Opinions on St. Barts

2,034 Views | 10 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by gif
Pignorant
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AG
Narrowing down honeymoon spots and St. Barts seem to be the top choice.

We will most likely rent a villa/house near the beach.

Does anyone have any insight/thoughts/recommendations on a vacation there?
gif
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Don't go, it's a tourist trap. Stick to St Marteen, it's much less crowded.
Ag CPA
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AG
Weren't they both destroyed by Irma?
The Chicken Ranch
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AG
I've heard that it isn't so much a tourist trap, but a playground for the very wealthy.
Ag with kids
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AG
The Chicken Ranch said:

I've heard that it isn't so much a tourist trap, but a playground for the very wealthy.
Go around Christmas. Go to the harbor. Look at the DOZENS of yachts that cost so much that they actually have their own wikipedia page.

It's kind of cool.

Neat island. Good beaches. REALLY hilly and fun to drive in a Jeep.

However, I'll second what the earlier poster said about St. Maarten/St. Martin (North is France, South is Dutch). It's my favorite island so far.

But...look at Anguilla. It's a British island just north of St Martin. And I've been told by several people that grew up on St Martin that Anguilla has the best beaches.
gif
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Ag with kids said:

The Chicken Ranch said:

I've heard that it isn't so much a tourist trap, but a playground for the very wealthy.
Go around Christmas. Go to the harbor. Look at the DOZENS of yachts that cost so much that they actually have their own wikipedia page.

It's kind of cool.

Neat island. Good beaches. REALLY hilly and fun to drive in a Jeep.

However, I'll second what the earlier poster said about St. Maarten/St. Martin (North is France, South is Dutch). It's my favorite island so far.

But...look at Anguilla. It's a British island just north of St Martin. And I've been told by several people that grew up on St Martin that Anguilla has the best beaches.



Yep, I'd stay away from st Bart's
Ag with kids
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AG
Oh I Like That said:

Ag with kids said:

The Chicken Ranch said:

I've heard that it isn't so much a tourist trap, but a playground for the very wealthy.
Go around Christmas. Go to the harbor. Look at the DOZENS of yachts that cost so much that they actually have their own wikipedia page.

It's kind of cool.

Neat island. Good beaches. REALLY hilly and fun to drive in a Jeep.

However, I'll second what the earlier poster said about St. Maarten/St. Martin (North is France, South is Dutch). It's my favorite island so far.

But...look at Anguilla. It's a British island just north of St Martin. And I've been told by several people that grew up on St Martin that Anguilla has the best beaches.



Yep, I'd stay away from st Bart's
We did a day trip from St Maarten. I enjoyed it, but I like St Maarten better.

Plus, everyone there is French...and they act just like it.
Ag_N_Houston
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AG
We stayed on Anguilla for our honeymoon. Beautiful beaches, great food, friendly people. They had a lot of hurricane damage last year, so not sure if they are fully back.
Big Al 1992
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AG
St Maarten got hit hard. The locals would tell us one side was much less safe than the other - think Fr>Dutch but could have that reversed. Crime really spiked after the hurricanes.
Anguilla does have the best beaches. One of our favorite. Expensive but so is St Barth's.
NE PA Ag
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I'll weigh in as my wife and I have been there several times. We always go just off season, so mid November to early December, or late April to early May. There are enough people to keep it interesting, but it is nowhere near as crowded, or expensive, as the high season during winter. We get villas for roughly half the price of the high season. The other poster mentioned Christmas, it is twice as expensive as the rest of the high season and packed (so we've been told).

If you go, I would highly recommend flying from St. Martin over the ferry. It certainly isn't cheap for such a short flight, but so much easier and faster. You also get to land on the second shortest commercial runway in the world, usually the approach is over a hill, the runway starts at the lower part of the hill. Only STOL aircraft can take off and land, so the planes are 8 to 14 or so passengers. Not for the faint of heart, but I love stuff like this and think it's pretty cool. This and the lack of cruise ships actually help keep things less crowded than they probably would be otherwise.

I haven't been to Anguilla to compare, but two of my favorite beaches are there, Governeur and Saline. Lightly used the time of year we go and stunning. Lots of good restaurants and as the other poster mentioned, driving around the island is pretty fun, if not a bit harrowing at times. It is definitely less urban than the Dutch side of St. Martin and less, I would call it rustic, than the French side. The two beaches I mentioned are definitely better than any we went to on St. Martin. We liked it there too though (stayed mainly on the French side a few years back). I have no idea where things stand on St. Barts with regard to hurricane recovery though.

If you want any specific recommendations, let me know.
Pignorant
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AG
Just got back from St Barth's. It was incredible.





gif
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Glad you ended up enjoying your trip, but remember the first rule of vacationing in St. Bart's: Do not talk about St. Bart's
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