Hey Island Hoppers! St. Marten, or St. Barts?

[TooCoys]

Originally Posted by Jsta_Rebel

As I was scrolling through the thread, I was going to suggest the French side of SXM too. Very quaint, welcoming place with a very laid back attitude. Dutch side is to touristy for me or as one would possibly label it "Americanized" although Dutch.

After I read this post, I would suggest that you check out St. John USVI. Cruz bay is excellent, beautiful beaches, great snorkeling with any water sport you wish available. It is not as cheap as SXM, but much cheaper than St. Barts. Also, they don't refer to St . John as Love City for nothing. It is a destination of many same sex orientated people. In fact, take a look and check the villas in Chocolate Hole. If you're interested, I have some very good friends there "Grace and Anna" who own and operate SOS cafe on St. Thomas (check facebook) who can give you the low down and would be loads of help with information. Wonderful people on Both Islands, but St. John is simply amazing.

St. John looks extremely interesting!

I never even considered the USVI.... probably because it has US in the name.

[BlackAdder]

My friend and I are are on a quest to find the world's best pina colada. We stopped in at the bar on Shell Beach in St. Barths and ordered 2 pina coladas without asking for the price because, hey, price is no object when searching for the best of anything. Well, to be fair these were the largest drinks we have ever received and they were good, but the price tag... 100 Euros (~110 USD)for two drinks, no food, was a bit much!!

MarkJ is spot on. He has chosen St. Maarten as his worldwide base of operations for a reason. I too have just lived there for the last year and a half and just started cruisin' to other islands. The general consensus is that St. Maarten is one of the most happening islands in the Caribbean. Cheaper than most. Plenty to do and see and the Dutch/French sides add a lot of varied experiences as they're quite different.

Our fave nude hang out was Baie Rouge on the French side. Just walk a ways down the beach and you're good to go. I'm pretty sure the French side is accepting on all lifestyles. It is true that a lot of islands are conservative but there they are pretty cosmopolitan and with almost 5 million tourists piling through there each year, I'm sure they've seen it all!! My vote is for St. Martin/Maarten. I'll be in St. John in a month so I'll report back a comparison of the two destinations.

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[JstaRebel]

Originally Posted by TooCoys

St. John looks extremely interesting!

I never even considered the USVI.... probably because it has US in the name.

I thought you might like it.. And, going over to BVI including The Baths on VG, or Jost Van Dyke ( I recommend Ivan's and Foxy's) is just a day trip on a boat. Plenty of boats go to the BVI daily. I doubt you would actually even go because this is your first trip and you would have plenty to do on St. John. If you decide on St. John, let me know and I'll hook you up with where to go for what, and some good affordable charters.

Cheers!

[TooCoys]

So we finally decided on French St. Martin. We booked a 6 night, 7 day trip to the Riu Palace on the Anse Marcel. Unfortunately we have to fly there because it'd be a really tedious trip in our 18' run about.

However we are planning on chartering a catamaran over to Anguilla for one of the 7 days.

What are some of the high points to see and do in Anguilla?

[accomplice]

Originally Posted by TooCoys

However we are planning on chartering a catamaran over to Anguilla for one of the 7 days.

What are some of the high points to see and do in Anguilla?

You'll need to clear in at Road Bay and get a permit for the national park there. We enjoyed the snorkeling at Little Bay (6-7' ray) and Prickly Pear. Get pitchers of rum punch to wash down the goat meat nachos at elvis's on the beach or maybe the firehouse (?) will be having a pig roast.

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