Marigot Bay

Next stop ....... Marigot Bay, St Martin. Today we are doing our own thing and take a cab to the other side of the island to Philipsburg. This island is owned half by France (St Martin) which is the side we docked, and half by the Dutch (St Maarten)....apparently rather than fight over ownership, they decided to share! We start on the Dutch side, wandering up one side of the main road and down the other. Every second store is a jewellery store specialising in diamonds of all colours, tanzanites and Columbian emeralds. Very touristy.


After 2 - 3 hours there we take another cab back to the French side of the island to Orient Beach. For as far as you can see the beach is covered with deck chairs and brightly coloured umbrellas. Each restaurant, or shack on the beach that serves food, have their own coloured umbrellas in front and for $7 you can hire a chair, an umbrella and you receive a free drink. Otherwise, order a meal and there is no further cost. We choose a place to eat and enjoy lobster and salad washed down with a glass of wine. The waiter also brings us a complimentary glass of their local coconut and rum drink - very tasty. After lunch we take a stroll along the beach - the water is the clearest blue. There are people everywhere and absolutely NO body image problems with all shapes and sizes. A few bare boobs but only on the women over 60! And the "G-string wearing" old guy was hard to miss!

The houses here are all trimmed with lace around the roof line so that they resemble wedding cakes with fine lace. It's very pretty.

Again, I think one of the tours (for 2 1/2 hours) organised by the ship basically did Philipsburg then back to the French side for $39 per head. It cost us $18 for a cab one way, $20 to Orient Bay then $15 back to the boat (we shared with other guests). Our first cab driver told us that the fare should be $18 for any trip so the total would be approximately $60 - not a huge saving on the tour cost but you are not "time-restricted". The cab drivers are also very good and are happy to explain the surrounding features for you.