Day Trip: Pic Paradis, Orient Bay, and Maho Beach

Since John's been here, it's been a bit of a challenge finding time to do some of the activities I had planned for us considering I have class and a lot of material to study each day. For the first two weeks of his trip here, I'm sorry to say I didn't take John anywhere beyond Simpson Bay, but I promised him we would take a whole day to go around the island after Block 1 exams.

John and our friendly guides in the background.

The first Wednesday after blocks, John and I rented a car from the "Thrifty" booth in Sapphire Beach Club ($30 for 24 hours and only a two minute walk from where I live) and  Pic Paradis was first on our list of stops. Pic Paradis or Paradise Peak is the highest point on St. Maarten standing 424 meter (or roughly 1400 ft) and is located at point A in the map below. To get there, you are required to take an extremely narrow and steep dirt road for ten minutes. There were times I didn't think our car was going to make it. Also, we were a bit wary making the ascent because of the number of people on Trip Advisor who complained of being robbed up in Pic Paradis. Going up the one lane road and not encountering another living soul was unnerving to say the least. I kept having this recurring thought that we would make it to the top, seemingly alone, only then to be pounced on by machete-wielding robbers hiding in the bushes and demanding our money.  We made sure we didn't bring more than $40 for this reason. The only other valuable I brought on the trip was my camera and I figured I wouldn't be too distraught if this was stolen from me.

The hike.

I'm happy to report that we weren't robbed and we actually weren't alone on the eerie summit. The moment we arrived to the path that takes you to the top, we met a British-American couple who were residents of the island and they told us to go with them. I gladly followed since I wasn't sure what was next from where we parked. The following step in our small adventure was a quick 5-8 minute hike through the wilderness. We finally got to the clearing where the radio towers stood.

I took a bunch of pictures, but here are some of the nicer ones below.

Us

Kakao at Orient Beach

Boat Bar on Maho Beach

 Next on our journey around the island, John and I drove to Grand Case and continued on until we arrived to Orient Beach point C on the Map below. The moment we got down from the car it started to pour like crazy so we took cover at the Kakao Beach Bar. This was actually the place I was supposed to have New Years Eve with my parents when I first arrived to the island, however we ended up next door at Bikini Beach (and glad we did too. Best meal I've had on St. Maarten/Martin was at Bikini).  Both spots are beautiful nonetheless. They are fantastic semi-outdoor restaurants/bars located just a few feet away from the ocean and there is no better place to sit and have a few beers. And that is exactly what John and I did until the rain died down. (p.s. there is a nude beach at the very end of Orient, check it out if you're into that)  

You've been warned!

We started driving south again, saw some of the cruise ships, bypassed Philipsburg (point D) and all its lovely traffic and got all the way around to Maho Beach (point E). If you're ever in St Maarten, the one thing you must do before leaving the island is sit on Maho beach and wait for a huge plane to land.  John and I had a couple of surprisingly delicious rum strawberry/mango smoothies at the "Boat Bar" (I guess? it is a boat that was turned into an outdoor bar) on Maho Beach and waited for the planes. We sat there for an hour or so and after watching a couple planes land we headed back home. Perfect end to a great day.   

Sunset at Maho Beach

Map of our adventure:

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