Luxurious private vacation villa rentals in St Maarten, St Martin and St Barth
has announced that it will again offer flights between St Barth and St Maarten starting on July 15 in partnership with Tropical Airlines. (aka Air Antilles Express)
Air Antilles Express is an airline based in Guadeloupe. It is a regional airline operating scheduled services between the islands of the French West Indies and to St Lucia. Its services are operated by Air Guyane using 2 ATR 42 aircraft under the name of Air Antilles.
THE NETHERLANDS - Following a meeting of the Island Council, the former Dutch colony of St Maarten has agreed to the creation of a supervisory board to regulate the island’s finances.
Curaçao, another Caribbean island and former Dutch colony, has already agreed to the same measure.
The government in The Hague is involved in a restructuring of the constitutional status of the Netherlands Antilles but was only prepared to grant greater autonomy to Curaçao and St Maarten if there were improvements in law enforcement and in their finances.
The creation of a financial supervisory board to scrutinise the islands’ budgets satisfies the second condition as far as the Netherlands is concerned.
The board will be located in Curaçao and will be chaired by Hans Weitenberg, the former director of Statistics Netherlands.
In Curaçao there was fierce opposition to financial supervision, which many people regard as a form of re-colonisation. There were loud protests in the capital Willemstad and the Island Council initially rejected the idea. It was only when a new Island Council took office in 2007 that the agreement was ratified.
Things were quieter in St Maarten, where there was no public protest and the Island Council took less than an hour to make its decision.
The introduction of financial supervision will be discussed by the State Ministerial Council (the Dutch council of ministers and the minister plenipotentiary of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba) on Friday.
Technorati Profile
American Airlines has put pretty much every destination in the Caribbean region on sale, as long as you book by the end of this month.
At the time we checked, an early September round-trip between St. Maarten and Miami. AA is selling seats for $388.
As with all airfare sales, sometimes you’ll find great deals and other times it won’t work out. Just remember: The money you save may go towards luggage fees if you overpack!
Philipsburg’s main drag is Front Street, and this is where you’ll find most of the jewelry stores, electronics boutiques, parfumeries, and other shops that take advantage of the city’s status as a duty-free port. When cruise ships are in port, the narrow streets can become quite crowded, but you’ll rarely have to jostle for attention from the dozens of jewelers selling high-end watches and gold and diamond jewelry. Connecting Back Street, Front Street, and the Boardwalk are a series of short side streets, typically jammed with small souvenir shops and a few hidden cafes and restaurants. Many of the shops sell a similar assortment of tropical shirts and bric-a-brac, but you also can find mom-and-pop shops selling smooth flavored rums and Indian crafts.
Towards the east end of Front Street (closest to the cruise pier, connected to downtown by a walkway) are a pair of casinos, the Rouge et Noir and the Coliseum Casino. Back Street, parallel to Front Street on the Salt Pond side of town, is a bit less touristy and where more locals tend to congregate.
The Philipsburg Boardwalk is by far the biggest attraction in town. Nearly 50 feet wide and running nearly the entire length of the city’s Great Bay waterfront, the Boardwalk serves as a lively “back porch” for the hotels and restaurants on the south side of Front Street. You’ll find strollers, skaters, and even Segway tours cruising along the half-mile-plus ribbon of concrete. Within sight of the cruise-ship dock, the Boardwalk is a great place to grab an inexpensive cold Carib or Heineken from one of the many beach bars and linger while street musicians perform, or duck inside one of the many restaurants lining the strip for some local Dutch/Indonesian influenced cuisine or just a burger or hot dog. Other attractions include a sun-drenched Catholic Church that looks out over the bay, an arcade with pinball and video games, and a beachfront playground. Speaking of the beach, you can rent beach chairs and an umbrella — with a half-dozen cold beers thrown in — for about $20. Between the Boardwalk, the beach, bright spaces like the Islan Flava Beach Grill, and the very cool Holland House, there’s more than a little touch of Miami Beach on the Philipsburg waterfront. It’s a great place to spend a few hours shopping, dining, gambling, or just hanging out on the beach, whether you’re staying on the island or taking the short walk from the cruise pier. You can even mix a bit more history into your visit by exploring the nearby Fort Amsterdam, built in 1631, or Fort Willem, both designed to protect Philipsburg from seaborne invaders.
Whenever you renting one of our villas in St Maarten or St Martin, a day trip to Pinel Island is a must. Charming Pinel Island, or Isle Pinel, or in French Ilet Pinel or Ile de Pinel, is a tiny island on the north end of St. Martin and located near the North end of Orient Beach, 5 minutes off the shores of French Cul de Sac. A must see on your visit. You will see the signs on the main road just past Orient as you are driving toward Grand Case. The end of the road at French Cul de Sac opens onto a wide sandy area where visitors find a wooden dock, parking and a new shack that rents out Kayaks. The ferry runs every half hour from 10 am to 3:30 pm. The last ferry leaves Pinel at 4 pm. The cost is $6 US round trip. You pay on the boat. The boat ride is about 5 minutes. The boats are all different, so some of them may be easier to get on and off for those with mobility issues. You have to be able to either climb up or down from the dock onto the boat and vice versa. Please check the time of the last ferry as they frequently change the last outbound trip ….. Then enjoy a wonderful short five minute ferry ride on the pristine and shallow waters for a relaxing day of exploring, sunbathing, or a picnic on this tropical paradise!
When you arrive on Pinel Island you will see a large sand spit. Behind that a stand of Coconut palm trees, and then a small hill that makes up this picture perfect paradise. There are chairs for rent on the beach. There are no cars, no roads, no electricity, however you will find two beach bars/ restaurants, one is run by a Frenchman, the other is a local tiki-hut style place serving BBQ food, seafood and grilled fresh lobster as well, between these two bars, hidden in the sea grape, there is the “Paradiso” gift shop (from Dutchman Tom, called Tom´s Place), a treasure chest of Caribbean colors and unusual gifts.
With lots of shallow waters, this paradise like sand point is protected from pounding surf. The water is calm and crystal clear, accompanied by beautiful beaches. Ideal for snorkeling for its coral reefs and also for sunbathing, as the main beach stays sun-drenched until the end of the day! The island is totally relaxing and a little slice of paradise for those who want to get away from it all for a day.
Tip : Only cash accepted on the ferry, restaurants and gift shop. There are no ATM’s on Pinel.
Note : for Dutch speaking readers only ….. sorry ……
PHILIPSBURG - De Eilandsraad van Sint Maarten is maandagmiddag (lokale tijd) akkoord gegaan met de instelling van een toezicht op de financiën van het eiland. Het toezicht is voor Nederland een belangrijke voorwaarde in het proces van staatkundige herstructurering van de Nederlandse Antillen. Eerder ging Curaçao al akkoord.
De aangenomen Algemene Maatregel van Bestuur financieel toezicht houdt in dat de begrotingen van de eilanden de komende jaren nauwgezet tegen het licht wordt gehouden door een op Curaçao gevestigd college financieel toezicht. Het college staat onder leiding van voorzitter Hans Weitenberg, oud-directeur van het Centraal Planbureau.
Sint Maarten en Curaçao willen autonome landen worden binnen het Koninkrijk. Nederland gaat daarmee alleen akkoord als de rechtshandhaving en de financiële structuur worden verbeterd. Het laatste punt lijkt nu met het aannemen van de Algemene Maatregel geregeld. De Rijksministerraad bespreekt vrijdag 11 juli het instellen van het toezicht.
Rekolonisatie
Op Curaçao is de oppositie fel tegen de maatregel, omdat die wordt gezien als een vorm van ‘rekolonisatie’. De aanname van het voorstel leidde twee weken geleden tot heftige demonstraties op het eiland, waarbij wegen moesten worden afgezet.
Nadat het voorstel ’s avonds laat werd aangenomen, zochten groepjes boze demonstranten ruzie in de buurt van cafés waar veel Nederlanders komen. Een Antilliaanse man liep daarbij een schedelbasisfractuur op.
Op Sint Maarten was maandag daarentegen geen demonstrant te zien. De behandeling in de Eilandsraad duurde nog geen uur. Daarna werd de maatregel unaniem aangenomen.
As reported in the St Maarten newspaper the Daily Herald on June 4, The airline needs five more pilots to supplement its pool of 25 pilots in order to maintain its previous schedules. Because of a shortage of pilots from the Antilles, Winair has been trying to attract foreign pilots. However, the process to acquire the mandatory employment documents is lengthy. Documents from the pilot must be submitted to the Island Labour Office. Once they are verified, Winair must pay the processing fee to the Island Receiver. This initial process takes about three days if all goes well. Normally, once Winair has provided proof of payment to the Labour Department, it takes a week to process the paperwork and send it to the Executive Council for approval. At the same time, all documents are sent to Police Affairs for a residence permit. After these steps are completed, an appointment must be made to process “the declaration act of guarantee” and the paperwork is sent to the Lt. Governor and the Immigration Department for approval. Winair reports an incident when paperwork for a pilot was begun in January and by the end of April was still not completed. The airline is appealing to the Central and Island Governments to streamline the process so that it takes only two weeks from when the documents are submitted to obtaining the permit. Winair’s management requested a meeting in April to discuss these issues. As of today, no meeting has been set.
As quoted by the Daily Herald,
Be sure to allow extra time to make your connection, even if it requires staying overnight in St Maarten. If you arrive and find your flight to St Barth has been cancelled, you can take a taxi to Marigot for $20 and hop on the Voyager, a ferry that takes 75 minutes but can be rough. If you arrive early enough, you can take a taxi to Bobby’s Marina in Philipsburg and catch the 5:00 pm Rapid Explorer. This is a comfortable, air-conditioned high-speed catamaran that will get you to St Barth in 45 minutes.
American Airlines is adding two new direct flights out of Miami and New York to St. Maarten in the Caribbean.
Flights from Miami are scheduled to start in November, leaving Miami International Airport at 5:15pm to arrive in St. Maarten at 9:10pm.
The aircraft will remain in St. Maarten overnight before leaving the next morning at 9:10am and arriving in Miami at 11:30am.
Meanwhile, a second New York to St. Maarten flight starts on December 18. This additional flight, originating from JFK International Airport, is scheduled to run twice a week, increasing to five times per week on January 6, 2009, for the remainder of the peak tourism season.
Roy Marlin, Tourism Commissioner of St. Maarten, told The Daily Herald: “[American Airlines'] decision only confirms the fact that in light of all the cutbacks taking place in the airline industry today, we have an extremely viable and thriving tourism product.”
The first sailings for the world’s largest cruise ship, the 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas, have been detailed. The Royal Caribbean International mega ship will be based in Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and will make its maiden voyage on December 12, 2009.
Just in case you have had your head burried in the sand of late: When launched in late 2009, the ‘Big O’ (’Oasis of the Seas’) will be the largest and most revolutionary cruise ship in the world. She will span 16 decks, encompass 220,000 gross registered tons, carry 5,400 guests, and feature 2,700 staterooms and have it’s own ‘Central park’. The ship will homeport in Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In 2010, she will be joined by a sister ship, the ‘Bid A’ (’Allure of the Seas’). The ‘class’ of ship itself will be called the ‘Oasis Class’.
The ship, which will feature a series of ‘neighbourhoods’, will run 19 seven-nigh eastern Caribbean sailings to St Thomas, St Maarten and the Bahamas.
From May 1, 2010, the vessel will also run a western Caribbean itinerary calling at the line’s private resort of Laberdee in Haiti, Falmouth in Jamaica and Cozumel in Mexico.
Approaches to the dock at St Maarten will be dredged to accommodate the 220,000-tonne ship. Passenger facilities at St Maarten will be improved.
Bookings for Oasis of the Seas are due to open on September 3 this year.
St. Barth is a unique French island that marches to its own beat and those in the know want to keep it that way.
Of the 20 beaches on the small island, several are considered especially inviting. On the southern side of the island, Grand Saline is a pristine beach with no development. On the western edge of the island is Colombier beach, which is only reachable by boat or a hike. St. Jean, Flamands and Grand-Cul-de-Sac beaches are also popular and attractive beaches which have hotels and other establishments on them. Shell Beach is popular for families with kids as it has little surf. The weather travels onto the island following the sun from the East. One of the main surfing beaches (Toiny) is known for its riptide, while Grand Fond is one of the island’s only non-swimming beaches.
Otherwise, scuba and snorkling are a great way to see the nurse sharks, lobsters, conch and green sea turtles that abound in the waters surrounding St. Barth. The beach of Grand Cul-de-Sac is the easiest beach in the Caribbean for learning as it has a reef which closes off the entire bay. The current that passes outside the reef here also carries the migrating whales and dolphins. St. Barth’s beaches are seldom crowded, they are all public and topless bathers are the norm. The island boasts an incredible array of excellent restaurants and exciting activities to keep you highly entertained.
To plan a vacation to one of St. Bart’s luxury villas, contact BlueOceanVillas.com and ask to speak to Sonja, our St. Barth’s Vacation Specialist at 1 877 311 7759 or +1 352 505 2805.
