Saint Martin & Anguilla

Day 1: Croissants meet the Caribbean

On our previous trip, to French Polynesia, we realized how much we love French islands. It turns out that the secret to paradise, at least for us, consists of equal parts turquoise water and readily available croissants. So naturally, we decided to travel to another French island: St Martin in the Caribbean. The island is actually divided into two parts: a Dutch side (Sint Maarten) and a French side (St Martin). The Dutch side has more going on because it receives boatloads of people each day from cruise ships. The French side, where we’re staying, is a bit more quiet — fewer T-shirt shops and more boulangeries, which is exactly our speed.

Just after arriving, we had a chance to experience the delightful mix of local creole and French culture that makes St Martin unique. We went to Chez Maria, where we had fantastic creole food: rice and beans, pan-fried plantains, grilled fish, creole sauce, and saltfish fritters (similar to the fish cakes we had in Barbados and the pastéis de bacalhau that are traditional in Portugal). For dessert, we of course went to a French bakery: Chez Fernand. In French Polynesia we got hooked on flan tarts, and we were thrilled to discover they’re commonly available here too. It’s the perfect way to end a meal: French precision meets Caribbean relaxation in pastry form.

We’re staying in a home we swapped through the Home Exchange community, where we host people in our house and in return get to stay in someone else’s house. It’s like a very civilized version of musical chairs. The house where we’re staying is beautifully decorated, modern, and comfortable, with a very inviting swimming pool that’s proving to be a significant threat to our sightseeing plans. Our host has been so communicative and helpful leading up to our arrival that we already feel like locals.

• Accommodation: Home exchange
• Lunch: Chez Maria
• Dessert: Chez Fernand

Day 2: Pick a boat — any boat

Today we went on a boat tour around St Martin. We headed to the marina on the Dutch side in the morning, and made our way through all the disembarking cruise tourists (approximately 47,000 of them, give or take) to the meeting point for our tour. We found a lady who was checking off the names of passengers as they arrived, and once in a while she would announce the departure of a boat that had been filled. “Rum Rush is complete!” she hollered. “If you’ve been assigned to Rum Rush, please follow your captain!” After we checked in, we asked which boat we would be going on. She looked at her papers and replied: “Up to you!” Stunned, we turned around and looked at the dozens of boats moored at the marina. It seemed like everyone else was being assigned a particular boat, so we wondered what had earned us this privilege. “We can go on any boat we like?”, we asked, just to be sure. “No, your boat is named ‘Up To You’.” OK… clearly, Caribbean boat captains have a better sense of humor than we do.

The full-day tour was a perfect sampler platter of the island’s highlights. We snorkeled near Creole Rock, where we saw large schools of fish swimming along the rocky shore. Then we snorkeled at Tintamarre Island, where we spotted a few turtles gliding over patches of sea grass on the sandy ocean bottom, living their best unbothered life. Next, we headed to Pinel Island, where we snorkeled with tropical fish in the shallows and met iguanas on the beach who seemed deeply unimpressed by our presence. Finally, we had another delicious lunch at a local creole restaurant — one day of fantastic creole food wasn’t enough to satisfy us.

On the way back to our home base, we found out that French supermarkets in the Caribbean are just as excellent as French supermarkets everywhere else. There’s something deeply satisfying about buying fancy cheese in a place where you can also get a sunburn. Back at the house, we enjoyed our fruit and cheese on the outdoor deck, which has become our new favorite spot for watching the sunset while trying to remember what we used to do with our evenings back home.

• Tour: Billy Bones St. Maarten Getaway, Snorkeling with Turtles

Day 3: Underwater sculpture park

Today we visited Sint Maarten’s underwater sculpture park. The park is essentially an underwater gallery made up of 300 life-size sculptures that tell the story of St Martin. It’s far more immersive (literally and figuratively) than any history museum!

Our tour was led by the organization that conceived, built, and installed the park. Hearing about it directly from the artists themselves was fascinating. The sculptures were created from casts of real people from the island, which were filled with a porous concrete that now serves as a foundation for a marine ecosystem. This has transformed a portion of the seabed from boring sand into a thriving underwater habitat, proving that art really can change a neighborhood.

Our boat captain and snorkeling guide pointed out a particular figure with outstretched arms and mentioned, almost casually, that it was cast from his own body — and that he had to hold that position for a full hour. We then looked around at all 300 sculptures and imagined their models doing the same. That’s dedication!

The number of tourists allowed in the area is kept to a minimum to avoid disturbing the fragile ecosystem that’s slowly taking hold. This ensured a peaceful and immersive experience — just us, the sculptures, and several schools of fish that seemed quite at home among the art.

The park is organized into several thematic zones, including one honoring the Taíno tribe (the first settlers of St Martin), one that depicts local celebrations of Carnival, and one that illustrates the legend of how the French and Dutch drew their shared border. According to this legend, long ago when both the French and the Dutch wanted control of St Martin, they decided to avoid fighting and instead settle the border peacefully (so mature!). The rules were simple: a Frenchman and a Dutchman would start from the same point and walk around the perimeter of the island in opposite directions; wherever they met would become the other end of the dividing line. The Frenchman drank wine during his walk, which is light and refreshing. The Dutchman drank Dutch gin, which is decidedly not. As a result, the Frenchman covered more territory, which is why the French side is larger. The moral of the story? Choose your beverages wisely.

• Tour: The Original Underwater Sculpture Park Snorkel Tour

Days 4 and 5: Thanksgiving and Black Friday, our way

We spent the last couple of days exploring the French side of the island. We lounged on many stunning beaches between snorkeling and freediving sessions; we explored beautiful sights and natural landscapes; and we conducted very important gastronomic research at several amazing restaurants and bakeries. These two days happened to be Thanksgiving and Black Friday in the US, and just like every year, we’re thankful to be doing exactly what makes us happy on Thanksgiving, and to be collecting experiences rather than stuff on Black Friday.

We’ll share our findings here, in case you plan a trip to this beautiful island at some point. Which you absolutely should.

Our two favorite beaches turned out to be complete opposites. We expected to love Baie Rouge because it’s never crowded (it lacks any facilities, but that’s fine with us), and it has a more local feel than most beaches on the island. And we did love it! What we didn’t expect was to fall equally hard for Anse Marcel, which is quite popular with tourists and comes equipped with all the facilities — restaurants, hotels, beach chairs, and equipment rental. We heard it can get crowded, but perhaps because we’re here in shoulder season, there were very few people during our visit. Plus, the water was exceptionally calm and inviting.

In terms of bakeries — and yes, we’ve been doing systematic field research — we’ve narrowed it down to two favorites: Sébastien Quillere for its lemon tart, and Bisou Sucrée for its flan tart. The other flan tarts we’ve tried have a semi-solid filling, as you’d expect. The version that Bisou Sucrée makes has a filling that oozes lusciously, more similar to pastry cream. It’s unexpected, borderline rebellious, and we’re big fans.

In terms of restaurants, beyond the excellent creole food we’ve already raved about, we made two more stellar discoveries: Lulu’s Corner for extremely well-executed brunch (the savory pancake stack was our favorite), and Bao Bar for Asian-fusion. The bao with raw tuna and passion fruit dressing was genius — one of those combinations that shouldn’t work on paper but is brilliant in practice.

• Bakeries: Sébastien Quillere, Bisou Sucrée
• Restaurants: Lulu’s Corner, Bao Bar

Day 6: When a day trip isn’t enough

Visiting St Barts (or Saint Barthélemy) for the day was paradoxically both a good and bad decision. It was a good decision because it far surpassed our expectations, and a bad decision because we should have planned to stay a few nights. But there’s always a future trip for that.

We were aware of St Barts’ reputation as the vacation spot for the ultra-rich before we went. And the reputation is well-deserved — we walked by Paris Hilton on the sidewalk (as one does), watched mega-yachts mooring in the harbor, and peered in the windows of sparkly luxury brand stores. But there’s so much more to St Barts than conspicuous wealth.

Gustavia, the capital, is easily the cutest Caribbean town we’ve visited. It has a surprisingly laid-back feel, with charming little shops, casual outdoor cafés, and a serene waterfront promenade. Curiously, the island was colonized by both the Swedish and the French over the years. Today, Swedish-style stone homes stand adjacent to French-style pastel-colored wooden homes, and this architectural identity crisis gives the town its own distinct and delightful look. The boxy stone church, built in 1855 during the Swedish period, looked like it could weather any Scandinavian snowstorm, yet it’s flanked by gorgeous palm trees.

A short walk from the heart of Gustavia lies Shell Beach — very appropriately named, given that it’s composed entirely of ocean-smoothed shells rather than sand. Just like Gustavia, Shell Beach had a relaxed and serene vibe. We ended up spending quite a bit of time in the ocean there because it was just too perfect to leave. We befriended a local freediver who generously shared tips for exploring bays all around the island. Since we only came for the day, we didn’t bring our freediving gear — a decision we were starting to regret. The freediver offered to lend us equipment, but instead we promised her (and ourselves) that we’ll return another time to follow up on all her recommendations.

Day 7: The Caribbean’s best-kept secret

Years ago on a past trip, we met a globe-trotting couple who told us they had traveled to every country and territory in the Caribbean. When we asked them what their favorite was, they didn’t hesitate: “Anguilla, for sure!” They explained that Anguilla has the most pristine white sandy beaches and the clearest water they’d experienced, in addition to a thriving food scene and unspoiled charm. No cruise ships dock in Anguilla, there are no sprawling high-rise developments, and there are virtually no crowds. Naturally, this piqued our interest, motivated us to do a ton of research, and eventually led to us planning this trip.

What’s the catch, you may be wondering? Why doesn’t everyone flock to Anguilla? The island deliberately chose a tourism strategy that focuses on low-density luxury resorts and private villas rather than a high volume of budget options. As a result, Anguilla’s pristine beaches and relaxed pace of life come with a higher price tag, fewer direct flights, and less tourism infrastructure. It’s paradise, but it costs accordingly. Given the premium prices that come with a trip to Anguilla, we were incredibly lucky to find another beautiful home to exchange here through Home Exchange. This community truly never ceases to amaze us — it’s like having friends with beautiful homes all over the world.

Our mid-afternoon ferry from St Martin to Anguilla was mostly filled with local Anguillans, and we struck up a conversation with a few of them. They told us they often go shopping in St Martin for the day because everything is cheaper and more readily available there — turns out even paradise has an equivalent to a Costco run. English is the official language in Anguilla, since it’s a British Overseas Territory, and the locals’ accent is utterly charming. But we noticed they would occasionally switch to Spanish while speaking among themselves, which confused us until they explained. In the past, Anguillans faced economic hardship and many of them emigrated to Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) to work in sugarcane fields. More recently, the migration direction has reversed, with people from Santo Domingo coming to Anguilla to work in tourism, many of whom are descendants of the earlier migrants. It’s yet another layer of cultural richness we weren’t expecting.

We’re very excited to learn much more about this island in the next few days! If our globe-trotting friends were right, we’re in for a treat.

• Accommodation: Home Exchange

Days 8 and 9: The beach that kept us

Shoal Bay East is consistently ranked as one of the best beaches in the world, so naturally we had to investigate. Our plan was to spend some time there on our first day and then move on to explore other beaches. But we got stuck — in the best possible way. We ended up spending two entire days there, completely unable to come up with compelling reasons to leave. Why bother with other beaches when we’d already found perfection?

We don’t generally pay too much attention to “best in the world” travel lists because we all have different criteria for what “best” means. Instead, we try to understand why an experience is highly regarded so we can evaluate it for ourselves. So here’s what we loved about this beach: It has an off-the-beaten-path feel, with just a few like-minded tourists and locals quietly soaking in the beauty of the place. The purity of the white sand and the clarity of the turquoise water make it genuinely difficult to leave. One end of the beach has a few “toes-in-the-sand” restaurants with incredible food and chill Caribbean vibes. The other end has a long stretch of pristine beach that we had entirely to ourselves — exactly the kind of escape we were hoping for.

Underwater, the story was more complicated. When we first snorkeled there, we were sad to see a large area of bleached coral — something we’re encountering more and more in our travels, and don’t talk enough about. But we decided to keep kicking toward the farther edge of the reef, hoping for more, and we were well rewarded for our stubbornness. At the outer edge of the reef, we found a large variety of thriving soft coral, including fan coral (a personal favorite), sea plumes, and sea rods. We also saw large schools of blue tangs, as well as several trumpetfish, parrotfish, trunkfish, groupers, and other fish. We spent considerable time in the water during our stay, and noticed that while a few people snorkeled close to the shore, no one else ventured out to the healthiest part of the reef. It was definitely worth the extra effort, in our opinion.

So is Shoal Bay East really one of the best beaches in the world? Who knows. We haven’t been to all (or even most of) the beaches in the world, and we suspect the very best ones are largely inaccessible to tourists. But we did love our time at this beach, and we’re finding it a little hard to move on.

Day 10: Lunch on a desert island

Today we took a boat to Prickly Pear East, a small uninhabited island off the coast of Anguilla. “Uninhabited” is technically accurate, but it comes with an asterisk: every day, a small crew boats over from Anguilla to cook lunch for the handful of visitors who make the trip. It’s the kind of setup that sounds improbable until you’re sitting on a pristine beach eating freshly grilled ribs and wondering why more islands haven’t figured this out.

The boat ride over was short and scenic — just long enough to build anticipation without testing anyone’s sea legs. Once we arrived, we had the island largely to ourselves, which is becoming a theme on this trip and one we’re not remotely tired of.

We spent the morning snorkeling and swimming in the impossibly clear water. Among other fish, it was fun to spot a few trunkfish, those boxy little characters who look perpetually surprised by their own existence.

Lunch was served right on the beach: ribs, chicken, and mahi-mahi, alongside the coleslaw and rice and peas that have become comforting constants throughout our time in Anguilla. Simple ingredients, expertly prepared, eaten with sand between our toes. Hard to improve on that formula.

By the time we boated back to the main island, we’d added another entry to our growing list of “places we didn’t want to leave.” Anguilla is making this a habit.

• Lunch: Prickly Pear Bar + Restaurant

Days 11 and 12: Last days in paradise

We spent our last couple of days doing what we had planned to do from the beginning: exploring Anguilla’s many beaches. Among our favorites were Meads Bay, Maundays Bay, and Little Bay — each beautiful in its own right.

The real adventure came when we explored the westernmost part of the island, which feels like a different world from the manicured resorts nearby. This area is wild and untamed — covered in trees, with a rugged coast featuring dramatic cliffs, natural arches, and blowholes that put on quite a show. The dirt roads finally put our rental SUV to good use; we’d been wondering if we’d actually need those capabilities, and the answer was a satisfying yes.

On our last night, we had dinner at SandBar, where great food met fantastic live music with the sound of waves providing the backdrop. It was the kind of evening that makes you want to extend your trip by approximately forever.

As we write this, we’re about to head to our flight, and we’re genuinely sad to leave. Anguilla exceeded expectations — the beaches, the friendly people, the pace of life, all of it. Those globe-trotting travelers who first told us about this island surely knew what they were talking about.

• Dinner: SandBar