Category Archives: Saint Martin/ Sint Maarten

Scuba Diving Creole Rock

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The ocean is the last unexplored frontier. I mean, we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the bottom of the ocean! Perhaps that’s why Scuba diving is such a thrilling adventure. Last week, Ben had the opportunity to Scuba dive around Creole Rock.

Ben’s cousin Craig, his wife, Bonnie, and their son, Wally, came to spend a week with us in Saint Martin. While they were here, they spoiled us. And I mean absolutely spoiled us! One of the excursions that Ben has been dying to do is Scuba diving. That hasn’t been in the med school student budget, so we’ve been doing a lot of snorkeling instead. Well, Craig and Bonnie decided that Scuba diving needed to be on the agenda, so Ben finally had the chance to go! He said it’s way more incredible than snorkeling, and it was worth taking a break from studying the weekend before his comprehensive exam.


Jet Ski Flyboard Experience in St Martin

The Experience

We went with Bubble Shop in Grand Case. Max was our guide, and he was awesome! This post isn’t sponsored by Bubble Shop; I’m writing because Bubble Shop is a great dive option and it’s worth sharing. Ben isn’t a certified diver, so he and Craig did the Discovery Dive trip to Creole Rock. Wally, Bonnie, and I did the snorkeling excursion. Since there were five of us, we got the whole trip to ourselves. It felt like a personal chartered excursion!

We started out with a tutorial on how to safely dive and snorkel. Before long, we were all zipped up in wet suits and on a boat from Grand Case to Creole Rock! Max said that it’s called Creole Rock because it looks like the outline of a Creole man sleeping in the water. As we got closer, I could make out the outline of a nose and chin, plus the belly rising out of the water.


Marine Tour Around St Martin

What We Saw 

The day was a little bit cloudy, which isn’t ideal for snorkeling, but the water was so clear that it didn’t matter. It’s definitely worth it to get out from the beaches, far away from where everyone is kicking up a bunch of sand or the waves are bringing in a bunch of crud from the Sargasso Sea.

The clarity of the water was awesome out by Creole Rock! The photos don’t do it justice. I usually fix the photos on a web program, but my laptop cord turned in its two week notice and took a vacation this week, so it will be a few weeks before I can fix these on my computer. Still, you get the idea! It was pretty remarkable down there.

At least the photos aren’t too shaky! You can tell which Go Pro photos I take and which ones Ben takes. Ben has the magical ability to take clear, steady videos under the water. When I take them, they look like they’ve been through a tsunami or a category three hurricane. Luckily, Ben had the Go Pro during this excursion. 

Here’s a photo of a gigantic hermit crab in a conch shell! Someone from another snorkel excursion told us about it, and Wally was the first one in our group to spot the shell. For size reference, conch shells are generally nine or ten inches long. Look at those pinchers! Anyone feel like losing a finger?

You can see a blue tang and a queen angelfish in the photo above. I’ve seen a lot of blue tang here, but this is one of the few queen angelfish I’ve seen.

This is a trumpet fish. They’re small, thin, silvery fish, and they are hard to see when they’re near the surface. Sometimes, I’m surprised when I slide into apparently empty water and see a few of these sneaky little guys gliding by. At Creole Rock, they’re not very skittish. Since it’s a nature preserve, they let you get pretty close without fear.


Snorkel Tour from St Martin

Why I Liked It

The water around Creole Rock is deep enough to be interesting but shallow enough to feel safe. I like free diving a little bit, and this was a good depth for getting to the bottom and not feeling like I was running out of air.

I also liked the area because it was good for all levels. Even though I’ve been in the water at least once a week since I got to the Caribbean, Creole Rock was an interesting place to see some new things and nicer coral. People who don’t snorkel often enjoy it, too, because it’s protected and shallow- perfect for getting used to open water or for seeing lots of things without having to free dive (and for readjusting an uncomfortable snorkel mask when it’s too loose).

What makes the boat ride out to Creole Rock most worth it is that it’s located in protected waters.  It’s also too far out for people to break the rules and go snag some lobsters illegally. The fish aren’t afraid that you’re going to whip out a spear gun, and the coral isn’t bleached from too much touching. This is a perfectly gorgeous place to go. We can snorkel Baie Rouge or Mullet anytime (which we do love to do), but this is special.


2-Tank Scuba Dive in St Martin

We had a great time snorkeling and diving Creole Rock! I’m so glad we had the opportunity to do it before we left. Thanks, Craig and Bonnie!

 

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How to Find the Guana Bay Hike

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The Guana Bay hike is a popular hike on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, but it can be pretty hard to find if you’ve never done it before. To avoid driving endlessly around or scrambling up a frightening hillside of loose rocks, follow these directions and enjoy one of the most beautiful hikes of your life! Here’s how to find the Guana Bay hike in Sint Maarten.

To Find the Guana Bay Hike: 

To get the hike, drive north (counter-clockwise) from Philipsburg. If you’re on Pondfill Road, drive toward the east coast of the island and go north (left) at the freed slave roundabout. Keep driving until you see the sign that says “Guana Bay” on your right. It’s kind of small, so keep your eye out. You’ll turn right at the next right after you spot the sign. The road will take you up a hill, then down and to the coast. You’ll see the beach on your left and the parking lot on your right.

Now, it’s probably good to know that the name “Guana Bay Hike” is a misnomer. The beach on your left is Guana Bay, and the hike does NOT start here. We thought it did the first time we went, because getting lost is apparently just part of hiking for us. It was still fun, but it’s not the trail.

If you’re here, you’re in the wrong place

When you see the beach and the parking lot (aka dirt patch), keep going. You’ll get to the end of the road at a while abandoned house. The trail starts here, going directly toward the coast.


Full-Day Jet Ski Tour in St Martin

The Trail Head: 

Like I said, the trail begins at the end of the road. It goes directly down toward the water, dipping down and passing this weird old garden thing before heading up. This is the path, and you can keep going until the end.

 

This is actually the very first Saint Martin activity that Ben and I did when we first moved here, over a year and a half ago! Our friends Austin and Stephanie took us here to give us a taste of the island life. Here’s a picture of Ben and I way back before we got our Caribbean tans. It’s hard to believe that this island adventure is almost over.

The Path

The Guana Bay path isn’t the kind of thing you want to do in flip-flops or even Chocos, really, although I have done it in Chacos. I also wouldn’t recommend taking little kids past the first couple bays, unless they’re seasoned hikers. I have taken kids to the rocky area and the first bay you reach. That part isn’t too bad.

After the first part, though, you get some narrow trails, steep drops, and straight-up hillsides. The end result, however, is worth it. It takes about an hour to get to the end.

By the way, “X” does not mark the spot when it comes to the Guana Bay Hike in Sint Maarten. Stay away from the old, disintegrated paths marked with a red “X.”

Very steep!


Fly Zone Extreme Adventure at Loterie Farm

Along the Way

Don’t forget to enjoy the treasures you find along the trail! One of my favorite stops is at the boulders. This is fairly early on in the hike. You’ll see all the big, black rocks. Climb down there and explore the tide pools and rocks. This is a great pace for viewing the cays and islands off the coast. The biggest one is St. Barth’s, and the closet cay is Guana Cay.

Another cool place is Geneve Bay, where you can often find pelicans swooping to the waves in search of fish. This is also a great place to hunt for conch shells.

There are also a whole bunch of goats on the path! When I take my dog, Kito, on this hike, she loves to chase them. There’s nothing I can do about it, so I just keep going and she eventually comes back. The first time she went racing after the goats, she was covered in cactus spikes from head to toe when she came limping back. Now she knows about the cactus and stays away.


St-Martin and St Maarten: Sightseeing Tour of the French and Dutch Sides of the Island

The End

The end of the Guana Bay Hike is the very best part! Here, you’ll find a deep natural pool that is protected from the waves. You can swim here, but beware of the urchins! My friend Jay was stung by one pretty badly. Just stay away from the walls and you’ll be fine. This is also a great place for sunbathing.

Beyond the Tide Pool

The Guana Bay Hike is already a pretty long hike if you go all the way to the pools, but if you’re up for more, the path continues. I’ve never been myself, but I believe the trail comes out at Point Blanche.

If you want to find more hikes in Saint Martin, check out my SXM Activities Page or read these posts on the Lovers Beach Hike, the Wilderness Hike, and the Pic Paradis Hike. Subscribe or like the 3rd Culture Wife Facebook Page for more posts on Saint Martin hikes!

Photo creds: Alyssa F. and Austin W

 

A Walk Through Wilderness (And the Dump)

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What ended with flames, dogs, and old tires began with an innocent little walk in the hills. Ever since Ben and I got married, our hikes always seem to end up with us accidentally walking on private property, and then trying desperately to get out unseen as fast as possible.  Naturally, our latest hike ended up the same way, although it started out very nice.

Ben and I are trying to save money, so we decided to skip the fancy stuff for my birthday this year and go hiking in a new place. To give you some context, “hiking” for us usually ends up being bushwhacking through some marginally dangerous area, and one of usually gets stung by a wasp or poisoned by a manchineel tree or something along those lines. Don’t ask us why we keep doing it. Maybe it’s an addiction.

Trails are great (and slightly less painful), but there’s something about going where no man has gone before (at least in the last year or so). We always end up finding the most exhilarating views and loneliest places, which makes it all more than worth it.

On this particular hike, we began at the Grandes Cayes area in French Saint Martin. There is a nice though somewhat rugged trail that goes around the hill to a hidden beach called Petit Cayes, but we decided to go straight up. We tried once before, but we got rained out and had to go home. This time, it was a perfect day! This area of the island is so nice. When the grass is new, it ripples in the wind like an ocean of green. Simply mesmerizing.

By February, though, the grass is less flexible. We discovered why they’re called “blades” of grass. By the time we were done, we were criss-crossed with cuts and bleeding slightly. I felt like I had been in a sword flight with a bazillion Lego-sized Musketeers.

Once we got to the top of the hill, we could see absolutely everything! It was such a clear day that we could see Anguilla and its keys, Tintamarre, Pinel Island, and St. Barth’s in detail. We looked down and saw a helicopter and a someone parasailing below us.

Amazingly, we could also see the ocean floor through the water. It was so clear that we could pick out the reef, the drop-off, the sandy areas, and the sea grass. At this point, I was really wishing we had brought our snorkel stuff. If you’re looking for a good place to snorkel or dive on Saint Martin, this is (in my opinion) the best spot of all. Also, check out Tintamarre— can you believe people used to live there? Today, it’s uninhabited and pretty expensive to get to, even though it’s close. Heck, you can go to St. Barth’s for cheaper and actually get to do stuff. Still, the allure of Tinatamarre is calling me. I’m jealous of the people on those sail boats.

After I published this, someone sent me this link for a cheaper fare to Tintamarre. I’m adding it here, just in case you want to go!

We followed what looked like a trail for a while, but eventually it turned into a meandering path that disappeared altogether. We found a 200-yer-old property line, and walked on top of it for a while. Back in the day, landowners had their slaves haul rocks to build short walls all along their property. I can’t imagine having to carry those big rocks up the hills! It is brutal enough just to climb up there. Eventually, the rock wall disappeared into a thicket of thorn bushes, so it was back to wading through the six-foot-tall grass and looking for random cow paths.

Once we got to the summit, we felt like we were on top of the world! We did a bit of bouldering for the fun of it.

At this point, we were just about directly above Petit Cayes Beach, and we know that there’s a path somewhere in the hills that goes directly to the beach. I’ve seen it from the other side. So we started looking.

That’s where we went wrong. 

At this point, we began to wade aimlessly through the grass, looking for some sign of the trail. There was no sign of it anywhere. Eventually, we decided to throw in the towel and go back down. Unfortunately, we had lost the path!

We needed a vantage point, so we ended up walking up this super steep path to a high mountain. We discovered more great views, and the less-than-great news that our original “path” was ridiculously far away by now. Like three peaks over.

Also, Ben almost ate this spider:

You know what they say: the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Obviously, this was coined by a mathematician and not an explorer. We decided to go for it, and went straight down the slopes. It was about a 30 degree angle and we couldn’t see where we were walking, but every time we tripped over a rock or fell into a hole, the long grass caught us softly.

To give you an idea of what we walked down, here’s a picture of the hill. We started from where I took the picture and ended up on the left edge of the dump. That’s wasn’t the goal, though, obviously. From the top, it looked like we could get close to the dump and walk around the edge. Oh, sure. That worked out great.

By this time, I was wishing I could pull out a parachute and just jump down. Ben went hunting for a trail, and I walked/ tripped/ fell down the hill and met up with him at the bottom.

Once we got down there, we discovered, much to my dismay, that the only way out was through the dump. I could walk up and around or attempt to shred my legs further in a thicket of thorn bushes, but if I wanted to be done with our everlasting wandering in the endless grass, the dump was it.

Of course, I wasn’t thrilled by this idea. It wasn’t as bad as the time we got lost on the Camel’s Head in Phoenix, jumped down into what we thought was a piece of undeveloped desert, and found ourselves in a minimally-landscaped, highly-secure, multi-million dollar estate’s backyard with a dog, but it was still pretty bad. Some employees at the dump saw us considering our options, and they started whistling and motioning at us. At the time, I was sure they were going to call the Gendarmes on us. Looking back, they were probably warning us of the unpleasant landscape we were headed for. In either case, we were kind of stuck.

So down we went, into the dump, walking briskly around the edge and hoping not to run into anybody who would yell at us. By the way, I by am no means advocating this. Hopefully you can use our mishap as a way to avoid your own.  We were definitely not enjoying it, especially when we took a wrong turn and ended up right in the middle. Yuck! Now, I’m not hating on the dump, because it looked well run, but it is a dump, after all. It didn’t smell too nice. We were seriously regretting our decision not to go up and around at this point.

Now, if you know me at all, you’ll know that I am a RULE FOLLOWER. No, I’m not going to have another piece of pizza. One per person– didn’t you hear the announcement? Of course I’m not going to return your text during class. The teacher said no phones. No! I can’t share my password with you. The terms and conditions said I can’t. And yes, I read them before clicking the box.

Needless to say, I was really freaking out at this point.

We suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a swarm of flies, and took off running. Flashes of the dump passed me as I ran: a stack of tires, some shreds of clothing, little tongues of flame licking at paper and cardboard. There was a pack of dogs rooting around at the edge, and they looked at us like we were crazy as we flew past. We came to the edge, where there was a steep but short drop and enough room to slide through the fence. Down and through we went, fast as we could go, and came out panting on the other side. Wow, I don’t want to do that again!

We walked, exhausted, to the water’s edge, balancing carefully on the piles of bleached coral that had washed up on the shore. Our hundreds of tiny cuts stung as we washed them in the ocean water. We sat down, exhausted and happy that we made it. “I guess we’ll laugh about this later,” Ben said.

What’s a hike without a little adventure? 

Tell me in the comments: what is your most memorable hiking experience?

 

Air Show in Sint Maarten

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Things that go fast never lose their appeal for us. Sure, we may outgrow the toy trucks and die-cast tractors, but real planes? Forever awesome. Every year (starting in 2015), Sint Maarten holds an air show above Great Bay. This year, I took R to the Boardwalk to enjoy the show!

Of course, that was way back in November, but who cares? Better late than never. I couldn’t resist sharing the photos.

The first thing we did was explore the festival on the Boardwalk. Unfortunately, most of the activities were either for adults or younger kids, so R found it kind of boring until the show started. Still, there were some pretty sweet motorcycles because of the biker event that was also happening on the island, and he thought those were cool. So did I, if only for the sheer number of them, even though I seriously could not care less about motorcycles.

The air show started (after much waiting under some palm trees) with parachuters jumping from the planes. They landed not too far from us on the beach, one at a time.

Soon, the planes began to show their stuff. They seemed to fly dangerously close to each other! I think that might have been an illusion of distance and depth, but it’s hard to tell.

 

 

The planes did corkscrews in the air, falling through the air at heart-stopping speeds before leveling out above the bay and flying upward once again.

 

You know, I never thought I was much of an airplane person, but I’m learning how awesome they are! Between Princess Juliana Airport down the street and the airshow in Philipsburg, I just may be addicted to flight.

We’re Foster Parents

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If you haven’t figured in out by now, Ben and I are foster parents! We’ve been enjoying the company of a teen boy for about six months, who you may have seen mentioned vaguely as “R” in some of my recent posts. I haven’t talked about this explicitly, mostly because I’m not really sure how to talk about it in a public forum. For one thing, our son is a teenager in a small community, we’re Facebook friends with a lot of his friends, and all the kids around here are all over the internet. I don’t really want to be “that mom” and write things that are potentially embarrassing. Secondly, as the rest of you foster moms know, there’s a lot of obligatory privacy when it comes to foster kids. You have to follow the rules, and you have to be respectful. So I’ve opted not to talk about it thus far. However, this is a really big part of my life, and I think it’s good to talk about the foster parent experience. So I’m going to be posting a lot more about foster parenting here, and hopefully creating an element of camaraderie with other foster moms.

So what is it like to be a foster parent? Well, that’s hard to answer. Our situation is very, very different than most peoples’. However, I’d be kidding myself if I said that being a unique foster family is, well, unique. Everybody has a distinct experience with its own joys and challenges. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that you can’t put the foster-family lifestyle in a box!

For us, we’re a cross-cultural family. This wasn’t much of a stretch for us. Ben and I already have learned to enjoy and appreciate our own cultural differences. With our son, there’s also a difference in nationality. Ben and I are expats in the Caribbean, and our son is from here. We’ve had to learn to navigate the system in a place that is very different from the United States, but thankfully we’ve had wonderful people from the children’s service organization who are very kind to us as we pick through the cultural obstacle course.

We’re also a young couple fostering a teen. We’ve experienced some judgement from people who don’t think we should be taking on this kind of responsibility, but ultimately, we don’t dwell on those voices. Fostering has taught me that no matter what you do and no matter what your motives are, people are going to find fault with you. You can’t let it get you down. Listen to concerns of people who care about you, but in the end you just have to do what you know is right for your family. And guess what? It’s gone beautifully. If you’ve never considered fostering teens, why not look into it? I never thought I’d be good at this, but it’s one of the best experiences of my life.

We’re in med school. As one of my college professors used to say, “It will never be the ideal time to start having kids.” Doesn’t matter if they’re biological or not. Of course, there are some things that have to be in place, by law, in order for you to foster. But you don’t have to have a house or a massive income! You just have to have an extra room and be able to take care of yourself. Med school isn’t the ideal time to do anything, really, but we decided we just have to live our lives and not act like we’re on pause.

We’re pioneers. As far as I know, we’re the first foreigners to foster here. I think we’re the first who ever asked. Also, the program is fairly new. So learning how this works for us is a process. There’s a lot of uncertainty about things. We just have to take stuff day by day, which is hard for me to process—I love planning everything about two years in advance! It’s a learning experience for me, and a growing experience. I never know what to expect and I’m learning to walk in faith.

We’re Living by Faith. I have to take every step before I can see where it will land, which is scary. It’s easy to say that I know God will lead me and take care of me, but it’s hard to act on it. However, as Pricilla Shirer teaches in The Armor of God (my current Bible study book), faith is an ACTION. Faith has little to do with my ability to believe really hard and everything to do with God’s faithfulness. If I trust in that faithfulness, I can take the action God is asking me to take before I see the outcome. So that is what we are doing. We have to live by faith and do the things God wants us to do. Ever since we first felt God leading us in that direction, we’ve had to take steps before we had assurance that things were going to work out. Financial commitments and time commitments had to be made before we even knew if we were going to be certified. And it worked out. We’re still up against unknowns every day, but we are trusting God to work those out, too.

What about you? Are there any other foster families out there? I’d love to hear your story, too!

Exploring Tall Ships in French Saint Martin

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Saint Martin is an island with plenty to do! There are often fun activities to participate it, when you know how to find them. This weekend’s activity was a free tour of three tall ships in Galis Bay!

After Coach Tom told me about this excursion, I decided to take R and head over to Marigot to tour the ships. Ben couldn’t come because he had to study, but Dan, another med school spouse at American University of the Caribbean, joined us with his two girls.

The Ships

We got to tour three ships during our Sunday afternoon excursion. The first was a big, green pirate-looking vessel from Germany called Alexander von Humboldt II. The four-year-old was entirely convinced it was an actual pirate ship, although she made sure the rest of us understood that there’s no such thing as a real pirate anymore.

Living on a ship sounds rather restrictive, but I could actually envision surviving a long trip on this boat. The crew’s quarters below were pretty tiny, but it didn’t look too terrible. Plus, the view from the deck is fantastic– I could totally look at that every day. An unobstructed view the the ocean is just unbeatable. R, of course, is all about that ship life. He’s excited about a future in the Coast Guard. I think he’d do it even without the view. Of course, it doesn’t hurt…

The other two ships, Frederick Chopin and the Wylde Swan, were a bit smaller, but no less impressive. They also had more interesting steering wheels, which was all that mattered the the four-year-old.

The Wylde Swan also had a great kitchen area, and whatever they were cooking down in the galley smelled delicious.

The Wheels

The most important part of the entire tour, according to the four-year-old, was the steering wheel on each ship. I think she would have stayed there all day if her dad had let her!

Each wheel was a bit different. I was surprised that the wheels still looked like old-fashioned wooden wheels. I wonder if that is standard, or if most ships (even sailing ships) have more modern wheels.

I have to say that I was pretty thrilled to see the typical old wheels still in use! They have a distinctly nautical beauty about them.

Other Instruments

There were other interesting ship’s instruments, too, beside the wheels. The baby loved the compasses, which were pretty cool.

I really liked the ropes. There were so many of them! I’ve read a lot of books about ships, but I haven’t been on too many of them. I’m always surprised at how much rope holds the ships together.

I really wanted to climb up into the rigging. Of course, I didn’t (seriously) consider it. We estimated that I’d get about halfway up before somebody dragged me down. You know, they did say that we could go anywhere on the ship, and they never said the rigging was off limits…. ah, if only I didn’t have a reputation to worry about!

These are the kind of days when I wish I could stay here forever. I want to spend my whole life wandering around ships and looking at the view!

The island life is a wonderful life, and the sea is a glorious place to be! If my adventures have taken me to the deck of a ship in the Caribbean, where else will they take me? Only God knows. Too bad he’s not spilling the beans yet!

For now, I’m loving every moment of this Caribbean life. What a fun afternoon! Ships are pretty cool. Thanks to everyone who made it possible for us to explore these ships for free!