St. Martin, St. Barts & Anguilla Alive

364 Pages·2003·2.16 MB·English

by  Harriet Greenberg

ST. MARTIN
&
ST. BARTS
E
V
I
L
A
2nd Edition
Harriet Greenberg & Douglas Greenberg
HUNTER
HUNTERPUBLISHING,INC.
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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
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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
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-winningIsraelOnYourOwn,aswellas
other guides in the Alive series. She is
currently researching Puerto Rico Alive, to be
publishednextyear.
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,detailedandpersonallyresearched
byknowledgeableauthors,theAliveseries
wasfoundedbyHarrietandArnoldGreenberg.
This accomplished travel-writing team estab-
lishedtherenownedbookstore,TheComplete
Traveller, at 199 Madison Avenue in New
YorkCity.
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Preface
Saint Martin/Sint Maarten, St. Barts and
Anguillaareclusteredatthenortherntipof
the Lesser Antillesisland chain. Saint Martin/
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.
Contents
St.Barts 1
GettingThere 3
ByAir 3
ByBoat 5
EntryRequirements 5
Customs 6
USCustoms 6
CanadianCustoms 6
DepartureTax 6
Telephones 7
GettingAround 7
FromtheAirport 7
NavigatingtheIsland 8
Car/JeepRentals 8
MotorbikeRentals 9
Taxis 9
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
PlantLife 17
AnimalLife 17
ABriefHistory 18
p
viii Contents
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
Tennis&Squash 40
HorsebackRiding 41
Golf 41
Hiking 42
BicycleRentals 42
SpaServices&FitnessCenters 42
Water-BasedSports 43
Snorkeling 43
ScubaTrips 43
Windsurfing&Sailing 44
JetSkiing 44
Daytrips&Deep-SeaFishing 45
YachtCharters&BoatRentals 46
Surfboards&SnorkelGear 46
Waterskiing 47
TheMarineNatureReserve 47
ShopTillYouDrop 48
StoreHours 49
GustaviaBoutiques 49
RuedeFrance&RuedeGaulle 50
St.JeanBoutiques 52
St.BartsArtists 53
BestPlacestoStay 53
p
Contents ix
ThingstoConsider 55
RateSchedules 55
Off-SeasonTravel 56
AdvanceBookings 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
PianoBars 115
Imbibing,Music,Etc. 116
Dancing(disco) 118
MovieRentals 118
St.BartsAToZ 119
AT&T 119
Banks 119
DoctorOnCall 119
DrinkingWater 119
p
x Contents
ElectricCurrent 119
FrenchWines 120
Hitchhiking 120
Hospital 120
Language 120
MiniMarkets 120
Newspaper 120
NFLWithdrawal 120
Pharmacies 121
Physicians 121
PostOffices 121
ReligiousServices 121
SpecialIslandEvents 122
Supermarkets 122
Take-OutFood 123
Telephones 123
TimeZone 124
TouristOffices 124
YachtVisitors 124
SintMaarten/SaintMartin 125
GettingThere 127
ByAir 127
EntryRequirements 128
MoneyMatters 128
Tipping 129
GettingAround 129
NavigatingTheIsland 129
Car/JeepRentals 130
Motorcycle&ScooterRentals 131
Taxis 131
Buses 132
Inter-IslandTravel 132
ByPlane 132
ByBoat 132
Orientation 134