St. Barth's life style of rich and famous

[mdeane]

Has anyone taken the ship's excursion to St. Barth's on the hydrocruiser?? We are debating doing it next week and wonder if it is good. How rough is the water during the crossing and what to do once there. Thanks for your info.

[ternstail]

We took this excursion in early December on our Jewel cruise and highly recommend it. The Rapid Explorer leaves St Martin from a dock that is only about 2 minutes by taxi from the cruise ship pier. The trip over was rough---at least one person got sick---but the trip back was much smoother. The Rapid Explorer docks right in downtown Gustavia so you could easily just spend the few hours you have on St Barts just walking around town. However, we rented a car and headed for Grand Saline Beach which we had visited on our previous visit to St Barts about nine years ago and dreamed about ever since. We also had a fantastic lunch at a restaurant just up the road from the beach.

If you've been to St Martin before and are looking for something different this is a great excursion and gives you an opportunity to visit one of the most beautiful and unique islands in the Caribbean. We've been to 13 Caribbean islands at least once and this is our favorite.

The excursion is a bargain but St Barts is expensive!

[mdeane]

Thanks so much for the reply. The hydrocruiser looks interesting but I was afraid that it might be a rough crossing. I would love to see St. Barts since we have been to St. Martin before. Did you snorkel on St. Barts? We could just get a taxi tour and then do some shopping. How long did you have on the island before the return trip? Thanks.

[Set2Sail]

I went to St Barths for my honeymoon and it was perfect if you like to do nothing all day. It is a very small island, catering to a lot of rich folks that live there, so renting snorkel stuff, kayaks, jet skis etc was not available to us. Our hotel did charter a private boat for us, but that was our big excitement. Be sure you are not looking for "big fun" if you go there.

Did see a few celebrities on the beach and ate some of the best food in the world.

Enjoy!

[mdeane]

Thanks Set2Sail. Sounds like what we would like. Just to see the island and maybe snorkel a bit. We do have our own snorkels so would not need to rent. Where do you suggest for a meal?

[ternstail]

We didn't snorkel so I can't tell you how that would be but I suspect it wouldn't be that great on the beaches we've been to. We arrived at 10:30 and had to be back at the ferry at 3 which doesn't seem long but it's such a small island you can see and do a lot. We had lunch at Tamarin just up the road from Grand Saline Beach. It was the best lunch I've ever had.....but also the most expensive. The parrots flying around the yard were a nice touch also. I suspect most restaurants on the island are just as good.

Check out http://www.sbhonline.com/ for more info. It's a lovely laid back place to visit.

[mdeane]

Thanks Ternstail for the great info. We will have to try the Tamarin. Sounds very interesting. Excuse me for my ignorance, but tell me about Grand Saline Beach. I have heard several people mention it and I am clueless. Thank sounds interesting also. We hope to tour the island maybe by taxi and then have lunch. Glad to know the time table for the island visit. Thanks.

[ternstail]

Grand Saline is just one of many beautiful beaches on St. Barts but it's one of our favorites because it is undeveloped and requires a short (5 minute) walk from the parking lot. It isn't at all crowded and has lots of room for privacy. You will see some toplessness but that just adds to the Frenchness of the experience.