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Since December 1st 2009, there is a possibility to do Shopping and get different services ( big supermarket, ATM machine, fitness, change point, restaurant, …) at the Commercial Area in Grand Case (details on the map).
Depuis le 1er décembre 2009 il vous est maintenant possible de faire vos courses dans la nouvelle zone industrielle de Grand Case (Supermarché, distributeur de billets, point change, restaurant, salle de sport, …). Voir carte pour le détail.
Princess Juliana Airport was closed and evacuated early this evening due to a bomb threat
We are, at this point, not sure how accurate our information is. All access roads to the airport were closed.
Source : Telegraaf Newspaper. The Netherlands
Update 02/20 :
AIRPORT–A false security threat shut down Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA), crippled Cole Bay/Simpson Bay traffic and grounded flights out of St. Maarten on Friday evening.
Airport security evacuated hundreds of travellers, their families, PJIA staff and vendors from the terminal after an anonymous caller is said to have reported a bomb in the building at 5:47pm. Security corralled them in the parking lot opposite the terminal.
Officials lifted the emergency status at 11:45pm after thorough checks in and around the PJIA terminal found nothing “that would pose a security threat,” Government Information Services (GIS) reported.
PJIA reopens today, Saturday, at 7:00am.
Some 25 flights were scheduled to enter and leave PJIA between 6:00pm and midnight, according to flight-monitoring Website www.sxmarrivaltimes.com .
Travellers and residents felt inconvenienced by authorities, who turned away drivers in front of a Simpson Bay restaurant and at the Maho roundabout, and banned walking in front of the terminal building.
Traffic froze on either side of the airport as police ordered drivers to turn around for their own safety.
A young mother worried about her infant daughter’s return on a flight from Curaçao that had been cancelled while authorities searched the building for danger.
Twelve firemen swept the terminal.
They combed every section from the basement to the parking lot and tarmac in response to the threat. It took nearly six hours of searching before they gave the green light to airport officials to reopen the terminal.
KLM, Dutch Antillean Express (DAE) and US Airways flights were grounded. Crews ordered passengers off the planes minutes after they boarded. “We were just finished boarding US Airways and we were on KLM when we got the call,” a worker said.
Initial reports reaching The Daily Herald said a person had threatened a plane with a bomb. However, judging by authorities’ response – more than a dozen police, fire and EMS cars rushing to the airport and almost-immediate evacuation – the threat was more severe, said a source who is familiar with airport security.
“If it was on an airplane, then the tower would’ve called it,” the person said. After air traffic controllers report a threat on a plane, procedure for responding to it is three-tiered: isolate the suspect aircraft, detain the person/persons making the threat, and inspect the plane for possible dangers: explosives, gases, and so on.
GIS said the caller had warned of a “security threat” to the airport, but didn’t say whether “it was in the terminal building or on an aircraft.”
“The result of the operation that started at 5:47pm and ended at 11:30pm is that nothing was found that would pose a security threat,” GIS said. Officials refused to say what exactly the caller had said that had warranted a complete shutdown of the airport.
More than 250 passengers had been shuttled out of Simpson Bay to nearby hotels by 9:30pm, a car-rental agent told this newspaper. He was “about to leave work when this happened.”
Two young women were headed to their shifts at Atlantis Casino in Cupecoy when fire, ambulance and police teams raced to the airport. On separate buses, they both noticed the wail of sirens rushing past them, but didn’t expect it to interrupt their day’s plans. “I was just coming down to work and I was already late,” one woman said.
Unfazed by the scare, the women stood under lampposts between the terminal and Winair’s ticket office applying makeup from handheld kits. They still planned to go to work.
Many guests staying at Sonesta Maho Resort and other resorts and condos were forced to go through French St. Martin because the road was blocked. A model performing at a fashion show at a nightclub couldn’t get to the club.
Customers at Crazy Thyme restaurant, which is opposite PJIA, stayed and ate. Police tried to warn them of danger, but they wouldn’t budge. A French couple eating at the restaurant was curious about the search, but not bothered enough to give up their meal. Diners came and went in the more than three hours this newspaper covered the search.
Others watched from the roadside or sat on docks above Simpson Bay Lagoon.
A woman walked into the airport to meet her sister and two-year-old daughter as security escorted everyone out of the building. “We were coming in and everybody was rushing out,” the woman said.
This newspaper did not know up to press time how flights would be reorganised to accommodate last night’s passengers and persons leaving in the days ahead. At least one airline offered passengers vouchers for new flights.
Acting Lt. Governor Millicent Acuña Lopez-de Weever commended disaster management teams for their response. She was on site along with heads of police, the Prosecutor’s Office and the airport. GIS said only that authorities were trying to find out who had made the call. “Law enforcement agencies will continue to carry out their investigation with respect to the source of the security threat,” GIS said.
Source : The Daily Herald
Commissioner of Tourism and Aviation Frans Richardson reached an agreement with GOL Airlines in Brazil on Friday for a year-round weekly flight to St. Maarten.
The agreement is seen as a major step in St. Maarten’s efforts to establish itself as a year-round tourism destination.
While Richardson and Tourist Bureau head Regina Labega were hoping for a twice-weekly flight, the commissioner said he was still ecstatic about the additional airlift. He also noted that the seasonal charter flight would continue.
The agreement means that St. Maarten will have two flights out of Brazil in the high season and one in the off season. The GOL flight will be via Bogotá, Colombia, to St. Maarten.
The end of March 2010 has been tentatively identified as the start date of the new service using a 737 or 767 aircraft. Should the weekly flight prove successful for GOL and the destination, Richardson will meet with GOL executives again in an effort to add a second weekly flight.
GOL will be seeking assistance from St. Maarten in marketing the flight aggressively to ensure its success. When airlines start servicing an island, Richardson explained, they tend to want to feel secure that the destination will do its share towards the success of the service.
Four major Brazilian wholesalers (travel agent firms and tourism-related companies) are now on board to strengthen promotions and representatives of Sonesta Maho Group have shown their commitment by also being present in Brazil to help secure the flight for St. Maarten. Richardson is expected to call on the private sector to do its part on his return to the island.
His week-long itinerary consisted of the launching of St. Maarten’s new branding strategy in Brazil, which he said had been “very impressive to the Brazilians,” meeting with Brazil’s largest tour operator CVC, and a series of other meetings, including those with GOL.
Source : Daily Herald
St. Maarten as a destination received more positive news on Monday when WestJet announced it would be expanding its seasonal service to St. Maarten to year-round.
WestJet’s inaugural flight touched down at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) in November 2009 with 116 passengers on board. The airline currently flies non-stop between Toronto and St. Maarten three times a week and will continue at this rate until April 29. Flying time on each leg is about 4½ hours.
With the expansion of the service to year-round, WestJet will service St. Maarten once a week, on Sundays, with additional calls during the high season.
“We are pleased with the number of guests using the South-bound service and the North-bound service. It is a mixture of leisure and business travellers, as well as guests visiting friends and family in Canada and on the island. There is a large Caribbean population in the Greater Toronto area, and we know they appreciate the opportunity to return home from time to time via WestJet,” said WestJet Manager of Public Relations Robert Palmer.
He added that WestJet was happy with the service at PJIA, and “everything is coming together nicely. On a personal note, I was fortunate enough to be on our inaugural flight to St. Maarten in November and without a doubt it is truly one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. It’s definitely on my list of places to return to,” Palmer said.
“This is a strategic expansion of new routes within our network, and an extension of flight offerings to some of our key winter routes that remain popular destinations through the summer season,” said Executive Vice-President of Strategy and Planning Hugh Dunleavy.
“This schedule also demonstrates our strong commitment to take Canadians where they want to go, when they want to go. Now our guests will have the opportunity to visit more of their favourite destinations on a year-round basis.”
WestJet Vacations has become a trusted and preferred travel provider for Canadian vacationers since its launch in 2006. Canada is St. Maarten’s second-largest source market.
Commissioner in charge of Aviation Frans Richardson lauded in November the economic spin-off the new service would have for St. Maarten in all tourism-related sectors. He said preliminary figures indicated that the WestJet service could account for US $5.5 million for the island coffers from November 2009 to April 2010.
He also assured WestJet executives that the airline could count on commitment from his office and the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau in making the business relationship between the airline and the destination a resounding success.
Source : Daily Herald
Sint Maarten is a popular stop in the southern Caribbean with an unusual blend of Dutch and French cultures. Nice weather makes the island even more attractive to visitors and long-term vacationers alike.
Sint Maarten is actually the name of the Dutch side of the island, while Saint Martin is the name for the smaller French side. It is the smallest island in the world that is shared between two nations.
But they share the same weather. Visitors to the island’s 37 beaches will find year-round warmth, but they also will find the usual heavy rainfall later in the year when the Caribbean’s annual hurricane season takes place.
The average monthly high temperature is about 86 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Meteorological Service of Netherland Antilles and Aruba. The average monthly low temperature is about 77 degrees.
The monthly high temperatures reach an average of 88 to 89 degrees from June through October. They reach a low of about 84 degrees from December through March, making the island one of the warmest year-round.
The island receives an average of 3.4 inches of rain per month, but with distinct peaks and valleys during the year.
Rainfall averages about two inches per month from January through April, spikes to nearly four inches in May and drops in June and July. In picks up in August and exceeds five inches in September, four inches in October and more than five inches again in November. In fact, St. Maarten is unusual among Caribbean destinations for receiving more rainfall in November than in October or September.
The most popular times to visit are March and April, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization. The least popular month is September, followed by October.
Based on rainfall totals, the riskiest month to visit St. Maarten is November followed by September and then October. The best months to visit with the lowest risk of heavy rainfall are March, April, June and July.
St. Maarten is focusing on the variety of experiences that vacationers enjoy with a new branding campaign that captures the “feeling of the experience” that visitors elicit during their stay on the island. When announcing the new branding campaign for the destination, St. Maarten Commissioner of Tourism Frans Richardson explained that the concept behind the branding can be summed up with one statement: “It’s all in our name.” Working with the spelling of “St. Maarten,” the just-launched campaign will capture audiences across North America with positive adjectives purposefully misspelled with “capital double ‘A’s” followed immediately by the words “St. Maarten.”
The campaign identity, created by advertising agency Tambourine, will be visible in all logos, videos, print and outdoor advertising, specialty marketing items, brochures and stationary as well as an image gallery which features all new photography from an extensive on-island photo shoot recently completed by Tambourine. Adjectives will constantly be changing depending on the focus of specific ads. For instance, when promoting St. Maarten as a wedding and honeymoon destination, an ad may read: “PAASSIONATE ST. MAARTEN.” When conveying St. Maarten as an active vacation playground, an audience could see: “PLAAYFUL ST. MAARTEN.”
A just-launched public relations campaign to promote winter specials for vacationers is using “SENSAATIONAL ST. MAARTEN” to capture the deals that are now available. Other words designed for the campaign include: MAAGICAL, GLAAMOROUS, CHAARMING, and ENCHAANTING.
“We are very proud of our diversity with a wide range of attractions and activities, a variety of accommodations, more than 300 quality restaurants and our central location which enables vacationers to enjoy day trips to other islands,” said Richardson. “This campaign allows us to tap into and highlight all the things that make St. Maarten an ideal vacation destination through words and phrases that truly represent how a traveler feels while on-island.”
The branding campaign is part of an overall new marketing strategy being launched under the direction of Richardson, which coincides with the hiring of KTCpr, headed up by long-time Caribbean marketing and public relations specialist Richard S. Kahn. The new branding will encompass advertising, public relations, marketing and sales as well as a new website.
“Our mission was to take St. Maarten in a new direction and illustrate how the island ‘feels’ rather than literally documenting the infrastructure of the island,” said Rafael Cardozo, president of Tambourine. “The concept is innovative and playful; the message is strong and memorable. In addition to the logos, the photo collection tells a story of the vacation experiences captured through movement, mood and expression. Most importantly the campaign is a true representation of the beauty and excitement of the destination.”
Orient Bay, or in French “Baie Orientale”, is the most developed, the most popular and the busiest beach on the island. It sweeps around a blue cove, facing northeast. The 2 mile long, white powdered sand beach is protected from the Atlantic waves by a reef, and the bottom has a very gradual slope.
The area has been recognized as a marine reserve, so snorkeling in the marine park is just incredible. The beach is reputed as much for its natural beauty and setting as it is for being the island´s foremost swimsuit optional beach.
The major attraction of Orient Bay is the nude beach and the world´s famous Club Orient (”Club O”), the island´s only naturist resort at the southern end of the beach. Clothing is optional in front of the Club, though the nude beach there is open to the public. The northern end of the beach, has more clothing, but in fact you may encounter nude sunbathers anywhere. The highest concentration of naked people however is at Club Orient. Orient Bay actually consists of five main beaches, called the “5 stars of Orient Bay” Kontiki, Kakao, Bikini Beach, Waikiki and Coco Beach, named after their respective beach bars and each next to another.
Legally, except for the Club Orient beach, none of the beaches is officially declared as a nudist beach. The French side widely tolerates nudity as long as it doesn’t have exhibitionist character. The Dutch side tolerance is more restrictive and somewhat accepted at Cupecoy beach.
Cupecoy Beach is a small, clothing optional beach located on the southwest of St Maarten. It is lined with beautiful rock formations and caves. The 10-20 feet high, golden sandstone cliff serves as the backdrop for Cupecoy beach. This rich coral sand carpet is very popular, and if you´d like to find a cave for yourself only, you have to get there early. On the far end of the beach clothing is optional, and over the past years, it seems that Cupecoy Beach has developed into a meeting point for naturists.
There are no restaurants or bars on Cupecoy Beach, but you may see a local guy, type of Rastaman, come by from time to time with a cooler trying to sell you fresh soda or beer. Beach chairs, umbrellas and BBQ are also available. And bars, cafés and resorts of the Cupecoy area are not far away…such as the latest at “The Cliff”
There is a public parking lot on the water side of the road, passed Ocean Club, with stairs down to the beach, one heading to the west, the natural beach. Cupecoy may have a bit rough waters at times, the wind however is blocked by the rocks. The surf usually is a 2-3´ swell, so with pre-school kids, this beach won´t be your best choice. A good time to enjoy this beach is (late) afternoon to watch the sun go down. As Cupecoy beach faces Southwest, there a splendid views of the sunset and the surf.
Petites Cayes is an untouched, gorgeous tropical beach on the very northern shore of French Saint Martin. It is yet another secluded, deserted beach. The only way to this beach is by boat. Or a challenging 35-45 min. hike along the coast. Some romantic sun lovers come even over from Orient Bay by jetski or hobbie cat to relax at this peaceful tropical paradise, where also clothes can go off…
Amazingly, Happy Bay is still a rather unknown, almost undiscovered beach of St. Martin. This may have to do with the fact that the beach is not easily accessible. It can best be reached by driving to Friar’s Bay and walk from there in Northern direction on a small trail along the coast to Happy Bay. It is also accessible from the villas above Happy Bay beach. No bars, restaurants, beach chair rentals – just beach!
Happy Bay lies to the Northwest of the island, between Friar´s Bay and the Bay of Grand Case. And your walk would start at the last beach bar at Friar´s Bay. Your effort to get there will be honored with viewing one of the most breathtaking beaches of the island. If you stay at one of the few villas on Happy Bay, you can use the shortcut down to this great beach!
Secluded Plum Bay, or Baie aux Prunes in French, is just beside Long Bay and well known to surfers. The beach is very little visited during weekdays, although beautiful and without a doubt one of the most peaceful and romantic beaches on the island. At the northern end of the beach is the rock of Plum Bay, a rather pretty site that expands into the Falaise des Oiseaux (Birds´ Cliff). The road of “Falaise des Oiseaux” on the French side of Terres Basses is the access road to the beach. There is a lot of sand, and snorkeling is good, but when you wade into the water, watch out, as corals are just off the beach. If you want to get away from it all, this is one of the most beautifully intimate and calm beaches around the island. At the very western tip of the island, it is also a great romantic sunset spot. Plum Bay is as peaceful as it gets, but bring your own supplies as there are no amenities. There are only few people on the beach, all were wearing clothes…..
To access the Long Bay beach, look out for the entrance of La Samanna Hotel. Continue along the road next to the ponds, and you will see a parking lot on the left. There is also a fenced passage onto the western end of the beach. Starting from La Samanna, the beach continues all the way on to the very western end of St. Martin, where you´ll meet some rock formations as well.
Long Bay, also spelled Longue Bay, Long Beach, or Baie Longue in French, is in the southern part of French Terres Basses/The Lowlands. As the name implies, it is the longest stretch of white sand beach on the island. It is also one of the most quiet, intimate beaches, and the best for sun-worshippers. With its stunning turquoise waters and plenty of privacy, the natural charm of this secluded beach will amaze you. Long Bay is also great for snorkeling, although you won´t find too much coral. Remember that you will have to bring your own supplies to Long Bay beach. There are no watersport activities, no vendors, no amenities, so you can enjoy the privacy and beauty of the bay to the full extent.
