Sint. Maarten Trip Report 6/18-6/25 2009

[John Yaskowich]

Originally Posted by navyhmc

Thanks for the report JCat! I'll be there in Jan. How's the water? Did you ask what the conditions are in Jan/Feb for me?

When I was there end of Feb 09 the min temp my computer recorded was 77f at 68ft. I dove with Scuba Fun. Highly reccommended.

[JCAT]

Sorry for the delay, but I wanted to make this a comprehensive trip report and not just about diving. Pictures of the reef are next up.

Day 3 & 4—Front Street/Board Walk Area in Phillipsburg. This is the area that Cruise Ships park and usually the only thing that gets seen due to limited time.

Pity the ones who don’t venture past this and explore a wonderful Island.
Nice shops and plenty to eat with easy beach access. Not a bad place to spend a few hours.



Heading up the North East side of the island, you’ll find the Pinel Ferry which takes you over to one of the best beaches on the island. Ok, it’s a wooden boat with an outboard, but who cares. $7usd is all it takes for the 5 min ride and back again. $15usd will get you 2 chairs, an umbrella, and 2 drinks for the day. 3 food joints are there as well with many American dishes including hamburgers. If you want something a little better, order lobster and they’ll get you a fresh one from the traps.

There are nice reef/rocks in the area with some easy snorkeling. Very relaxing and many schools of fish. The only issue I had is keeping up with my wife who had snorkeling fins and I had on my OMS slipstreams. They are NOT good for snorkeling at all! She, pictured with her matching snorkle found this quite funny.

[JCAT]

Pic Paradis translated to Paradise Peak is the highest point on the island with some great views. Getting there can be a bit dodgy if you’ve never driven in mountainous terrain. It’s basically a one lane concrete path with very steep drop-offs. If you take your time and use common sense, it’s very doable, even with the small car we rented for the week.


Day 5— A two tank reef dive located within about 2 miles of the cruise boat piers. Depth was around 60’ or so, and water was warm. The reef appears like it has taken some hurricane hits, but not quite as bad as I was led to believe. Definitely lots of critters to take pictures of, I just wish my skills were a little bit better. Many of these pictures I had to manually correct, so they might appear off color on different monitors.





I saw the Spotted Eagle Ray coming over the top of the reef and switched to video. I knew there was no way I was going to get close enough for a still. I did my best to keep up, I think the ray was snickering at my attempt though.
Video Of Spotted Eagle Ray