Friday, June 24, 2011

February Getaway to St. Maarten


I've finally gotten around to posting some photos from our February, 2011 trip to the French/Dutch island of St. Martin/St. Maarten. I won't bore you with lots of historical facts and everything we did on a day-to-day basis but simply annotate each photo, to let you know what & where everything is. If you really want to know more about St. Maarten, you can easily check it out on the internet. However, if anyone has any questions (or wants tips) on visiting the island, I'd be glad to answer/provide them.
As always, comments are welcome and click on any image to enlarge it.
Click on it a second time to further enlarge it.

View of (mostly) the Dutch (southern) side of the island from my window on the plane.

Close-up of Philipsburg, the capital of the Dutch side.

The port on Great Bay, Philipsburg, where the cruise ships dock.

Our villa (first building on left, second floor,
overlooking Great Bay)
at the Divi Little Bay Resort.

View looking over our villa (building in center of photo).

View from the balcony of our villa.

View from our balcony.

Looking toward the cruise ship docks on the other side of Great Bay,
from our balcony, with a ship approaching (on the right).

Telephoto shot from our balcony.

Small infinity pool at east end of Divi property,
overlooking Little Bay in background.

View from old Fort Amsterdam, at the tip of the Divi property,
overlooking Little Bay.

Looking toward the east end of the property from Gizmo's Beachside Café.

Gizmo (the mascot of the beachside café).

Looking west along the Divi beach on Little Bay.

Looking east along the Divi beach.

A poolside café toward the east end of the property.

Happy Hour at Gizmo's café with Ken & Ro.

Villas at the east end of the property, photographed
while standing chest-high in the water, late in the day.

Sunset, viewed from Gizmo's Café.

Same sunset, a little later.

Three people watch another sunset, while sitting on the edge of a pool.

Front Street, the old main street in Philipsburg.

Brightly-colored restaurant, typical of the
Caribbean island style, in Philipsburg.

Old courthouse in Philipsburg.

Visitors take a Segway tour of "boardwalk"
along side the beach in Philipsburg.

Historic old church in Philipsburg.

Public beach area on the northeast (French) side of the island,
with fog and rain clouds threatening.

Le Gallion Beach, on the north (French) coast of the island.

Looking back at the beach seen in the previous shot
from the other side of the lagoon.

Looking across the lagoon at Le Gallion Beach
as rain clouds threaten.

Heavily pock-marked volcanic rock
on the extreme north coast of the island,
just past Le Gallion Beach.

Breakfast at Zee Best on the way to the airport
before heading home. (GREAT pastries!)