered to stay on the beach and watch the planes fly overhead. They said that one day there was enough, I agreed, I enjoyed the spotting, but I couldn't do it all week long, although if you were at an all inclusive resort on the island that could be an entirely different story.
LHMARK From United States of America, joined Jan 2000, 7255 posts, RR: 51 Reply 3, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 1378 times:
You can pick up topless women at the Sunset Beach Bar. That'll kill an afternoon.
"Sympathy is something that shouldn't be bestowed on the Yankees. Apparently it angers them." - Bob Feller
CVG72 From United States of America, joined Feb 2006, 161 posts, RR: 1 Reply 4, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 9 hours ago) and read 1354 times:
Go over on the French side at Orient Beach and just sit, relax, and watch the pretty girls go by. If that doesn't float your boat, you could go down to Phillipsburg and shop. And best of all, you can spot.
If you have one full day in SXM, here's where you should eat:
Breakfast: "Zee Best" A little crepe stand near the marina in Marigot.
Lunch: Street vendors, or people with "Lo-Los."
Dinner:"Le Tastevin" A very nice French restaraunt in Grande Case. If I had a choice, I'd eat there every night of my life.
Boeingfanyyz From Canada, joined Jul 2005, 991 posts, RR: 2 Reply 5, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 8 hours ago) and read 1315 times:
Dont forget that there are tons of resorts (many all-inclusives) which are there for non-av folks who want a peaceful holiday and not the sight of a KL 744 rushing 300 feet about their head!
Cheers,
Boeingfanyyz
"If it aint boeing, it aint going!", "Friends are like condoms...they protect you when things get hard!"
Lnglive1011yyz From Canada, joined Oct 2003, 1588 posts, RR: 17 Reply 7, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 1258 times:
Quoting Jush (Thread starter): I just wondered why someone chooses to go to St. Maarten for a holiday.
I mean I know Maho beach is fantastic for spotting but well you can't do it all holiday long.
Why not?
I'm the type of traveller who likes to just sit on the beach, with a cabana over me, with a nice book, and a pina colada in my hand. That's it.
Maho Beach is my perfect idea of a trip, at this point in my life.
LSPA From Switzerland, joined Jan 2006, 190 posts, RR: 4 Reply 8, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 1248 times:
for av-fans st.marteen is kinda like the vatican for pilgrims. a must-go. for the rest of the time just sit on the beach, get a tan or sunburn and enjoy life! i've never been there but i definetly want to go.
Cxsjr From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 9, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 1227 times:
Quoting Jush (Thread starter): I mean I know Maho beach is fantastic for spotting but well you can't do it all holiday long
.... oh, believe me, some people spend the whole of their trips there from morning through night!
When I visited, I went to Maho twice and the remainder of the time, we toured around the island. The beaches are OK and the water is clean but unless you're into big hotels, the nightlife is limited. We stayed in a guest house on Simpson Bay and had BBQ's on the beach at night with endless alcohol which was big fun
But you must be careful. I accidentally left my Canon Ixus camera in the centre console of the car for no more than 10 minutes at an extremely remote spot with not a soul in sight ... you know what's coming ... when we got back to the car, the camera was gone!
I have to say, I've been once and whilst I thoroughly enjoyed it, it's not on my list of places to go back to.
HBIHLtoEZE From Switzerland, joined Aug 2004, 280 posts, RR: 2 Reply 10, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 1223 times:
Given that this is part of an aviation forum there is plenty to do - watching, experiencing, feeling, picturing and almost touching the planes coming over maho beach...
However, SXM has something else to offer: it is the party spot No 1 in the West Indies (that's what I experienced and was assured), you can have all kinds of activites concerning the Atlantic - superb diving, snorkelling, swimming (try to reach Anguilla for instance...),
relaxing on the beaches, or you can trace the Caribbean's history and read some good books about the Caribbean (I recommend Olaudah Equiano's account of his life for instance).
You can buy (not that I would recommend it) the things you are offered by the locals in shady alleys...
Or hop in a Winair prop to another island...
It is really more than just a good spot for aviation enthusiasts.
Cheers
Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.
TIA From Albania, joined Mar 2006, 520 posts, RR: 2 Reply 11, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 1190 times:
I was there for a week in March, and I spent a grand total of 4-5 hours (one afternoon) at Maho beach to see the planes. If you think that there is nothing else to do on the island, you are so mistaken. At the end of my vacation, I felt like I had not even experienced a quarter of what that island had to offer.
As HBIHLtoEZE already said, you can really party your a** off in SXM if that is your thing. There are quite a few fun beach bars and clubs, which are mostly concentrated in the Maho beach area. I was staying on the French side, about 40 mins away from Maho, but that did not stop me from going there for the nightlife.
Other than Maho, there are 36 (IIRC) other beaches on the island all for you to enjoy. You can choose between a crowded, commercialised beach like Orient, and a quiet and more secluded one like the north shore of Pinel Island, or Happy Bay. You can find whatever suits you best.
If shopping is your thing, you can spend days shopping in SXM, although I personally find it a waste of time. Philipsburgh is booming during the day with a wide variety of stores. Marigot has many stores too, as well as a very cool looking mall. After all, SXM is known for its shopping being duty free and all.
Another great thing about SXM, that you won't find in many other islands is the selection of restaurants and food. SXM is considered to be the gourmet capital of the Caribbean, and that is one aspect of my vacation, that I truly enjoyed, even though I don't care that much about food. You can find anything in SXM, (especially in Grand Case) from cheap, but good local food in the Lolos (as mentioned by someone else) to very expensive and elegant restaurants.
The people of SXM are also very friendly. A few of them might seem a little rough around the edges, but they really are friendly and very helpful. I know that some people find the French rude when they visit France, but all the French people in SXM (or even in the highly exclusive SBH) are amazing.
I would recommend anyone who goes to SXM to rent a car. It is not expensive to do so, and it enables you to experience so much more, than just staying all day long in your all-inclusive resort. I drove around the island so much and thoroughly enjoyed it. If for some strange reason you run out of things to do in SXM, or if you simply want to try out any of the surrounding islands, it is extremely easy and quite affordable to take day trips to St. Barts, Anguilla, and Saba. You can even hop on a turboprop to get to some of the more distant islands if you so desire.
In other words, you can find anything in SXM. You just have to make an effort to explore the island.
LooneyToon From United States of America, joined Mar 2005, 444 posts, RR: 1 Reply 12, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 1185 times:
awe dude! You've gotta get to St. Maarten, the place rocks! There is everything for everyone: nightclubs, casinos, topless women, cigar lounges, strip bars, beaches, plenty of good food, topless women, airplanes, boats, topless women, you get my drift? I love that place!
If you get bored, check out Saba and St. Barths, they are cool too.
AndesSMF From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 14, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 1150 times:
Well, what the hell do you go to the beach for????? For my upcoming trip to Cancun, We plan on spending the entire time swimming, sunning, eating and sleeping. So you have a beach, with all the trimmings, and now you add airplanes to the mix. What do you have? A future vacation for me!
Copaair737 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 15, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 1150 times:
I'm planning to go there with my twin brother and a couple of friends this summer. Sounds like quite the place. Seeing as I'm a huge aviation fan, Maho Beach would be like Mecca, and the topless women....thats the cincher. What are the hotspot nightlife centers? I assume there are bars beachside at Maho, so I'd prolly spend most of my vacation with a Harvey Wallbanger in one hand, chatting it up with the hotties, and then taking time to watch the spectacle of large jets at short distances above your head. Sounds like a plan.
COrocks From United States of America, joined Feb 2001, 1199 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 1 day 9 hours ago) and read 1115 times:
For me, I thought that it was about the same as any other island. Shopping, food, beaches. The diving was okay, not great. The snorkeling was some of the worst I have seen in the Caribbean. Not sure why this was - just very few fish near the island. You have to go way out.
The beaches are great. As many have said, you can do either the secluded beach or the touristy beach. Both are great.
Of course, the plane watching was great.
If you just like chilling out at night and listening to Jazz music and drinking, we enjoyed the Sopranos bar near Maho beach.
LooneyToon From United States of America, joined Mar 2005, 444 posts, RR: 1 Reply 17, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 1061 times:
Quoting Cxsjr (Reply 13): ..... gay bars, topless men? no
of course there are those on St. Maarten. Especially topless men.
AirCop From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 19, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 20 hours ago) and read 1011 times:
Quoting CVG72 (Reply 4): Go over on the French side at Orient Beach and just sit, relax, and watch the pretty girls go by. If that doesn't float your boat, you could go down to Phillipsburg and shop. And best of all, you can spot.
Topless, been my experience the Germans like the nude beach at Club Orient on Orient Beach. Besides the airport and beaches, there something for everyone taste on the island, casino's, great food, sightseeing, etc.
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but all the French people in SXM (or even in the highly exclusive SBH) are amazing.
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