St. Maarten to St. Barts

Saturday January 27 - St. Maarten to St. Barts

A few months ago it was questionable if we could make this port due to hurricane Irma damage, but it wasn’t too long that St. Maarten opened for ships even if they were still rebuilding as they really need the tourist dollars. We have been here a couple of times before and have done both sides of the island (Dutch & French) at least twice and have snorkeled here. So, we were looking for something different this time. We normally come in on the French side, but today we came in on the Dutch side.

We chose to take the ferry to St Bart’s Island. It’s only 8 square miles and is well known as a playground for the rich & famous. (St. Barths in French) While we didn't see any "rich & famous" we head of their stories and saw many mega yachts. We could have done this on our own, but we booked the only Princess excursion of this 60 day trip. In case the ferry has issues they will make sure the ship waits for us. It’s transportation only so we have the day on our own to wander. Princess chartered the ferry so we had special times that worked with our port schedule. So, Princess worked the best.

It was a 45 minute very bumpy ride in the small ferry. One guy got seasick on the way over. Gotta love the employees on the ferry, one guy held a barf bag for the guy as he upchucked. I felt his pain as I have been seasick on small fishing boats and it's not fun. 

We had to carry our passports to clear immigration in St. Barts and we took the “Pride of St. Barth’s” ferry. The Captain of the boat said we were the 5th charter since the hurricane and they were thrilled to have visitors. 

They also helped any of us that wanted a taxi tour of the island negotiate the cost and set one up for us. For 6 of us it was 100 euro total and we all split the cost. Only takes about an hour to get around the island and you could see the devastation that Irma did and the rebuilding in process. Many of the resorts are closed until the end of the year. (they estimate at least a year to reopen most of them) What were normally palm tree lined streets with beautiful flowers were now palm tree trunks with a bit of green on top or none at all. It rained a bit while we were in the taxi, but it didn't really hinder us.

There are lush green hills, white sand beaches, and a bustling capital, high end shopping & many great places to eat. Pastel houses on the hills and fishing boats & yachts in the harbor.

 rubbish from the hurricane

 

 Zenaida Dove

 Bananaquit

Perched atop a hill overlooking the harbor, the remains of the 18th century Fort Gustav boast amazing views of Gustavia. We walked and wandered the town and over to the fort, but didn't go up the hill. We were hungry and it was lunch time. 

We had lunch at Lunch at Bar De L'Oubli and I had a great goat cheese salad and Greg had a club sandwich.

Everything French can be found in the stores and boutiques in St. Barts and the neighboring town of St. Jean. The currency is the Euro. Lots of high end shopping here, but I did manage to find my "tacky tourist magnet" in one of the "not high end" stores. 

The ride back on the ferry was much better as we were going with the wind. 

We walked around the port area shops for a while and then got back on board and I'm taking advantage of free wifi to get this updated. Then, we have 4 more ports in a row, so I'll be silent for a while.

Tomorrow we visit Martinique.

St Maarten & St Barts https://photos.app.goo.gl/6tHdGjTvdvNQkw1m2