Wanderlust Traveler: St. Maarten/St. Martin (Sightseeing)

The Methodist Church in Philipsburg.

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 places we visited and activities we participated in on the island excluding beaches, which is covered in a separate entry here.

I highly recommend that anyone who visits St. Martin should rent a car as it is truly the best way to explore the island. St. Martin is much larger than one might expect and it can take quite a long time to drive between destinations due to its hilly landscape and terrible road conditions. While visitors could certainly rely on taxi services, it would likely become expensive rather quickly. There are literally dozens of different car rental companies to choose from which made my decision quite difficult. After plowing through numerous reviews on Trip Advisor, I narrowed it down to about five different companies. From there, we ultimately ended up going with a local company called Tropicana Car Rental as they offered us the lowest rate of the five companies I obtained quotes from. For the most part, our car rental experience on the island was fairly straightforward, however, I would like to point out a few important things: the conditions of the roads were far worse than what we were expecting. Be prepared to deal with lots of potholes, extremely narrow roads, and locals whose cars will inexplicably stop or slam on their breaks for no apparent reason. Additionally, you may occasionally have to deal with a wandering goat or cow. Street signs are few and far between so make sure you get your hands on a very detailed map. Be prepared to get lost. Since it was an island, the thought of getting lost never entered into my mind, however, sure enough, as soon as we drove away from the airport we got lost in Phillipsburg rather quickly. Again, a detailed map will be very helpful in these sorts of situations. If possible, I would highly recommend to rent a small SUV; something that's tall enough to not bottom out on the many potholes but something that's also relatively narrow enough to drive on the small roads. Even with these difficulties, I would still rent a car again in a heartbeat on a future trip to the island.

Although the island is most famous for its plethora of beautiful beaches, there are many other things to see, do, and partake in on St. Martin. Naturally, the beaches were our primary sightseeing focus, but we still managed to find a few other non-beach related things to see and do. There are two major cities to explore (Phillipsburg and Marigot) both of which offer historical sights. There are numerous different activities to participate in including horseback riding, parasailing, snorkeling, scuba diving, sailing, fishing, etc. The list could go on and on. The island is also well-known for its shopping opportunities and wide range of nightlife. I was personally quite impressed with the wide range of choices visitors have on this small island. A non-beach lover could find themselves on the island for several days and not run out of things to do.

Below is the list of places we visited or activities we participated in during our stay, with a detailed description listed further below.

The Butterfly Farm
Horseback Riding with Seaside Nature Park
Phillipsburg
Fort Amsterdam
Marigot
Fort Louis
Loterie Farm
Parasailing

The Butterfly Farm
This wonderful site, located on the French side of the island, contains over 40 species of butterflies from all around the world that fly freely within the walls of the large meshed enclosure. Entrance to the site includes a thorough guided tour that explains the entire life cycle of a butterfly, which we found fascinating. Additionally, each ticket includes a free return pass that can be used at any point during the duration of your vacation. It is recommended to arrive in the morning as that is typically when the butterflies are most active. If you'd like to ensure that some butterflies will land on you during your visit, make sure to wear bright colors or floral scents.

Path to the Butterfly Farm.

Butterfly Farm

Horseback Riding with Seaside Nature Park:

Horseback riding is one of my most favorite outdoor activities to participate in. When I learned that there were a few companies on the island that offered horseback riding along the beach I immediately added it to our list of things to do. Seaside Nature Park had good reviews on Trip Advisor so I decided to reserve their 2 hour trail and beach ride. Surprisingly, Shyawn had never ridden a horse prior to our tour so I was quite excited to see what his thoughts were of the experience. We chose to do our tour at 9:00am in hopes of avoiding some of the hot afternoon heat. Our group was small with a total of six riders with one guide. We were taken up and down multiple trails that provided wonderful views of both Cole Bay and Cay Bay as well as a tiny view of Saba Island in the distance. At the very end of the tour we were led into the ocean water where the horse went in up to my mid thigh. The water felt cool and refreshing, especially after two hours of riding under the hot sun. Shyawn indicated that he had a wonderful time riding and would like to do it again while on vacation!

Horseback riding at Seaside Nature Park.

Philipsburg:

Both the largest city and capitol of the island, this colorful town located on the Dutch side is the first place that many visitors to the island see. The majority of visitors come via one of the cruise ships, which dock in Philipsburg. Over the last several years there has been much work done to the city to make it more appealing and enticing to these visitors, including adding the boardwalk along the Great Bay Beach Promenade. If you want to get some shopping done on the island, this is the place to come. There are literally hundreds of shops ranging from the tacky tourist places all the way to high end designer stores, and they all operate as duty-free. Philipsburg isn't just a shoppers mecca though. There are lots of restaurants, the beautiful and expansive Great Bay beach, as well as several historical sights including Wathey Square, Wathey Courthouse, Old Street, and The Methodist Church (built in 1851). All visitors to the island should, in the very least, walk down the boardwalk, which runs alongside Great Bay beach. As mentioned in my dining blog on St. Martin, while in Philipsburg we ate at Taloula Mango's, which has lovely views of Great Bay beach.

Philipsburg

Wathey Square in Philipsburg.

Philipsburg

The Methodist Church in Philipsburg.

Philipsburg

Wathey Courthouse in Philipsburg.

Philipsburg

Philipsburg's Old Street.

Fort Amsterdam:

This historic fort, located just outside of Philipsburg on a peninsula between Great Bay and Little Bay, was originally built by the Dutch in 1631. The Spaniards quickly took control of the fort and used it until 1648 when it was abandoned. A few of the walls, cannons, and one building still remain, which visitors can come and see. Note that access to the fort is via the Little Bay Beach Resort so you'll have to park in their lot and then hike up to the top, which takes about 10-15 minutes. The views from the fort are quite amazing, making this sight one of the best on the island, in my opinion.

Fort Amsterdam

The walk down from Fort Amsterdam.

Marigot:

The largest city on the French side of the island, this town has a much different vibe than does its counterpart on the Dutch side (Philipsburg). While it does offer some shopping and plenty of restaurants, the town is much more subdued and from a visual perspective, appears a little rough around some of its edges. The city offers a market on both Wednesday and Saturday mornings though it wasn't as impressive as I had hoped it would be. We walked around several blocks of the town and found some very beautiful old buildings and homes that were literal shells of what once must have been architectural beauties. I believe that Marigot could be turned into something amazing and almost a destination in itself if the right people and investors got behind it. However, I am certain that the locals here appreciate the city in its current authentic and unglamorous state.

Marigot

Saturday market in Marigot.

Marigot

Market stalls in Marigot.

Fort Louis:

This old fort, originally built by the French in 1789, stands proudly above the town of Marigot. All visitors can make their way up to this fort as it provides an amazing vantage point from which to enjoy some incredible views of the island and also of Anguilla. We happened to visit on the only rainy day of our entire trip on St. Martin so, unfortunately, I do not have the beautiful pictures I was hoping for.

Fort Louis

Loterie Farm:

This 135 acre nature retreat, which preserves the only remaining virgin rain forest on St. Martin, is located on the French side of the island, half-way up the road to the viewpoint at Pic du Paradis. The property contains walking trails, zip lining, and several restaurants including the Hidden Forest Cafe, which is described in my dining entry. In addition to eating at the restaurant, the main reasoning for us to visit the Loterie Farm was to do some self-guided hiking up to the highest point on the property.

Lotterie Farm

Parasailing:
There are several vendors that offer parasailing on St. Martin, the most popular being along Great Bay in Philipsburg and Orient Bay on the French side. We decided to use a vendor along Orient Bay as the owners of our condo had recommended that it was the best area to parasail. I can't remember the name of the vendor that we used, but they were located directly next to Bikini Beach Bar. We paid $100 for both of us, which included a quick ride on a jet ski to the boat. Neither one of us had ever been parasailing before, so we were both quite nervous. Additionally, neither one of us particularly enjoys heights which might make one question why we were even partaking in such an event. There were three other people on our boat who were there to parasail as well but we were the first ones to go up. For some reason the straps were fitted around us improperly and so when we were reeled out and went up we weren't able to comfortably sit back in our straps. As a result, we were essentially sitting on a thin strap with practically nothing supporting us. Although we were strapped in safely, because of our discomfort, we were unable to relax or fully enjoy the experience. I was actually holding onto my straps so hard out of fear that my hands went numb! However, negative experiences aside, the view from the parasail of Orient Bay was absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, the vendor did not have their camera with them that day so we have no photos from our experience to share.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

St. Maarten/St. Martin (Sightseeing)

No comments:

Post a Comment