#190: St. George's Harbour and Grand Anse Beach (Pg 871, 2nd Ed pg 1084)

Feb 24, 2017

I decided to do my first scuba dive in Grenada out of a Dive Shop located right on Grand Anse Beach!

Grand Anse Beach

The nicest beach on the island!

Very well maintained, lots of beach, chairs, boats, shops, plenty of amenities.

After diving, snorkeling and beach time, we went to check out the Harbour!

Verdict:  This is a split Yes/No.  We all loved Grand Anse Beach and would absolutely go back there if we ever find ourselves in Grenada again.  But, while the harbor was beautiful, it was "just another harbour." There really wasn't anything all that special about it, so that part is definitely not something you need to do before you die. 

#189: Sandy Lane (Page 858; Listed as Platinum Coast in 2nd Ed, pg 1066)

Feb. 23, 2017

The golf course of Sandy Lane.  This is where Tiger Woods got married.

And I can see why - check out that view!

But if you want to eat there, bring your wallet!

Granted, these prices are in Barbados prices (so for $$, divide prices in half), but still; not a cheap meal!

The rooms are expensive too, but you get what you pay for!  You have a beautiful sitting area, complete with a filled curio cabinet.

As well as a nice-sized sitting area that connects to the balcony.

The bedroom

The bedroom connects to the balcony as well

And the balcony runs the whole stretch of the bedroom and sitting room.

And the bathroom is....

Huge!

And attached to this pretty incredible his and hers walk-in closet.

The main pool

And the spa area.

Verdict: It's probably worth it IF you have the money.  But prices are ~$1650-$2650/night.  The good news is, there is no minimum stay.  So, if you just want to indulge for a night, you can do that.  Dayna gave us a tour of the resort and said that, while there are no minimum stays, most of their clientele is European (who stay for 1-2 weeks) or American (who stay 4-7 days).  I mean, it's nice.  It's REALLY nice.  And if you have money coming out of your ears, why wouldn't you stay here?  It's absolutely the nicest place on the island, hands down.  But if you're not bleeding money, you can still die a fulfilled person without visiting Sandy Lane ;)

#188: Morne Trois Pitons National Park (Page 869, 2nd Ed pg 1080)

Feb 22, 2017

Dominica is known as the "Nature Island" and it's not hard to figure out why!

The book describes Morne Trois Pitons as a "25-square-mile slice of nature that looks and feels more like Hawaii than the Caribbean" and I couldn't agree more!  Every caribbean island I've ever been to has been relatively similar to the one before and the one after.... except this one.  The whole time I was there, I kept saying "I feel like I'm in Hawaii!"  Specifically Kauai.

Our first stop:  Trafalgar Falls

You can either pay $5/person for each hike/sight within the park or get a $12.50/pp pass which covers everything within the park and is good for a week.  We chose the latter.

Trafalgar is a quick, easy 15-min, beautiful hike!

Next, we hiked to Middleham Falls.  It's a much longer, more strenuous hike.  45 minutes is a conservative estimate and lots of uphill and downhill.

In our case, it took us well over 2 hours of arduous hiking because we went out on our own and the path is NOT well-marked.  You come to a gazebo-type place and have 3 choices, none of which are labeled as Middleham falls.  One was labeled as something else, so we knew it wasn't that, but we chose to go right (and should have gone left!).  We hiked a good 45 min-an hour in that direction before realizing our mistake.  Whoops!

But even so, once we eventually got there, it was worth every step!

It was one of the most beautiful waterfalls we had ever seen!

And you can even get in!  It's COLD!  I thought I was going to die of hypothermia when I first jumped in, but by the time I made it to the other side, I was ok.

And braving the cold, was DEFINITELY worth jumping into the falls.  SO cool!!!

From this angle, it looks like nothing, but when I was up there looking down, it looked REALLY high up!

The trail we accidentally took.  Whoops!

But hey, if you have the time, I recommend it!

45 minutes (without any accidental detours!)

Next stop:  Titou Gorge

Verdict:  Yes, Yes, YES!  Loved Dominica!  Everyone should visit Morne Trois Pitons National Park, the highlight of Dominica if they can.  It is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful.  Tons of hikes, waterfalls and gorgeous scenery.  An absolute hidden gem of the caribbean!

#187 La Samanna (Page 889, Listed as St. Martin's Food Scene in the 2nd Ed pg 1103)

Feb. 21, 2017

Oh La Samanna.... beautiful La Samanna!

I mean, do views get any more beautiful?

The pool. With an ocean view.  And very few people.  Totally peaceful and relaxing!

This is a public beach, but since La Samanna, a gated property sits on it for acres and acres, unlike the rest of St. Martin/Maarten's (this resort is on the St. Martin side) beaches filled with hordes of people, you have this beach all to yourself!

This view is an Instagram-worthy post for sure! ;)

Verdict: I do love a nice hotel with all the fixings!  But at the same time, I'm always hesitant to put them as a "must do before you die" because for most people, they are just way too expensive!  And it's hard to justify, no matter how nice the resort, thousands of dollars to spend the night somewhere.  Rooms here range in price depending on which room you select and time of year, but to give you an idea, when we were there in February, rooms were ~$845/night and suites ranged from $1445-2145/night.  So, no, for that kind of money, I don't think you HAVE to do this before you die.  BUT if you do happen to have that kind of money, then there's no place else on St. Martin I'd rather be!

Note:  I am writing this on 2/24/19 after reading the 2nd Edition. La Samanna is mentioned in the entry of "St. Martin's Food Scene" in the 2nd edition.  And I like the move in the more general direction.  And we did have good food while in St. Martin!  It's nothing I think you have to eat before you die, so my verdict remains the same.

However, what I do think could be a "before you die experience" is visiting the beach next to the airport.  We hung out there all day and got such a kick out of the huge, massive jetliners coming in right at you and looking up as if they are going to land their bellies right on top of you, only to skim right over you and land just barely past you on the runway which is just barely past the beach.  Very cool!

#186: Buck Island (Pg 892, 2nd Ed pg 1112)

Monday, Feb 20, 2017

The view from our boat as we left Christiansted.

Half the fun is getting there!

Arriving at Buck Island.

Buck Island is an uninhabited island with, what we all agreed, was one of the most beautiful beaches we had ever seen.  The water was a perfect temperature, the sand was beautiful and soft and the water was crystal clear.

After getting our fill of playing at the beach, we hopped back on our boat and headed to the other side of the island where we snorkeled.  We saw two barracudas and lots of beautiful fish.  It was a great day!

Price:  There are a few tour operators that operate out of Christiansted and prices will vary depending on if you do a half day or full day excursion and what operator you use.  But plan on spending $75-$115pp.

Verdict: I'm a little torn on this, because quite honestly I loved it.  But, in talking to my 3 travel buddies (my cousin and his wife and my husband), we all agreed that the snorkeling was fun and nice, but didn't live up to our expectations - we've all had much more exciting snorkeling experiences.  And there was a lot of hype about how totally AWESOME the snorkeling was.  It was good; it just didn't live up to they hype.  BUT, we all thought the beach was one of the nicest we'd been to and we wish we could have spent more time there.  Bottom line:  If you're in St. Croix, then this is a must do.  BUT, I don't think you need to travel all the way to St. Croix just to do this.