Travel With The Oslers: St. Martin

St. Martin/ Sint Maarten has also not been an island I've enjoyed going to. We have tried Loterie Farms, an island tour, cruise ship snorkeling at Pinel Island and jet skis.

This time I searched the Cruise Critic Ports of Call Cruise Critics Ports of Call Board for a better trip. I found Captain Alan's.
http://www.captainalan.com/

Getting to the area where you meet up with the taxi to get to Captain Alan's can be tricky. They give you an areal view but it can be hard to figure out. The area is called "The Sandbox" where all the non-cruise ship tours meet. I'd suggest finding a shop called Mr. Tablecoth and it's around the corner. If in doubt veer right and it's after the second traffic circle. We arrived an hour early as we weren't 100% if they were on a time difference and figured we could shop. We checked in with the lead taxi driver who sat us in a corner and 20 minutes later decided they were going to drop us off earlier at the pier. We were dropped off but they ended up holding up the other customers waiting for us back at the taxi stand! Just clarify island time with your ship before departure and show up 20 minutes early!
En route we could see lost of destruction from the hurricane Maria. Ocean Bay resort will be amazing when they reopen!

Ocean Bay Resort

Once we all got together, finally, we met Gilbert, our captain and we were on or way.

Gilbert explained that 300 boats were lost in this alcove alone. The island is struggling with what to do with the fiberglass. Because of the high waves from the second Noreaster up north, the water was cloudy and snorkeling would not be good, so we enjoyed mostly a boat and beach day.

We snorkeled over to a small beach area and walked around. The waves were pretty intense but enjoyable.

After we came back and had a drink, cooled off and then did a drift snorkel. I saw 1 fish and went back for some shade.

Cloudy waters this day-

We sailed over to our third and final stop on Pinel island. We snorkeled and had lunch, then went onto the beach. It was amusing that our boat of 6 passengers had 3 stops, drinks and lunch and the cruiseline's tour had 20-30 people and 1 stop. We watched them load and unload for 10 minutes each way. The cruise ship's captain asked Gilbert for advice on the best spots to snorkel. Amusing. I highly recommend avoiding cruise ship excursions if possible. It was nice to get rid of the herd for a day.

This was a french baguette with ham, swiss cheese and apple slices. Delicious!

Destruction near Orient beach, a harder hit area

The yellow umbrellas shows Orient (nude) beach and the destruction nearby....Lots of old naked men walking around, equally destroyed....(just kidding).