St. Martin and St. Barts Alive! 2nd Edition (Hunter Travel Guides)

318 Pages·2002·16.48 MB·English

by  Harriet Greenberg

ST. MARTIN,
ST. BARTS &
ANGUILLA
!
E
V
I
L
A
2nd Edition
Harriet Greenberg & Douglas Greenberg
HUNTER
HUNTERPUBLISHING,INC.
130CampusDrive,Edison,NJ08818
732-225-1900;800-255-0343;Fax[phone]
[email protected]
INCANADA:
UlyssesTravelPublications
4176Saint-Denis,Montréal,Québec,CanadaH2W2M5
(cid:1)514-843-9882,ext.2232/fax[phone]
INTHEUNITEDKINGDOM:
WindsorBooksInternational
TheBoundary,WheatleyRoad,Garsington
Oxford,OX449EJEngland
(cid:1)01865-361122;Fax[phone]
ISBN1-58843-356-0
©2003AliveTravelBooks,Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro-
duced,storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyform,
orbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,record-
ing, or otherwise, without the written permission of the pub-
lisher.
Thisguidefocusesonrecreationalactivities.Asallsuchactivi-
ties contain elements of risk, the publisher, author, affiliated
individualsandcompaniesdisclaimanyresponsibilityforany
injury,harm,orillnessthatmayoccurtoanyonethrough,orby
use of, the information in this book. Every effort was made to
insure the accuracy of information in this book, but the pub-
lisher and author do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any
liability for any loss or damage caused by errors, omissions,
misleadinginformationorpotentialtravelproblemscausedby
thisguide,evenifsucherrorsoromissionsaretheresultofneg-
ligence,accidentoranyothercause.
MapsbyKimAndré,©2003HunterPublishing,Inc.
1 2 3 4
Contents
St.Barts 1
GettingThere 3
GettingAround 7
Orientation 10
Towns 12
Gustavia 12
St.Jean 13
Lorient 13
Corossol 13
Colombier 14
Sights 14
LaGrandeSaline 14
Vitet 14
Geography 15
Climate 15
Flora&Fauna 17
ABriefHistory 18
SunupToSundown 22
Gustavia&ShellBeach 23
SaintJean&SaintJeanBeach 28
Lorient(AnsedeLorient) 31
PointeMilou 32
AnseMarigot&GrandCuldeSac 33
AnsePetitCul-De-Sac,AnseToiny 33
GrandeSaline(AnsedeGrandeSaline)34
Lurin&AnseduGouverneur 36
Corossol(AnsedeCorossol) 36
AnsedesCayes&AnsedesFlamands 38
Colombier&ColombierBeach 39
Land-BasedSports 40
Water-BasedSports 43
ShopTillYouDrop 48
p
iv Contents
StoreHours 49
GustaviaBoutiques 49
St.JeanBoutiques 52
St.BartsArtists 53
BestPlacestoStay 53
ThingstoConsider 55
RateSchedules 55
Off-SeasonTravel 56
AlivePriceScale 56
TheBestHotels 57
SmallHotels&Inns 77
VillaRentals 81
BestPlacestoEat 83
DiningHours 85
DiningSavvy 85
AlivePriceScale 86
ExceptionalDiningSpots 87
Gustavia 93
Lorient 100
GrandCuldeSac 101
GrandeSaline 104
AnseDesCayes 107
LunchattheBeach,St.BartsStyle 107
SaintJeanBeach 108
GrandCulDeSacBeach 109
All-DayRestaurants 109
Gustavia 110
SaintJean 111
RoutedeSaline 112
LocalWateringHoles 113
AfterDark 115
St.BartsAToZ 119
SintMaarten/SaintMartin 125
GettingThere 127
ByAir 127
p
Contents v
EntryRequirements 128
MoneyMatters 128
GettingAround 129
NavigatingTheIsland 129
Inter-IslandTravel 132
Orientation 134
Towns&Sights 138
PrincessJulianaAirport 138
Philipsburg 138
SimpsonBayLagoon 139
MahoBay 139
MulletBay 139
Marigot 140
GrandCase 140
OrientBay 141
TerresBasses 141
OysterPondBay 141
ABriefHistory 142
SunuptoSundown 145
French-SideBeaches 147
OrientBayBeach 148
BaieLongue,BaieAuxPrunes 149
CulDeSac&Off-ShoreIslands 150
GrandCaseBeach 151
BaieDeL’Embouchure 151
OtherFrench-SideBeaches 152
Dutch-SideBeaches 152
DawnBeach-OysterPond 152
CupecoyBeach 153
Maho&MulletBays 153
SimpsonBay&Lagoon 154
OtherDutch-SideBeaches 154
Sights 155
Philipsburg 155
Marigot 158
GrandCase 161
p
vi Contents
Colombier&Orleans 162
ParadisePeak(PicParadis) 162
ButterflyFarm 163
SintMaartenZoo 163
TheOldHouseMuseum 164
Water-BasedSports 164
Land-BasedSports 170
ShopTillYouDrop 174
ShoppingTips 175
Philipsburg 177
Marigot 180
MahoVillage 183
ArtGalleries 184
BestPlacestoStay 185
VillaRentals 186
AlivePriceScale 188
TheBestHotelsonSaintMartin 189
VillaCommunities 210
TheBestHotelsonSintMaarten 213
TimeshareResorts 219
SmallHotels 222
BestPlacestoEat 225
DiningSavvy 227
AlivePriceScale 228
RestaurantsinorNearMarigot 229
RestaurantsinorNearGrandCase 243
DiningFartherNorth 250
DininginorNearPhilipsburg 254
DininginorNearMaho 259
DininginSimpsonBay 262
AfterDark 265
MahoPlaza 266
Mullet/CupecoyBay 266
Marigot 267
OrientBeach 268
Casinos 269
p
Contents vii
Calypso/Reggae 269
Jazz&OtherMusic 270
St.MartinAtoZ 272
Anguilla 281
GettingThere 283
GettingAround 284
TheBeaches 284
Watersports 287
OnLand 289
SunuptoSundown 290
Sightseeing 290
TheValley 290
AroundTheIsland 291
Shopping 291
BestPlacestoStay 292
Resorts 292
BestPlacestoEat 295
Nightlife 297
Maps
St.Barts 11
Gustavia 25
St.Maarten/St.Martin 135
Philipsburg 156
Marigot 159
Anguilla 280
Preface
Saint Martin/Sint Maarten, St. Barts and
Anguillaareclusteredatthenortherntipof
theLesserAntillesislandchain.SaintMartin/
Sint Maarten, the largest and most populous
island,isattheheartofthisexclusivetrio,with
tinySt.Bartsonly20milessouthandAnguilla
evenclosertothenortheast.Youcanmakeyour
base on one of these islands and take leisurely
daytripstoitsneighbors.
Not simply land blips in a sea of blue, these
islands have personalities defined by their
former colonial rulers and by the mix of their
current inhabitants. St. Barts and a large
chunkofSaintMartinareFrench,bothinspirit
and ambiance. They offer the Caribbean’s best
restaurants, topless beaches and exclusive
shops. The smaller but more developed Sint
Maarten is Dutch, and most closely resembles
St.ThomasintheUSVirginIslands.Ithasthe
largestnumberofduty-freeshopsintheCarib-
bean, high-rise resort hotels, gambling casinos
and a golf course. The beaches of British
Anguilla stretch for miles, with ankle-deep
white sand and off-shore coral reefs waiting to
be explored by novice snorkelers and scuba
divers.
Throw in sunny skies, cooling trade winds and
first-rate air connections and you can see why
we feel you should head to the “international”
corneroftheCaribbeanonyournextvacation.
About the Authors
Harriet Greenberg has been an avid world
traveler and accomplished travel writer for
over 20 years. She is the author of the award-
winning Israel On Your Own, as well as other
guides in the Alive series. She is currently
researching Puerto Rico Alive, to be published
nextyear.
Douglas Greenberg graduated from Arizona
State University with a degree in Travel &
Tourism. He is a public relations executive in
NewYorkwhenheisn’texploringrestaurants
andnightlifeonCaribbeanislands.
About the Alive Guides
Reliable,detailedandpersonallyresearchedby
knowledgeable authors, the Alive series was
foundedbyHarrietandArnoldGreenberg.
This accomplished travel-writing team estab-
lishedtherenownedbookstore,TheComplete
Traveller, at 199 Madison Avenue in New
YorkCity.
We Love to Get Mail
This book has been carefully researched to
bring you current, accurate information. But
noplaceisunchanging.Wewelcomeyourcom-
ments for future editions. Please write us at:
St. Martin & St. Barts Alive, c/o Hunter Pub-
lishing,130CampusDrive,Edison,NJ08818,
or send an e-mail to comments@
hunterpublishing.com.