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| One of the beautiful beaches on Pinel Island. |
We spent 11 days visiting the island of St. Maarten/St. Martin in March of 2013 for our honeymoon.
This blog entry will cover the day trip we took to
Pinel Island. I also have another entry on all of the beaches we visited within the island of St. Maarten/St. Martin
here.
Pinel Island is located on the French side of the island, a quick five minute ferry ride from French Cul-de-Sac, which is just a few minutes north of Orient Bay. The ferry runs every 30 minutes and during the day we visited, they were operating multiple ferries for each crossing time.
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| Ferry arriving to pick up passengers to go to Pinel Island. |
Pinel Island is extremely small and it would probably only take 20 minutes to walk around its entire perimeter. The most popular beaches on the island are located directly next to the ferry dock. There are two main restaurants on the island and both offer plenty of chair and umbrella rentals. We didn't end up making it to the island until about noon and it was already extremely crowded. In hindsight, we should have arrived by ten at the latest so that we could have snagged some chairs. Instead, we went and had lunch at
Karibuni in hopes that some chairs would free up while we waited.
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| Pinel Island as viewed from the ferry dock. |
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| Pinel Island as viewed from the ferry dock. |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
Karibuni serves a variety of tapas, salads, burgers, and barbecue fare. It was quite hot out that day and the only items on their menu that sounded appealing to me were the salads. As a result, I ordered the
Salade Italienne (green salad, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, prosciutto, onions, melon, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and fresh basil). My salad not only looked beautiful but also tasted amazing. It was light and hearty at the same time, which was perfect for the temperature that day. Shyawn ordered the
Fish Burger which came with a small salad and fries. Although I didn't have any bites of his sandwich (which he stated was quite tasty) I did eat at least half of his fries, which were incredibly delicious and crispy, exactly the way I like them! Overall, we were very impressed with our meal at Karibuni and would highly recommend it to anyone who visits Pinel Island.
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| Karibuni Restaurant on Pinel Island. |
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| Bread service at Karibuni Restaurant on Pinel Island. |
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| Karibuni Restaurant on Pinel Island. |
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| Karibuni Restaurant on Pinel Island. |
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| Salade Italienne at Karibuni Restaurant on Pinel Island. |
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| Side Salad at Karibuni Restaurant on Pinel Island. |
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| Fish Burger and Fries at Karibuni Restaurant on Pinel Island. |
After our meal was over, we walked around the beach area, hoping to grab some chairs. Unfortunately, they were still all taken so instead we found a space on the beach and plopped ourselves there. While swimming out in the water, Shawn witnessed a couple leaving in the distance so we ran and snagged the chairs! At that point we were finally able to truly relax and enjoy our time on the island. Below is just a sampling of the many photos I took during our visit to beautiful Pinel Island.
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| The clear water on Pinel Island. |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Pinel Island |
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| Enjoying the warm waters of Pinel Island. |
All good things come to an end and eventually we had to leave. Ferries leave Pinel Island every 30 minutes though people typically start lining up on the ferry dock 15 minutes before it departs. On the boat ride back to St. Martin, I was able to grab a seat on the edge which enabled me to get some great departing shots of Pinel Island.
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| Pinel Island as viewed from the ferry dock. |
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| Pinel Island as viewed from the ferry dock. |
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| Leaving Pinel Island. |
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| Leaving Pinel Island. |
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| Leaving Pinel Island. |
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| Leaving Pinel Island. |
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| Leaving Pinel Island. |
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| Leaving Pinel Island. |
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| Leaving Pinel Island. |
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| Leaving Pinel Island. |
Posts
Thank you for your wonderful post on Pinel Island! We are heading there at the end of August and your pictures are making me all excited!
ReplyDeleteThose beach chairs that you were waiting for, are they free or do they require a fee? I've read other reviews that they cost $20?
Also, do any of the restaurants on Pinel Island offer wifi? We are willing to pay a fee to be able to check our emails on our iPhones while we relax there. :o)
Yes there is a fee for the beach chairs. I can't remember the exact amount but I believe they were about $10 each. I am uncertain if the restaurants offer wifi. I don't remember seeing any signs for wifi but I hope they do for you!
DeleteHave you ever been in October? My husband I are going for 7 days in mid October and we're hoping things don't close like they do in St. Barts and Anguilla. We had hoped to do an overnight trip to one of the islands, but decided not to because of the many restaurants closings.
ReplyDelete