Re: What to do with teens on SXM
Posted by:
pat
(---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: June 15, 2007 08:14PM
Drew,
Travelling to St. Martin with your 15 and 16 year old sons is pretty cool. I have to admit, I chuckled a bit at your post the first time I read it....and then I slapped myself in the side of the head and decided to get serious here. I doubt you'll have much trouble entertaining them, particularly if you're taking them to Orient Beach.
Aside from the people watching, which I'm sure they'll find very interesting while on Orient, you have countless other activities there which they can take part in along with the obvious swimming and typical water based activities. There's a water trampoline, wave runners, and if the winds aren't too strong, there's parasailing, and I believe there's water skiing there, too, all for a fee of course and all within the immediate Orient Beach area.
And not too far from Orient there's a stable where you can arrange horseback rides along the beach and eventually swimming the horses in the water at some point.
And if you can tear them away from the beach you could always try a trip on the 12 metre racing boats located in Philipsberg and I'm willing to bet they'll never forget this one. I've never known anyone, male or female, young or older who hasn't enjoyed this particular activity. But a word to the wise if you want to do this - it's one activity you want to book almost as soon as you arrive on the island because they do limited trips and the cruise ships always get first priority if they're in port. And if they're not, in the off season they do limited trips period!
Another activity they would probably enjoy would be a trip to Loterie Farm and the zip lines. We've never done them and know nothing about them but people who've been there/done that all say they're great fun.
As far as Island prices - The French side deals in Euro's so everything there is a little more expensive than on the Dutch side because of this but many restaurants will do one for one dollar v Euro which can result in a considerable savings. This generally only will apply to cold cash and Traveler Checks and you will pay the full rate if using a credit card.
Sales taxes? Hmm, I didn't think there was one on either side beyond hotel taxes and rental cars and a three percent turn-over tax some restaurants charge on the Dutch side (although the law says, if I'm not mistaken, they're not supposed to charge it to the patron....).
I'm sure if I'm left anything out or made any errors here someone will step up and let you know and should you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask.
Respectfully,
pat
:-) :-)
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2007 08:16PM by pat.