Itinerary for St. Martin Bareboat

[Jeannius]

If you are planning on two nights at most stops then you'll not need too many places to go. I don't know where Dream Yachts are based so the order may change but here are my suggestions... Marigot, Grand Case then Road Bay Anguilla then round the northern coast of Anguilla to St Barts, then back to St Martin.

Best place to provision is Grande Marche on the Dutch side. Best to go there to choose and then have them deliver.

[Hud3]

If you enjoy good food, Grand Case is the place to spend a couple of nights. Fabulous restaurants, from an open-air barbecue setup to haute cuisine.

And it's close to Rocher Creole, a great snorkeling spot.
.

Image from Chris Doyle's Cruising Guide to the Leeward Islands.

[Challo]

We provisioned with Grande Marche and I recommend it. One thing to consider is all the checking in and out -- you have Dutch and French St. Maarten/St. Martin, British Anguilla and French St. Barths. It can take a substantial amount of time, so be realistic about what you can do in a week.

When we went, we started in Oyster Pond, went to Marigot, Road Bay Anguilla, Grande Case, St. Barths and Phillipsburg and back to Oyster Pond. You cannot clear in or out of St. Martin at Marigot on a Sunday -- I learned the hard way. Also, clearing back in at Phillipsburg is a pain and no one seems to understand the rules; plus I was not all that impressed (though there are some good restaurants there).

For diving, we found a nice spot at Ile Forchue and the diving was generally better around St. Barth's than St. Martin. Leaving from Oyster Pond, there was a dive shop there where we got tanks and weights. Don't know where DYC is.

So, I would suggest going to Grande Case (though you need to check in and out of Marigot -- take a cab) on the north side as a more interesting option than Marigot. Road Bay in Anguilla is pretty cool and they customs people are very friendly (unlike the ones in Marigot). If you dive, you must overnight at Ile Forchue. There are no restaurants (sorry), but it is a great spot and worth the hassle of cooking. St. Barth's has whatever you need and you need to go there to pay for the diving you did/will do.

I just returned from a week in the Spanish Virgins and I'm suffering from withdrawal already. Good luck and have a great time!

[speciald@ocens.]

Weather has turned bad here in SXM. Yestrday it rained all day and blew at 20+. No charter boats left the pond. This AM (Monday the 28th) wind is higher and showers expected. Not a good week for chartering.

[speciald@ocens.]

Where is DYC located? I would rent tanks here rather than paying the ailines a fortune to check them. There are dive shops in Simpson Bay Lagoon, Philipsburg, and Oyster Pond. I don't know about Marigo. You will loose atleast half a day on the front and back end of your charter. The airport route is all torn up and it may take you hours to get to and from the airport. There are US-like groceries that sell everything you will need including cheap booze but that will take you more time. Aside from these problems - have a good time. OH - did I mention the Christmas winds? Around mid to late December, the daily winds will increase to 20+ knots with highrer gusts. Its blowing over 20-25 right now (Nov 28th).

[Palarran]

Dream Yachts is located in the lagoon at Lagoon Marina. What I would do is call Taxi Tony at 721-554-8738 and arrange for him to take you to the Grand Marche. He has a newer taxi and is a good and reliable guy. Use him for the ride to the marina also if Dream doesn't provide it. It would be difficult to get out of the lagoon on your first night so it is best to provision during that period. Another good grocery in the Simpson Bay area is Market Fresh. You can get scuba gear from The Scuba Shop.

The most important consideration is the bridge openings. I think they are at 9:00, 11:00, and 5:00 but you can check that out. The customs and immigration office is at the base of the bridge. Either use your tender to clear out from the marina, or go out and anchor in Simpson Bay then dingy back. The earlier the start the better.

What I would do is clear out, sail around St. Martin, and go to Creole Rock. There are mooring balls you can grab. Get the further out ones as the inside ones are for smaller boats. Creole is a good easy dive and you can make it all the way around the rock on a tank easily. Then, go to Anse Marcel for the night. Anchor further off shore as this bay is susceptible to backwinding. You can eat at the Radisson for dinner or several others. You can clear in to French St. Martin at the Captainerie located in the marina. Take the channel with your dingy. There is also a dive shop there to refill your tanks. Scuba Zen.

The next day sail to Tintemarre. Get a mooring ball as far North as you can. Take your tender past the mooring fields about 400 yards and you will find a small mooring ball. Under this is a tug boat in 60' of water. It's pretty nice. Around noon, sail back to Orient bay. Be careful about the entrance as it is guarded by reefs. Anchor off the shore of Club Orient and use your dingy to get to shore. Be careful about the ground swell as you near the beach. Spend the day on the beach.

I typically stay there the night and cook dinner on board. If you are not comfortable, move over to Pinel Island and grab a mooring there. Either way, there are not very many easy spots for dinner ashore without beaching the tender, which risks getting everyone soaked.

You do not need to clear out of French St. Martin to go to St. Bart's. You do need to clear in at Gustavia though. When you leave Orient Bay, stay well off shore as you round Green Cay. Take a 3 hour stop at Isle Forchere. I've dove here twice and it wasn't good, but I have heard that it is better on the north west side of the island. I would spend the next three nights in St. Bart's. You will be shocked at the prices to eat or drink but it's worth it. There are a lot of options for anchoring around the island depending on the weather and sea conditions. Make sure to clear out of St. Bart's.

Then I would sail over to Great Bay so your better half can do some shopping. You can also enjoy the beach bars. You will also be ready for entering the bridge the next day. I wouldn't bother with clearing in on this day. Claim ignorance if questioned, which is HIGHLY unlikely. Then, go through the Simpson Bay bridge, drop off someone on the dingy to clear in on your last day, and take the boat back to the dock.

If you had one more day you could fit Anguilla into the picture but with only 6 available nights, I wouldn't. I've attached a Google Earth Path if your interested. If you have Earth installed, just load it. Have Fun.

[speciald@ocens.]

I must add to the above - Do Not eat at Pinel Island. They have no refrigeration - a group of my frinds all got severe food poisining last Winter. You can clear in and out of St. Bart"s at the same time. They want the boat to be in Gustavia but I usually moor in Columbier and go by dinghy to check in. I would skip Great Bay and Philipsburg. Do not try to check in in Phillipsburg - do it in Simpson Lagoon.

[pupuce]

See this site (cruising guide in french & english)
sailpilot.com

[luv2]

I have bareboated out of St Maarten a couple times and we always dive as much as possible. Our goal is to dive right off the back of the catamaran or, at most, take a short dinghy ride from the yacht. We always rent all our gear for the week from one of the local dive shops and take two tanks per person. The benefit of this is setting your own pace and diving when and where you feel like it. The downside is you don't have the local knowledge on your side to guide you to the best dives. Sometimes, even when you find the dive site, it is not always clear where the actual reef, wreck, etc is located and you can waste valuable time and air looking aimlessly. My group are fairly experienced so we can usually figure it out in the end. You can get a list from The Dive Shop of dives you can do from your yacht and they are ranked as to the quality. Proselyte Reef is the best one we have found around St Maarten. It is easy to find and very interesting. There are mooring balls for the yacht right on top of the dive. In heavy seas you need someone on the surface ready to pick up divers in the dinghy as there can be a couple knot current going by. We usual only do 30 minutes bottom time so we can get two dives per tank and it is not too painful for non-divers to wait around. They can snorkel or stay on deck and bask. I have never been to Anguilla but I have heard the diving is good. The other St Maarten dives I have done are barely passable as interesting, but we have never had a guide. Have fun!

[Palarran]

Great info Luv2. I'm not sure the mooring balls at the Proselyte Reef are for cruisers to use or designed for that size boat. It would be good to check with the Scuba Shop. I 100% agree about being disappointed with the reefs. Almost everything is dead. But there are a lot of fish.

Your not supposed to dive with out a guide on Anguilla, and for sure not in the marine parks. We had their water cops come by last time I was there and give us the full check out.