Day 3 - Philipsburg, St. Maarten

Our second stop was at Philipsburg, St. Maarten.  We booked this excursion prior to the trip and did a Jeep/Aquaboat 'Surf and Turf Expedition' on the island of St. Maarten.  Before St. Maarten became a must-see destination for cruisers, the island was most popular for its must-have ingredient (Salt)!  Back in the 17th century, Dutch settlers starting harvesting salt from the Great Salt Pond and sending shiploads back to Europe.  And even before Europeans started craving the stuff, the natives named the island "Land of Salt." Today, the island is split in half between France and the Netherlands Antilles.  Other than the island's name (spelled Saint-Martin on the French half), both sides are quite unique.  When we arrived in Philipsburg (capital of St. Maarten), we noticed the Dutch influences, dating back to the colonial days.  We wandered down the narrow alleyways that lead to pastel-colored houses, perfectly intact with their second-story verandas and courtyards filled with flowers and lots of boutiques.  The french side is most well-known for its international cuisine, a delectable gourmet meal (too bad we didn't have time to try anything there).

Stacy was our tour guide for the day (we lucked out on all our tours ... it was only the four of us - another private tour so we could go to the places we wanted to go and have time to do what we wanted to do)!!  We were able to take the jeep (Nick and Brandon took turns being our chaufer around the island seeing lots of large yachts and sailboats until we reached our destination to pick up our aqua boats.  They were small boats big enough for two people so each couple had their own.  We then toured the harbor, some shipwrecks, and headed out to the ocean to a place called Pelican Rock to snorkel.  It was very clear and the water was gorgeous that day.  Who knows if she was telling the truth, but Stacy told us it was the best water she had seen in weeks (lucky us)!  We saw some beautiful fish, huge lobster and had a blast near the rocks.

Pelican Rock

We then headed back to get our jeep and continue around the island to the French side of the island.  We stopped at a beach called Airport Beach (it was amazing to be standing literally yards under an enormous airplane coming in for a landing).  We had some cheeseburgers at the Sunset Bar & Grill and watched about 8 large planes and probably 10 + small planes come in for a landing while eating and playing in the water.  The boys stood along the fence (Jet Blast Zone) to feel the Jet Blast from the large planes that were departing.  You could see sand, people, hats and towels blowing down the beach into the water from the large blasts of air.  It was crazy to see how close the planes were above you at the beach!  It was awesome to watch the planes take off and land just above us.

That night we came back and saw the sunset from the top of the ship, had dinner in the dining room and enjoyed a couple of shows, played some shuffle board and retired late again for another adventure!