Killing time in St. Martin

11th March.

Graham

We hired a car to see the top attractions St. Martin had to offer, confident that we could do all 3 listed in the Rough Guide in one day. We checked out the French side of the island where yet another currency change was required. After viewing the marine reef reserve we headed to the beach for lunch. The beach although naturally beautiful was packed with tourists so we continued our tour finding the highest point on the island after stumbling upon a sign. On conclusion we all decided we were not that impressed with St. Martin. The best sight without doubt was a place called Sunset Beach, at first glance nothing but a small stretch of sandy beach with turquoise water and a bar at one end. The draw, however, is the fact that the beach is situated at the end of the main runway only a few hundred meters from the airport. The bar is always packet with tourists; it's routine to check in then head to the bar to wait for your plane to arrive. No chance of missing it as, not only can you see it land but the bar is tuned into the air traffic control. There is such a spectacle as the planes take off whipping up the sand, sea and anyone unfortunate to be caught on the beach that the take off times are written up on a board in the bar along with the type of plane, the bigger the better! There's free beer for anyone daft enough to cling to the airport fence directly in the engine blast, which with 747s is an impressive feat.

Graham and Jo

Wildlife sighting on St. Martin was a 2 foot yellow & black ?Moray Eel? Very close up as we walked round a rocky headland, it was slithering about where the waves washed up.

13th March

We've been stuck in St. Martin for another two days with stewardess/provisioning problems and will be glad to get going on Monday night. We've even had to resort to visiting the multiplex cinema this afternoon as our planned BBQ was rained off. Not very Caribbean.

Graham and Murph

Sunset beach

Take Off