Day 4 (November 10):

Our third day in Sint Maarten already! And we are loving every minute of this time and this place.  We made it to breakfast before 8AM and were on the beach by 9AM.  I just can't explain how much I enjoy sitting on a beautiful beach, going in and out of the warm, clear water, and watching airplanes take off and land all day long.  Those are two of my favourite things!

We lounged and frolicked until 2PM, when we left to explore the southeast corner of the island.  Then it was back to the resort at 5PM to prepare for dinner at The Point, the resort's best restaurant - a real treat!

Some photos of our resort, the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort and Spa, before the sun-seekers showed up for the day.  The hotel was completely renovated after Hurricane Irma, and just re-opened in January 2019.


Hotel pool.


The rugged coastline of the point on which the complex is built.



Iguana.


That is famous Maho Beach - it's not famous for it's length or width, but rather for being at the end of the runway for Princess Juliana International Airport.  Nowhere else can you lay in the water and have widebody jets come in for landing, with their bellies literally a few dozen meters above you!


Mullet Bay Beach is one of the popular beaches on the island, and is a stone's throw to the left of our resort.




Bell's Lookout Point is located on Cole Bay Hill overlooking Simpson Bay Lagoon and nearby Cole Bay. It provides panoramic views of both the Dutch and French sides.  The flag is the Flag of the Collectivity of St. Martin.


If you wonder where Caribbean islands get their fresh water, it comes from desalinization plants, like this one, in Cole Bay.


The view of Simpson Bay Lagoon from Bell's Lookout Point.


The roundabouts in St. Martin feature statues commemorating various aspects of the island's heritage.  Like this one in Phillipsburg, which commemorates the breaking of slavery's bondage.


More hurricane damage, this time in Phillipsburg.


Saint Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Phillipsburg.


It is easy to come away from the Front Street area of Philipsburg without ganing a sense of St. Martin's history.  The town is Ground Zero for the cruise ship hordes that descend on the town every day to party, shop and sun.  But there are a few gems, such as the Courthouse from 1793...


...and the Methodist church, a two-storey wooden structure built in 1851.


The "Boardwalk" runs the length of Philipsburg's beachfront, and is filled with shops and restaurants.


A view of part of Philipsburg's beachfront, looking to the east.


The Island is very focused on reconstruction after Hurricane Irma.  Honestly, the hurricane damage after two years, is something you have to really look for.


So odd to see the EU licence plate here in the Caribbean.  Notice that the plates refer to the "Collectivity of St. Martin", as opposed to identifying with either the Dutch or French.


Enroute to dinner at our Sonesta Resort.


And a wonderful dinner it was, atop the cliff, overlooking the water.  Two Airbus widebody jets - the KLM flight to Amsterdam and the Air Caribes flight to Paris Orly - zoomed right past us as we ate.  It was like the dessert of our meal!