I just got back from St. Martin, I subscribed to this thread to get some ideas but as nothing appeared I thought I’d let you know my
experience. I’m assuming you are leaving from Moorings/Sunsail in
Oyster pond as we did, my one major comment would be slow down, I’m not sure if you are aware but there is no night sailing on the charters without a waiver, so a 10hr sail may be a little much.
We were tempted in the briefing to get to all the national parks and prepaid our nights but each time you change islands, or sides on St. Martin, you have to clear in/out of
customs, this was new to me and a novelty the first couple of times, but when they are an hour late for
work (Anguilla) or leave 2 hrs early (St. Martin .nl in Simpsons bay), it really gets on your nerve and delays departures. It’s tempting to skip it but the .nl
customs guys are pretty quick in their
dinghy to come for a visit, we’d just set the
anchor, stopped the
motor, and cracked our first Presidente for the day only to have the moment disturbed by the
men with
guns, they’re quick!
I’d recommend a night in Grand Case, easy
anchoring and a trip to the LoLo’s is a must, park at the
dinghy dock, walk past Max’s place and turn right, you can’t miss them, 100ft along on the right.
Marigot was dead when we were there, probably due to the August party on
Anguilla, so I don’t have much good to say,the customs were never there and I had to clear in/out at the marina, which is probably faster but they don’t want you there as you’re not a paying marina customer.
Road bay on
Anguilla is fun for beach bars, go see Elvis on the north end.
Stay out of the
marine park north of Anguilla/to the west of Sandy Island if possible, the edges are littered with pots, not a fun time if you pick one up, ask me how I know…
Simpsons bay is a nice anchorage with dinghy access to food/entertainment in the
lagoon, you can park your dinghy on the south end of “Snoopy island”, or beach the dinghy out front of the yacht and hit Buccaneer’s
There are
anchorages / balls in Ile Tintarmerre, Pinel, and Ile Fourchue that you can overnight on, ask about it in the briefing and read the cruisers guide they will supply on the
boat, Pinel is _tiny_ with obstacles, only a few balls one of which left me probably < 1 minute from break to on the lee shore, it was stormy so I left the ball to go back to Grand Case for
safety.
I must say they run a first class operation at Moorings there, the yachts are well maintained with only very minor squawks, it really was a great time and I’d go back in a heartbeat, next time I will not try to go as far and plan my customs clearance better and just explore more of what’s local.
I hope it helps, I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun!
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