Beers in St. Maarten

[Caribbeachbum]

My wife and I are in St. Maarten for a week. We are dirt-bound, but would love to beer with fellow sailors. Great Bay .. if you're anchored out we can see you. First beer or two on us!

[TooCoys]

Originally Posted by Caribbeachbum

My wife and I are in St. Maarten for a week. We are dirt-bound, but would love to beer with fellow sailors. Great Bay .. if you're anchored out we can see you. First beer or two on us!

Even if you DONT get to meet up with other sailors, make sure that you go to Grand Case and visit Calmos Café. It is a MUST do while you're on the island!

And tell Richard the 4 white Americans said hello!LOL

[Caribbeachbum]

I can see Saba off in the distance, a silvery, ghostly mountain rising from the sea. The enigmatic red schooner (60-footer or so, maybe bigger) that has been anchored out in the bay since we arrived has weighed anchor and is on the move, motoring in to the dock. It’s reminiscent of a William Garden design, but the sheer line is so banana shaped that I wonder if it’s from someone’s backyard.

There is an enormous black square-rigged schooner here as well, and the skippers seem to know each other. Soon after the red schooner motored in, the black one weighed anchor and headed in as well, and now they’re at the dock together.

Phillipsburg is a wonderful place populated with quirky and fascinating characters. We spent last night boozing with a norweigan, a romanian, an irananian, and a bartender from dominica. Most everything shuts down at 9 p.m., which is why I’m up so early looking out over the bay.

The two very large yachts aside, I am quite surprised by the prevalence of schooners anchored out iin Great Bay. They are pretty and I bet they are hell on a reach!

The first cruise ship of the day is coming around Fort Amsterdam. When that ship ties up, this quirky wonderful little town will transform into a giant vacuum, sucking up dollar bills and spitting out sunburned and drunken tourists.

We’re headed over to Carnival this afternoon, there will be few tourists there.

Still hoping to have beers with fellow sailors.

[Zanshin]

You should head out of cruise ship country with front street and back street beckoning shoppers and head out to the rest of the island! Grand Case has been mentioned, but if you want to see something interesting and meet up with some cruisers, then head to the 5pm happy-hour last bridge opening at the St. Martin Yacht Club. From your front-row seat at the water you can watch the megayachts and others navigate the bridge channel and sometimes those big megayachts are so close you can almost touch them (and sometimes they touch the bridge - which is when those car-sized fenders come into play). Another watering hole for the cruisers/sailors is Lagoonies, which also happens to serve excellent food.

[AiniA]

If you want to visit a fascinating spot head to Saba. There is a ferry and chip shot flights. It is a fascinating place and totally different from anything else in the Caribbean, and possibly the world.

[MarkJ]

Tonight we are going in to see the Calypso competition at Carnival City.

As Zanahin mentions, if you are into boats then a bus trip to Simpson Bay is a must.
Drink at 3 bars close to each other St Maarten Yacht Club at 5pm, Fat Turtle on Isle We All where the mega yachts are, and Soggy Dollar Bar at Palapa Marina.

Take photo ID to leave at 're purity at isle de sol

[Caribbeachbum]

The black schooner I wrote about this morning appears to be in the business of selling boat rides. At the dock, they picked up a few people from the cruise ships and motored out into Great Bay.

She's a square-rigged tall ship, and it was quite breathtaking and beautiful when they unfurled all the squares! Squint a bit and block my view of the cruise ships, and I'm 200 years in the past.

My wife and I will be at Carnival City after lunch, as there is stuff going on all the time. We also might attend the senior calypso finals later tonight, but we are uncertain about that.

[boatman61]

Is the 'Barefoot Breakfast Bar' still there by the old town jetty..???

[Caribbeachbum]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Is the 'Barefoot Breakfast Bar' still there by the old town jetty..???

I think it is, but if so, it no longer includes "breakfast" in the name. We'll walk that way after our breakfast and have a beer there to confirm.

Some italians have a place called Gusto a few steps away from where we're staying, and they seem to actually care about making good food, which is rare indeed on the boardwalk. At least, it's been rare so far in our limited experience. So we're having breakfast with them.

[Caribbeachbum]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Is the 'Barefoot Breakfast Bar' still there by the old town jetty..???

Your bar is no longer there. We had beers at the Dirty Sanchez Bar instead. The logo is a drawing of a partially peeled banana with the tip dipped in chocolate. We chuckled and drank an alarmingly large number of Caribe's (NFL).

[boatman61]

Bumma..!!! they did a great breakfast.. with a great view.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Caribbeachbum

they seem to actually care about making good food, which is rare indeed on the boardwalk.

Well, if you want an EXCELLENT meal... And a tour of the Lagoon by dinghy Friday night... AND pay for my dinner.... Private Message me and we can set it up. Dinner would be at what I think is the best restaurant in St Martin. You will remember it (the deserts) for ever.


Mark

[nhschneider]

CBB-
My wife, niece and I are currently in the Tabago Cays and we're northbound, hoping to be in St. Maarten around mid-May, if you're still around. We would be delighted to share our cockpit with you for a round of refreshing beverages. PM me and I'll send you my contact details.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[Caribbeachbum]

We had breakfast yesterday at a place called Lizzy's. Oh my. We went there because they offered a Dutch breakfast. It was cheese, meat, toast, and a soft-boiled egg. Dunno how Dutch that is, I was hoping for speckpannenkoeken mit stroop (forgive my spelling, I don't speak nederlands).

So .. we get a slice of pasteurized processed cheese flavored food product, also known as american cheese, a slice of ham from a packet that had been tossed on a flattop and heated, wonder bread that had been heated but not really toasted, and a hard boiled egg that was taken directly from the pot and served -- we had to wait 15 minutes before we could peel it. Now cheese, meat, and egg is a breakfast that I have had it Europe, but it was never like this ... I hope I'm not being overly whiny, but I can't recommend this place.

[boatman61]

There's a nice Lebanese restaurant across the road from Pallapa Docks.. the Soggy Dollar end that does a good Lebanese breakfast and lunch.
PS; Don't eat at the Marina Royale restaurants they're crap.. especially the so called Thai.