Adventure Guide St Martin & St Barts

313 Pages·2007·8.954 MB·English

by  Lynne Sullivan

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St. Martin
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St. Barts
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2nd Edition Lynne Sullivan
dventure Guide to
St. Martin
St. Barts
&
2nd Edition
Lynne M. Sullivan
HUNTERPUBLISHING,INC.
130CampusDrive,EdisonNJ08818
732-225-1900,800-255-0343,fax[phone]
[email protected]
4176Saint-Denis,Montréal,QuébecCanadaH2W2M5
514-843-9447;fax[phone];[email protected]
TheBoundary,WheatleyRoad,Garsington
Oxford,OX449EJEngland
01865-361122;fax[phone]
[email protected]
ISBN1-58843-595-4
©2006LynneM.Sullivan
MapsbyKimAndré,LissaDailey&ToniCarbone,
©2006HunterPublishing,Inc.
CartoonsbyJoeKohl
Coverphotograph:
PhotographscourtesyStMartinTouristBureau,StBarthProp-
erties,DreamBeaches,sxmsaintmartin.com,wiol.com,sbhonline.
com,travel-images.com,DonWissandPaulSullivan.
Forcompleteinformationaboutthehundredsofother
travelguidesofferedbyHunterPublishing,visitusat
www.hunterpublishing.com
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproduced,trans-
mittedorutilizedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechan-
ical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information
storageandretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthe
publisher.Briefextractstobeincludedinreviewsorarticlesareper-
mitted.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this
book is correct, but the publisher and authors do not assume, and
herebydisclaim,liabilitytoanypartyforanylossordamagecaused
byerrors,omissions,misleadinginformationorpotentialproblems
causedbyinformationinthisguide,evenifsucherrorsoromissions
arearesultofnegligence,accidentoranyothercause.
4 3 2 1
Contents
Introduction 1
WhichOne’sBest? 3
TheLand&Sea 3
Geography,Topography&Ecology 3
Weather 5
PlantLife 7
Wildlife 13
Birds 15
MarineLife 17
ThePeople 20
Language 20
Cuisine 20
Music 23
ASharedHistory 25
EarlyTimes 25
AfterColumbus 26
EuropeanColonization–theShortVersion 26
Sugar&Slavery 29
The20thCentury 31
TravelInformation 33
WhentoGo 33
Celebrations,Events&Holidays 33
Carnival 38
TravelDocuments 40
Arrival 42
ReturningHome 43
DepartureTax 44
Health&Safety 44
Crime 46
MoneyMatters 48
Currency 48
ATMs&Banks 49
GoingMetric 50
Electricity 51
Time 52
Telephones 52
On-IslandPhoneCards 53
ToCalltheIslands 53
iv (cid:1) Contents
PlanningYourTrip 54
TourismOffices 54
MakingReservations 55
Finding&EvaluatingaTravelAgent 56
InsureYourTrip 56
TravelersWithSpecialNeeds 59
GettingThere 60
ByAir 60
ByCruiseShip 62
PackageVacations 63
GettingAround 64
St.Martin 69
TheFrench-DutchSplit 72
OfficialBusiness 74
GettingThere 75
ByAir 75
GettingAround 76
GettingMarried 81
ExploringtheIsland 83
TaxiTours 83
GroupSightseeingTours 83
IndependentTouring 85
AdventuresonWater 104
BestBeaches 104
Boardsurfing,Windsurfing&Kiteboarding 121
Sailing 123
MotorboatTrips&Rentals 128
WaterToys 129
Deep-SeaFishing 131
AdventuresUnderwater 132
PopularDiveSites 133
AdventuresonLand 138
HorsebackRiding 138
Hiking 139
Mountain&Off-RoadBiking 141
Tennis 142
Golf 143
Shopping 143
TopShopsinPhilipsburg 145
BestBoutiquesinMarigot 152
WheretoStay 156
Contents n v
PrivateVillas 156
Resorts&Hotels 158
AccommodationsDirectory 160
OntheDutchSide 161
OntheFrenchSide 172
WheretoEat 187
RestaurantDirectory 189
InGrandCase 189
RestaurantDirectory 195
InMarigot 195
RestaurantDirectory 199
InPhilipsburg 199
InSimpsonBay 201
Nightlife 206
PopularClubs&Bars 207
Casinos 208
IslandFacts&Numbers 209
St.Barts 217
ASmallIslandLongIgnored 219
OfficialBusiness 221
GettingThere 221
ByAir 221
ByInter-IslandFerry 224
WaterTaxi 224
GettingAround 224
GettingMarried 227
ExploringSt.Barts 228
OrganizedTours 228
TaxiTours 228
IndependentTouring 229
AdventuresonWater 243
BestBeaches 243
JetSkiing&Water-Skiing 246
Surfing&Kiteboarding 247
Boating 248
Deep-SeaFishing 248
AdventuresUnderwater 249
AdventuresonLand 251
HorsebackRiding 251
Hiking 251
Tennis 252
vi (cid:1) Contents
ExerciseFacilities&SpaServices 252
Shopping 253
TopShops 253
WheretoStay 261
PrivateVillas 261
Resorts&Hotels 263
TheFrenchStarSystem 264
AccommodationsDirectory 266
WheretoEat 281
RestaurantDirectory 283
InGustavia 284
St.Jean 290
Lorient 292
PointeMilou 293
AnsedesCayes 293
AnsedesFlamands 294
GrandeSalineBeach 294
GrandCul-de-Sac 295
Nightlife 295
IslandFacts&Numbers 297
Index 303
Maps
LesserAntilles 2
St.Maarten/St.Martin 70
Philipsburg 87
Marigot 92
St.Barts 218
Gustavia 231
I
Introduction n
t
r
o
d
St. Barts and St. Martin u
IN THIS CHAPTER c
aretwoofthemostpopu-
t
larislandsintheCaribbean. (cid:1) TheLand&theSea 3 io
They are located 20 miles (cid:1) ThePeople 20 n
(cid:1) Cuisine 20
apart, 150 miles east (and
(cid:1) Music 23
slightly south) of Puerto
(cid:1) SharedHistory 25
Rico, at the top of an archi-
pelago known as the Lesser Antilles. Think of them as the
pivotjointbetweentheGreaterAntilles,whichstretchwest-
to-eastfromCubatotheVirginIslands,andtheLesserAntil-
les,whichextendnorth-to-southfromAnguillatoGrenada.
SaintBartsisatinyscrapoflandcoveringabouteightsquare
miles. It’s an overseas région of France, and old-timers still
callitSaint-Barthélemy(pinchyournose,garglethe“r,”and
saysahnbartaylehMEE).Butmosteveryoneelsereferstoit
asSaintBarts.YoumayseeitspelledSaint-Barth(theFrench
abbreviation),butinthisbookweabbreviateAmerican/Eng-
lish-styleandusesimplySt.Barts.
Saint Martin is several times larger, with about 36 square
miles, divided almost equally between France (20 square
miles) and the Netherlands (16 square miles). This is the
smallestlandareaintheworldtobegovernedbytwonations.
The Dutch call their part Sint Maarten. The French call
theirsSaint-Martin.Inthisbook,weuseSt.Martintorefer
totheislandasawhole.
St. Martin is easily reached from the US, and St. Barts is a
quickinter-islandhopbyferryorplane.Youmaywanttodi-
vide your vacation between the two, or choose one island as
yourhomebaseandtakeaday-triptotheother.Day-tripping
won’tallowyouapropervisit,butit’seasytodoandrelatively
inexpensive.

WhichOne’sBest? (cid:1) 3
(cid:1) I
Which One’s Best? n
t
r
Ifyouaskadozenvisitorswho’vestayedonbothislandswhich
o
they prefer, you’ll get a half-dozen zealous votes for each. d
u
ThosewhofavorSt.MartinraveabouttheDutch-sidecasinos,
c
French-siderestaurants,andsensationalduty-freeshops.St. t
i
Bartsfansgushoverluxuriouslittlehotels,exquisitemeals, o
n
chic boutiques, and camera-shy celebrities seen lounging on
thebeaches.
Ifyouseekalotofaction,goforSt.Martin.Needmorepeace
andquiet?St.Bartsisforyou.
The Land & Sea
(cid:1)
Geography,
Topography & Ecology
Honestly,St.BartsandSt.Martinarenotgorgeous
overall.Eachhaslovelyareas,andbothhavestun-
ning beaches and picturesque vistas, but don’t ex-
pect breathtaking mountains, cascading water-
falls,lushrainforests,oridyllicriversandlakes.
PRESERVING PARADISE
Eco-tourists probably will be happier elsewhere in
the Caribbean, but St. Martin and St. Barts have
made recent strides in the direction of protecting
andenhancingwhatnatureprovided.
On St. Martin, the Nature Foundation (Dutch)
andAGRNSM(French)havetakenonthedemand-
ing chore of preserving the island’s natural assets
forfuturegenerationstoenjoy.BoththeFrenchand
the Dutch have set up marine reserves to oversee
management of the coral reefs and coastlines, and
each government is enforcing new conservation
laws. Additional organizations have sprung up to
protectwildlifehabitats,restorehistoricalsites,en-