My Top 15 Recommended Must-Do Activities on St. Maarten/St. Martin

Ready to jet off to my slice of heaven?  I'm thrilled to take you on a virtual journey of my home, St. Maarten. This isn't your average tourist guide; I'm setting you up with the insider scoop on my recommended top activities,  and even some island etiquette.

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Chapters

• 0:02 15 Must-Do Activities in St Martin
• 13:25 Island Tours and Orient Bay Beach
• 17:41 Explore Grand Casse and Boat Trips
• 23:41 St. Martin Islands
• 31:27 Explore Marigold and Simpson Bay
• 37:45 'Nightlife and Activities in St Martin

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to Paradise Perspectives, a podcast about Caribbean travel from the locals perspective. Get ready for some authentic Caribbean travel tips, recommendations and more from the people who live where you vacation, straight from paradise. I'm your host and island friend, rizal the Traveling Island Girl. Well, hello there, my Caribbean-loving friend, and welcome back to another exciting episode of Paradise Perspectives. I'm your host, rizal the Traveling Island Girl, on social media, and I cannot wait to dive into today's episode because I will be sharing with you 15 must-do activities on my home island, st Martin. And it's an exciting episode because, of course, I'll be talking about my island home and you know, I am so fortunate to call St Martin home for the past 23 years and if she continues to be very good to me, like she's always been, I hope she will have me for another 23. I mean, who doesn't want to live in paradise? It is definitely one of the best decisions I've ever made, and that was to move to this island 23 years ago, going on 24, the 5th of February will be my 24th anniversary on St Martin. Anyways, before we dive into the 15 things I recommend you to do when you're on the friendly island, as St Martin is often called, I want to remind you that if you need any assistance with planning your trip to St Martin and to make it a trip of a lifetime, or in case you are planning an epic celebration while you're here, I'm your island friend. You have an island friend to call on and you can come to me for any of your questions.

Speaker 1: 1:48

I have so many services that I offer to people that want to just make the most out of their first time on St Martin, or if they want to celebrate something on St Martin, I have a pre-arrival concert service. I'm getting a little tongue tied here, so let me try it again. I have a pre-arrival concert service. I also have a Zoom call where you can book me for an hour and we can go over. Oh my God, when I say book me for an hour, it sounds so naughty. I do not mean it. That way, you can book a Zoom call with me and I can go over all of your questions and answer all of your questions, while also giving you some of my personal recommendations and suggestions to make your trip the best ever. So that's what I mean with book me. Oh my gosh, you can see that English is on my first language. So, moving on.

Speaker 1: 2:43

Another thing that you can book me for is the private island tour. Now, this is something that I started doing after my videos on YouTube picked up so well and people started asking me to give them private island tours, and I have had so much joy doing this because it is so much fun getting to know new people and to show them St Martin and show them why I call this place home and hopefully have them fall in love with it as much as I did. But unfortunately, with my brand getting bigger and bigger and me adding more hats like I'm not wearing enough hats already I don't have enough time for it anymore. I don't have enough time to allocate to private island tours, so unfortunately, this service is something that I'm going to remove from my list of services at the end of June 2024. I know I'm sad too, but you know, who knows, maybe if I ever have like an off chance that I'm free one week or another, then I might take on some people, but as it stands right now, I'm already spread thin, so I can only do two private island tours at the moment instead of when I was doing a lot more than that, and especially in the high season, that's not a lot at all. So if you want to make sure that, if you want to spend some time with me, you want to spend the day with me and ask me, and take the opportunity to ask me all of your questions, but also for me to let me show you all of the things that you need to see when you're here, then definitely go ahead and try to reserve your time as soon as possible. Unfortunately, with my Hectic schedule, I cannot always confirm it right away, and if you go to the link in the show notes, it's going to take you to my calendar. The calendar will only allow you right now to book one month or less in advance. So if you cannot, if you want to make sure that you get some time with me and you want to pre-book or at least put a pin on the date for you, so to say, then you can send an email to booking at thetravelingislandgirlcom. That is, of course, going to be in the show notes.

Speaker 1: 5:02

Now, another thing that I must mention just before we dive into today's episode of the 15 things that I recommend you to do when on the friendly island. I must tell you about this very exciting thing that I'm doing and it's the first time ever, but I am about to release the ultimate locals guide to St Martin. It's going to be like an e-guide. This e-guide is going to be so full of valuable information Pretty much. If you go to my YouTube channel and you look at my C-Martin playlist, it's going to have like over 60 videos in it and you're going to see or not going to see you're going to actually get pretty much all of those 60 videos comprised into one. I mean so much information. It's crazy. So you definitely want to get your hands on this ultimate e-guide.

Speaker 1: 5:55

I tell you, at the time I'm recording this, it is September 2023. So it's not coming up for sale. It's not going to be available for sale until October 2023. So bear with me for a little bit, but I have good news. If you want to be the first, or among the first, to know when it's released and available on my online shop, then please go in the link in the show notes. I have a link there that you can subscribe to my newsletter, because people that are on my email list are going to be the first ones to know about this tremendous e-guide. You do not want to miss it. Make sure that you are part of my email list.

Speaker 1: 6:37

Okay, so, without much further ado, that was me kind of like cleaning my hands here, because you know I got a little dirty. Okay, so, without much further ado, let's just dive right into the reason why you are listening to me babbling on about St Martin right now, and that is the 15 things that I recommend you must do when on St Martin. So let's start off with a numero uno, number one, and that is, of course, maho Beach. The experience not to miss on St Martin is, of course, the Maho Beach experience, as it's called. This is where you see the planes land over your head on that beach, that those gorgeous photos of people being like oh you know, getting their picture taken with, like, klm or Spirit or any of those you know well-known airlines flying over their head and supposedly it lands like really, really low to the beach. That is the place that you need to go.

Speaker 1: 7:44

I suggest a few things when you go. First of all, be prepared that the beach might not be the same as what you've seen in the pictures, because, let's be honest, whenever you type in St Martin after, of course, all of the devastating pictures about Irma, which people are still there are. Those pictures are still in rotation. I don't understand why we're six years later. You will also. You know, chances are some of the first pictures to pop up are, of course, the pictures taken on Maho Beach.

Speaker 1: 8:14

So if you do not want to miss this, I want you to know that the beach where these pictures are taken, the Maho Beach, it is not always there. What I mean with that is, especially when the weather turns and it's a little windy or it's when we get a little bit of weather, the beach might be sucked out by the water and then delivered back the next day. So if you go and there's not a lot of beach like what you've used to, just know that within a day or two it's probably going to be restored. It just happens regularly. This beach is one of those beaches. It is located in such an area that the beach comes and goes, so just know that sometimes you'll find yourself with rocks in your pictures or you'll find yourself with white sandy beaches. So we never know what's going to happen. Another thing to know is that, because of its popularity, it is most usually crowded AF yeah, it is super crowded and especially also because the cruise lines tends to dump bus loads of tourists on this beach, because everybody want to experience and get their picture taken with one of those big airplanes landing over their head why not? So this is what you can expect, especially if you come in in the high season, which, if you don't know, our high season starts mid November, towards the end of November, and it lasts and it goes all the way to the end of May, so expect crowds on this beach.

Speaker 1: 9:42

Now, one thing that I might, that I really, really urge you to do, is to bring your reusable cups and no, don't use any plastic or disposable plastic, please. You're right there on the ocean. We don't want all that stuff ending up in our oceans and just making a mess of things, not to this beach. There are two bars and I hold them accountable. Yes, I'm looking at these two bars right now and I hope they're listening, or I hope they're watching, because it is so important for us to start providing more bins on this beach, since it's always so crowded. Or at least, I'm suggesting and I'm putting it out there and I hope they're listening that these two bars will actually take it upon themselves, since this is where they're making their money, to clean up the beach afterwards. Unfortunately, a lot, a lot of people are just drinking as they're going, which, of course, goes very well with the beach, but they leave all their trash behind at the end of the day. So please pick up after yourself and keep the beach clean.

Speaker 1: 10:43

One more thing that we should mention about the Maho Beach experience is, of course, that jet blast that everybody thinks is so fun to do, which I still, as a local, I don't understand why. First of all, it's dangerous, and there are signs pointing out to that everywhere when you get here, but also I don't think it's fun to stand in this jet blast and be pummeled over into either sand or the ocean. I've seen so many people get hurt. I've seen some get badly hurt and I've seen some people lose their stuff, like their cameras and stuff that shouldn't be ending up in the water. They've lost that because they wanted to experience this. They're standing in the blast and they get blown off into the water camera and hand and everything.

Speaker 1: 11:30

So you don't want this to be you, so just avoid the jet blast altogether. But if you must, do it safely on the beach. So at least if you topple backwards, you fall in the water. Hopefully there is sand then too. So please, just this jet blast. I just really don't get it. You're going to get this sand blast at the same time, because it's going to pick up whatever sand is there and it's going to hit you, and I don't know if you've ever been in a windy situation with sand. That hurts. So whoever came up with this as being super cool, I don't know why it needs to be stopped, in my opinion. Anyways, let's move on.

Speaker 1: 12:10

Before we end this segment on the Maho Beach Experience, I also want to tell you if, of course, you're going to get one of those epic pictures with the big airplanes right, of course, the cute little airplanes that we see landing, those are cute as well, those are nice to see. You can kind of like use those as kind of like practicing your ideal shot. But the bigger airlines, like American Airlines, spirit, jetblue, those that really you know make your picture pop, so to say, those normally land in the afternoon, like between 11, usually 11 and 3. But here's the best part you can go to asexamairportcom and you can get all of the arrival information right there, so that you can kind of like plan your day around when you want to take the pictures on that beach, right? Okay, now we're going to move on over to the next thing that I highly recommend you do, especially if this is your first time on the island, and that is to book yourself an island tour. Yes, I know I've spoken about this before just in the introduction, just telling you that I do it too Really, whether it's with me or not, I really really suggest that you do this because it will give you a sense of what the island has to offer.

Speaker 1: 13:25

It will give you a chance to speak to whoever is driving about the island, and they can give you their personal suggestions about where to go, what to do. They can show you certain parts, at least I know I do that. I customize my tours to what my clients want to see and I always take you like I've had clients that wanted to see where they should shop for the supermarket right, because they were seeing in a villa. I took them to some of the bigger supermarkets where they could get pretty much everything they wanted. So it really is one of those things that I recommend, because you can then, kind of like, get the lay of the land and be a little bit more experienced about the market and has to offer. Plus, it will kind of give you directions so that you know that when you rent a car, you know exactly where to go right. So book yourself an island tour. If not with me, you can just go to Google and type in island tour, st Martin, and you're going to get like a whole list of options.

Speaker 1: 14:18

All right, next one on the beach is the famous Orient Bay, and this is another beach that the cruise ships like to dump people on. And I say dumping in the kindest way, don't take me wrong. It's not like I'm hating on cruise ships or anything. Anyways, that aside, orient Bay is one of those spectacular beaches. It is not only gorgeous, it is a very long beach. So you can either go there for a long stroll on the beach or you can go for and this is what I go for the most magnificent bar hopping experience or bar or beach restaurant experience that you can have, especially on a Sunday. You'll kind of get places that are just hopping with music. They're going to have either live music or DJs, and menus are fantastic. You can sit with your feet in the sand. There is just so much to do in Orient Bay, the village of Orient Bay, which is a little bit off the side of the water, also has a lot of restaurants that are really, really popular. So, if you want to like to go to my favorite restaurants, like La Talié and Meson Mère, to name but a few and I think I should do a refreshing, a refresh video on that topic, because I think the video that I did previously on my favorite places to dine at I think that's getting a little old. Now there's so many new restaurants that came on the scene, so we'll talk about that later. If you want to see a video about you know, my new suggestions for 2023, 2024, about which restaurants you should go to, just let me know in the comment section below. If you're listening on your podcast on your favorite podcast platform, just let me know by sending me a message and please leave me a review, because you know that's what I live for.

Speaker 1: 16:05

Okay, so we were on the topic of Orient Bay. Another thing that you need to know about Orient Bay is that it is where we used to have a very large nudist resort. That nudist resort, unfortunately, is no longer because the Big Bad Irma, the hurricane in 2017 decided that it shouldn't be there, so it's no longer there, but there still is a nudist bar there and there is a nudist section on this beach, right where this resort used to be. So I do urge you, if you want, if you are not into that whole nudist part, then don't go to that side of the beach. Although some of the nudes like to walk the whole beach, which it's accepted, it's a clothing option beach, pretty much. So if you don't want the kitties to see it, then maybe this beach is not for you, although, to be honest, I haven't seen a lot of naked people on this beach in a while unless you, of course, go to that designated area all the way to the right of Orient Bay. If you are into the whole clothing optional thing, then this is definitely the beach for you. There's a whole section with umbrellas and lounge chairs that you can rent and, like I said, there's a bar there as well, and it's all catered to those who like a clothing optional or, like I say, want to let it all hang loose. If you are one of those that is just curious about what this all looks like, I just urge you please don't go with your camera and be taking pictures of naked people. That's just not cool. All right, so let's not do that.

Speaker 1: 17:41

Okay, now that we've had Orient Bay, it's time to move on to my favorite area in this entire island, and that is called Grand Casse. Now, if you are familiar with my YouTube channel, then you've probably seen this video right here, and I'm pointing at it. If you are listening on the podcast, you just need to go to my YouTube video and look for the Grand Casse video. It's a walking tour of Grand Casse, and then that is, by the way, how you pronounce it Grand Casse, not Grand Casse. Okay, so Grand Casse is an old fishing village and it's quaint and charming, and there's still fishermen living there and operating there, so it's quite an experience. When you're there, it's really, really nice. They also have a carnival that they have every year that starts, I think, at the end of January and goes all the way to the end of April. That is definitely something you want to do. It's called the Mardi de Grand Casse. It happens every Tuesday, like I said, between January and April, so there's a lot happening.

Speaker 1: 18:44

Another thing that is quite famous in Grand Casse is the main road in this village is nicknamed Restaurant Road for a reason because the restaurants here to die for a lot of awesome, awesome places to lunch and dine at and even have breakfast. There is the Lolo's, which is a cluster of shacks that do some of the local favorites, like Crab Bag and filled Christophine, and they have what's some of the other things they have lobster on a menu y'all Like. This is definitely something you want to experience at least once. So go get yourself to Grand Casse. Grand Casse is just freaking awesome, okay.

Speaker 1: 19:28

So next on the list is some of the recommended stuff that I recommend you to do when you're here on St Martin is to book yourself a boat trip. Who doesn't like a boat trip? And you're here on an island. You want to spend some time on the water. That's the whole point of you booking a Caribbean trip, right? So get yourself on one of these charter companies. You can just go on Google again and just put in charter boat company St Martin and you're going to get a list so long that it's going to be like overwhelming at first.

Speaker 1: 20:00

There are so many different companies that offer this some private, some not private, some shared. Whatever it is that you're doing, you can find it right there with any of these companies. Some of them are more well known than others. Of course, some of them are more local than others, of course. So you got all of those options. If you want to know which one suits you the best, then definitely help me up, make an appointment with me. Let's talk about it in my video call.

Speaker 1: 20:28

Okay, but there is one that sticks out, and I have to mention it not only because it was one of the best damn experiences of my life. Every single time that I've been on this boat, I've had an incredible, incredible time, and that is Pirate Gourmet Staling. Now, this is something that you definitely want to experience when you're here, and I mentioned them not only because total disclaimer here they're not only really my favorite, I have to add, they are really my favorite, honest to God but they are also my partners. So if you are going to end up booking with them using this code, which is right now on your screen if you're listening on the podcast, it's going to be in the description box below I'm going to link it so that you can go straight to the website and see all of the goodies that they offer. If you use my code, then I get a commission out of it. So I thank you very much If that is the way that you, that you choose to go.

Speaker 1: 21:24

Now, the good thing about Pirates is that Pirates have private experiences and they have shared experiences. I think it's every Tuesday. They have shared experience so you can just jump on board with other people. Of course, you need to do booking beforehand and the great thing about it is that the staff treats you like queens and kings. Seriously, it is wow, five star service. They're very knowledgeable and they make all of the snacks and food is made and prepared right there on the boat, right, so you can see the lobster grilling on the grill. It's all top shelf stuff, so it's more of a luxury experience and, my gosh, it is so, so good. They also have so many toys, like kayaks and paddle boards, and they also have that lily pad which I just love to lounge on with a cocktail in my hand, oh heaven. So definitely, if you're interested in a boat trip on Seymour to Matters, the Sunset cruise, or a half a day charter or a full day charter, or maybe you want to go to one of the neighboring islands, you can do that with Pirates, okay, so go to the website and check them out and use my code for you know, just to send some love my way.

Speaker 1: 22:40

All right, so next on the list, since we've been talking about nearby islands, that is one of the things that I will suggest you to do is to visit Pinel Island and Tintamar. Pinel is like this little key just off the shore of Frankside, st Martin. They have this little boat that will take you over. It's like a little fishing boat that will take you over. It's like 10 minutes, I think, if not less, and it's, I think it's like 10 bucks a person, if I'm not mistaken. I haven't been in a while, so I'll need to just don't don't really quote me on that. I think it's 10 bucks per person. So you'll go over to Pinel Island. Well, you get to enjoy two restaurants. There are two restaurants on this little island. You can also walk around it in like an hour or so or less. This is tiny, tiny key, right, but the water there is exceptional and it's really low. It's not deep at all, so it's perfect for families, it's perfect for those who like day drinking in the water. So definitely recommend you to go to Pinel.

Speaker 1: 23:41

Now another island that's a little further away, that is Tintamar. So if you're planning to go on a snorkel trip with any of the charter boat companies, then most probably they will stop at Tintamar, because it's one of those places that is protected and the beach is gorgeous and there are no amenities on it and it's not easy to get to it either, unless, of course, you're on one of these trips. The snorkeling there is fantastic and you get to swim with turtles. Yes, I know that's like a big thing for people nowadays, but before you dive into that water and start diving and looking for turtles, I beg of you, please, please, please, please, only use Risse sunscreen. You don't want to come back in a couple of years and the turtles are dead and you've killed the entire reef system of Seymarton. Right, I know you won't be doing this all by yourself, but please, please, please if I could view reef, safe sunscreen only. Otherwise, you're not allowed to play with the turtles and please do not touch the turtles. That's highly, highly not allowed. Okay, that's a big no-no. So we've had these little keys, or these little tiny islands called Pinel and Tintamar.

Speaker 1: 24:53

Let's move on to some bigger islands now Seymarton. Seymarton's location is just awesome because we are surrounded by other islands in the Caribbean, some of them you can get to, for you can spend a day on them by ferry, so you can easily easily get to Anguilla for the day, and it's a trip that is about 30 minutes. Within 30 minutes, ferry takes you from Marigold there's a public ferry there and you will can hop on that and it will take you to Anguilla. You'll be there in 30 minutes, spend the day and then take the last ferry back. You can also get to Seymarton in 45 to 45 minutes to an hour. You can get to Seymarton, which is, of course, fantastic and especially in season, it's where all of the rich and famous like to hang out. Right. If you want to see your set of celebrities, I urge you to go around Christmas and New Year's. This is where all of them will be driving around. Take it from me. I've seen a couple myself. All right. So Seymarton has so much more to offer besides the celebrity stall. So if you've never been, definitely recommend you to spend a day on Seymarton as well.

Speaker 1: 25:58

Although my favorite is definitely Anguilla, another favorite of mine is Seiba. Now, that one is going to take you a little bit longer to get to, but it is so well worth it. It is about an hour to an hour and a half to get to Seiba, if I'm not mistaken. I haven't been by boat in a while. Then that's because I got seasick, so if I go to Seiba I tend to just fly over, which is about 20 minutes.

Speaker 1: 26:22

Seiba is spectacular. Seiba is just gorgeous. It doesn't. It is not known for its beaches because it doesn't really have any. It's got a couple of things that resemble a beach, but it's not popular for the beaches. But don't worry about that. It is still so, so perfect. It is so green and so lush and it is known for its hiking and it has. It has the highest Mount scenery. Oh my gosh, I'm just going over my words here because I got so much to tell you. It has Mount scenery and Mount scenery is the highest peak in the Dutch kingdom. So just a little FYI there. And because of its shape, it's shaped like a volcano, because it is a volcano non-active, don't worry about it, it's dormant, it's not going to like explode when you're there.

Speaker 1: 27:08

It is also known for its diving. It's got fantastic diving there too. So these are the two things that people tend to go to Seiba for. In my case, I just love it there because it's so beautiful, tranquil, and it's the people there are just the friendliest. So definitely put Seiba on your list for a day trip. Okay, oh, and by the way, this is something new there's a new ferry service that can actually take you to some of the further away islands. So this is definitely not for day trips, because it's going to take you a while to get to these islands, and that is that you can take a ferry to sing kits and you can take a ferry nowadays to the our other sister island, stacia, or Sintestatius. So just one of the other things that I thought you might be interested in knowing.

Speaker 1: 27:58

Okay, now move it on to the list, and we're going now to let me just speak here. On my list, we are going to eat out every day. What is the favorite F word of mine? Food, oh, my gosh, if I, if you ever met a foodie, let's go right here. The food on C-Martin is fantastic. You cannot go wrong. There are so many restaurants. Just a little FYI C-Martin has over 100 nationalities that call this place home, so you can imagine that they're all bringing all their good, delicious cuisine and they're all fusing it together with our local stuff. It is incredible all that you can eat here and there are so many, so many restaurants. So wonder, see, martin is nicknamed the gourmet capital of the Caribbean because we are so definitely.

Speaker 1: 28:47

Try to eat out every day. Don't come here to make yourself your own dishes and your own things to save up. There is something for every budget and for every taste palette. Believe me, eat out every day if you can. And, by the way, even if you eat out every day and you spend all of the meals and you eat all of the meals out per day and you stay here a month, I bet you still don't go through all of the restaurants here. So it's just one of those things Eat out as much as you can, all right.

Speaker 1: 29:17

Next on the list is a Phillipsburg and Marigold, and these two. Why I mention it is because Phillipsburg is the capital of Dutch sites in Martin. Marigold is the capital of Franksites in Martin. Now, these two is where our institutions are the banks and the this and the that, yes, but at the same time, it has something really cool to offer. Phillipsburg, for instance, has a very cool boardwalk with restaurants and music and jet skis, which I'm not a fan of. And also, you know, you can you can rent yourself a lounge chair and get your lunch served on the beach, and you can do all of these cool things in the middle of downtown Phillipsburg. It's incredible. The beach there is highly underrated in my, in my honest opinion. The beach is called Gran sorry Great Bay and Great Bay. Nobody really talks about it and it's one of the most beautiful beaches ever.

Speaker 1: 30:11

I think maybe I'm a little biased because it's I live really close to Phillipsburg, so that's my hood. Okay, so that is where I spend most of my time. I'm always in Phillipsburg and I just love the town. It is so quaint, it is so cute. You can do some serious jewelry and electronics shopping there, let me tell you, and there's also a market there with with souvenir stuff that you can buy. I mean, there's a lot to do in Phillipsburg, so go hang out. A little insider tip If you are planning on spending the day in Phillipsburg, I highly recommend you to go to Port of St Martin.

Speaker 1: 30:48

Google that and go to their website I think it's portofststmartincom, I'm not quite sure that is the cruise terminal and that is going to give you like a whole list of which ships are going to be in port on the day that you want to go to Phillipsburg. Why is this important? Because you do not want to go to Phillipsburg on a day when there is more than two ships in town. It is crazy. Even I just stay home, I don't get out of my house on those days. It's just way too many people, way too much traffic on those days, just because there's an extra couple of thousands of tourists on the island in one day. You know what I mean. Okay, so let's move on to Marigold.

Speaker 1: 31:27

Marigold is also very quaint, also very beautiful, and if you are cooking at your villa, if you're renting a villa or an Airbnb, and you have a kitchen and you want to kind of like experiment with some local recipes, then I suggest you go to the market on Saturday morning. This is when you're going to get so much produce from the region and also the island, and you can get all of those freshly caught fish. So if you want fresh fish, then I recommend you go to the market on Saturday morning. There's also another fresh fish market in Simpson Bay area, so if you're closer to Simpson Bay, you can try that one as well. That one's also very cute. Okay, there's also a market there that is there every day and that is where you can buy souvenirs. There's also the Lolo's of Marigold that you can go to, which is kind of like the same concept as in Grand Caz, and these are all in like little containers. It's very cute, it's very, it's beautiful and the food is always good. I mean, there's so many local places there that you can eat at. It's fantastic. Definitely highly recommend that.

Speaker 1: 32:30

Another recommendation is, if you're going for shopping, you can do a lot of damage on your credit card. Ladies, this is where you can get some French fashion, yes, so you might want to be careful, hide your credit card, maybe if you don't want to spend too much. One of those activities that you can do in Marigold that is not going to cost you anything is you can hike it up to Fort Louis. Now, fort Louis is just fantastic. It's the ruins of an old Fort, so you got history, culture and the best damn view ever on top of that hill. So take it from me. You want to go and experience Fort Louis. There's also a lot of murals that you're going to see in both Phillipsburg and Marigold, so that's another thing that is so cool about these two places. So much locals, many regional and local artists have kind of like painted the walls and brightened up the place, so it's very, very cool. If you're into murals, definitely your cup of tea will be Phillipsburg and Marigold.

Speaker 1: 33:33

Coming in at number 10 is, of course, beach day. Make sure that you spend as much time as you can on the beach, because that is essentially one of the main reasons for your booking trip to see Martin right and you have booked right, my friend because, see, martin is 37 square miles and it has 37 beaches. That means that there is one beach for every square mile of the island, and so there's a lot of options. Out of the top of my head, some that you do not want to miss are Mullet Bay I can think of we've already talked about Great Bay Grand Caz and Orien Bay, but there's also Bay Rouge, there is Fryer's Bay or we say hello to my friends there at 978 Beach Lounge. Love them.

Speaker 1: 34:15

Hi, fritz and Angel, I see you and definitely also try the other beaches that are not as popular, like Happy Bay, just because you need to like take a bit of a trail to get there, a bit of a hike Not long really. I've done it on flip flops, although I don't recommend it. And you also have beaches like Plum Bay and Long Bay, or Belong and Plume as they say in French. Okay, so those are just some of the beaches. There are really so many others that you can try, so definitely do not. Well, I don't recommend you to spend your entire time on the beach when you're here, although I'm not judging if that's what you want to do, you go right ahead, but I do recommend these beaches that I just mentioned, so do make sure that you get enough beach time when you're here.

Speaker 1: 35:09

All right, so I just mentioned to my friends that's 978 Beach Lounge. They also have a 978 Sanctorum, and why I'm mentioning that is because number 11 of things that you need to experience when you're here is a Sunday brunch, and one of the places that I love to go is 978 Sanctorum by my friends Fritz and Angel. There's also a couple of other places. I know the DV Resort does a mean brunch too, and also the restaurant called Emilio's is also very, very well known for the Sunday brunch. I know it's not something that is generally recommended by a lot of people when they're doing like top 10 or whatever activities on an island, but I just think that this is one of those things that I do want to mention, because brunch is such a cool thing. Who doesn't want bottomless mimosas? You know? All right.

Speaker 1: 36:02

So from Sunday brunch we go on to hiking. Yes, that is one of those things that if you are thinking of visiting Simarton, that is one of the last things you think about. And that is hiking. And you know, simarton is very hilly, so there's a lot of trails you can have. The one of the most famous one is, of course, the Peak Parade, which is the highest peak of the island, and the views there are just absolutely to die for. And you also have another one that's quite famous is the trail to the sorry my mind is leaving me blank here to Devil's Cup, which is our natural pool. Yes, simarton has its own natural pool too, and it's gorgeous. The trail is also very, very nice. But remember, go very early in the morning, because there are no shades on this trail. So also one thing that I must advise you please don't ever go on a trail by yourself, all right. So don't go alone. Make sure that you go with a group or that you go with one of those tours that will take you to Devil's Cup. So Devil's Cup or Devil's Cup or I don't know, I just call it the natural pool. But whichever trail it is that you're doing, seriously make sure that you go with a guide. Okay, there are several places that you can go to hire yourself a guide or be part of one of those hiking tours, and all you have to do is, of course, go to my good friends, google and type in hiking, say Martin and they'll pop up. If you want to know which one is my favorite, you're going to have to get on a call with me. Okay, next one on the list we are at number 13. So we are slowly getting to the end of this list.

Speaker 1: 37:45

Nightlife in say Martin we have seriously been called the Vegas of the Caribbean a couple of times, and I can see why. We have rooftop bars, beach bars, regular bars, shack bars we got it all and it's not only bars but also clubs, like really high class clubs. If you want to get your dancing shoes on and you want to dance all night, that's definitely something that you can do when you're here. It's got. There's something from all ages and what I love about going out to say Martin although I have to say now, at the age of 48, I know I look 20, I wish Now that I'm getting up there in age I'm not really into that whole club scene anymore. But I must say that, when you know, when I was younger and that's still the case now my gosh, you could go out and see Martin and don't come home till seven o'clock in the morning. I've done it a couple of times myself. There is everything here you know. So don't think that just because it's an island it's going to be all laid back and no action at all. Definitely you can get your party on here on C Martin, the Vegas of the Caribbean. Like I said.

Speaker 1: 38:56

And since we're on the topic of party, you do not want to miss some of the really cool events that happen year round. You'll have the Heineken regatta with concerts. You'll have the St Martin carnival and we have two, just because we're split between French and Dutch. The French side has their carnival in February and on the Dutch side we celebrate it in April. So you get to experience two carnivals if you happen to be there on either time. Another great event to mention is the EDM event that happens every first Saturday of the month, and that is. I don't want to say too much, but it's on the top of a hill and it's called. I'm trying to remember what that hill is called Right now it's not coming to me, but it's on top of a hill and you get to take one of those like what do you call it? Those chairs, those chair lifts. You get to take a chair lift that takes you up to the peak and there you get to dance all night, or at least for a couple of hours, to EDM music. It's one of the coolest things here. Seriously, if you want to party on C Martin, you will not be disappointed, believe me. All right, so we are moving on to number 14. We are getting so close to the end.

Speaker 1: 40:12

That is the border crossing. It is something that a lot of people ask me about. People get and I tend to do this joke sometimes in a tour where I'm like oh my God, guys, we're about to cross, did you guys bring your passport? And people are freaking out in the car. No, it's a border with no border control. There is no passport control, there's nothing. And what is really famous is that there is a monument at one or two of these border crossings. C Martin has actual four border crossings. That's what we actually have, but two of them have a nice monument to kind of like show that you're about to cross over into the other side of the island. C Martin is 37 square miles and one of the one of the questions that I get asked a lot is which part is better? There is no better, because once you're here, you're going to be driving all over the place anyway and it really doesn't matter. With an open border, you can zip in and out the French side, that side, with ease. I mean, it's a piece of cake. Also, like I said, four border crossings, so two of them have monuments and two have not, and the other two will just have a sign that says welcome to the French side or welcome to the Dutch side.

Speaker 1: 41:24

Okay, guys, we have reached the end of this video and if you are listening on Paradise Perspectives podcast, this is the end of the road. Guys, I'm so sorry we're nearing the end and at number 15, I have a zip lining. Now, I know one of those really touristy things to do, but believe me, it's well worth it. Listen up, we have three zip line places here on C Martin, three for such a small island. There, at, lottery Farm is one of the first or the first that started with zip lining and it is one of the coolest zip lines in on the island or in the region, I bet because you zip through trees and it's got like all these obstacle course. It is truly amazing. It's definitely something you want to experience. The other one is close to Phillipsburg, which is just a short little. You know from the top, and then you you can see the ships, the cruise ships, at the, at the terminal, at the cruise terminal, while you're coming down. It's quite cool. You're going to go over a road. So sometimes when I'm driving from home or to home because it's right on that street where I need to take to get home I see people dangling in the sky coming out. It's really cool. But anyways, why I'm mentioning this is also because the third zip line in place is Rainforest Adventures and it is.

Speaker 1: 42:45

We have this steepest zip line in the world. Now, remember when we were talking about the party scene and I told you about this event that takes place every first Saturday of the month, this EDM party. Well, that is at that location. So you take the chair, lift up and if you are going on any normal day you'll take the steepest zip line down, and that zip line is called the flying Dutchman. It is super cool. I've done it myself a couple of times. A little bit terrifying in the beginning, but, believe me, it's so much fun You're going to want to do it again and again. There's also another zip line there and plus there's this. You guys have to help me because I can't come up with a word right now. English is not my first language, but I can't come up with a word. It's tubing. I guess you're in this tube when you come down the hill. It's fantastic. Now, my favorite, I definitely love, love, love the. You know coming down on the steepest zip line, the flying Dutchman, and when you take the chair lift up, there's a whole kind of like lookout point, so you can spend hours on there just looking at everything. It is super, super cool. Definitely something that I recommend you to do when you're here. So there you have it, my Caribbean loving friend. That's it for my top 15 must do activities when on the island of St Martin.

Speaker 1: 44:05

I hope that you found the information that I shared with you today very valuable, and, more so, enough so that you can click on the like button and the subscribe button. If you're on YouTube and, of course, if you're on paradise perspective listening to this podcast, then definitely I urge you to go on over and leave me a review. Please, please, please, I beg of you Now. Seriously, it will do me very, very good, especially for a growing podcast. So, again, I thank you so much. I hope you found all of this very helpful. I hope you have now have a better idea of what you're going to do when you get here on a friendly island and that you spend it right. So, again, if you need any help with your planning, then definitely help me up. You can send me an email to booking at the traveling island girlcom or you can go to my website, the traveling island girlcom, for more information. Thank you so much for watching If you're on the podcast. Thank you so much for listening. Until next time, happy travels, bye.