The Ports of Call: St. Maarten, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire and Aruba.
I have to say that the uniqueness of this itinerary for a 7 night cruise was the first thing that lured me. I have been to St. Maarten quite a few times on cruises and have stayed on the island for a week. St. Maarten is part French and part Dutch.
The cruise pier is located on the Dutch side of the island. St. Maarten is a foodie’s and a shopaholic’s dream destination.
From the cruise pier, one can easily take a taxi or the water taxi downtown shopping. Jewelry stores galore! Go to the French side of the island and you’ll find epicurean delights at lovely french restaurants and beautiful beaches. Orient Beach is the most commonly known and rightly so. A mile long white sand beach with many colorful little beach bars and restaurants. Each restaurant or bar rents chairs and umbrellas for the day. Most rentals come with use of the facilities. Take a little stroll along the beach to choose your spot (hint: check the prices, they are not all the same.) Watersport huts are also available on Orient.
It’s really a fun way to spend an afternoon. Important to note is that there is a Clothing Optional resort on one of the beach.
Be prepared for toplessness and nudity.
Dominica. Green, mountainous, lush, pristine, volcanic, rustic Dominica. After much research, I arranged for our group to do a tour with a local tour guide that I had read many positive reviews on. Half of our group (including myself and my husband) decided that they were up for the “extreme” hiking adventure with Levi, our guide. The rest of the group wanted to see some of the sites, but did not want the hiking element. Levi led the hike to Middleham Falls and arranged for one of his other guides to take the rest of the group to the Emerald Pool. How do I begin to describe the hike to Middleham? I can honestly say that in all of my cruise excursions and travel, I have never done a excursion like this. The trails leading up to Middleham were narrow, muddy, slippery, rocky, covered with twisted vines and logs. The scenery was amazing, green and “jungle-y.” We climbed up hills, stepped over slippery rocks, tried not to get stuck in gushy mud, did the balance beam walk over more mud or water, crossed creeks. Essentially, we concentrated on not wiping out or twisting an ankle while taking in the rustic beauty of Dominica.
After about an hour we asked Levi how much longer it would be to Middleham. His answer, “Oh, just another 5 minutes.” Apparently, we were on island time as it took another 45 minutes to get to our first destination. The prize at the end was worth every pain and ache to get there. Middleham Falls is approximately 300 ft. high. Truly breathtaking. We awed over it, took photos with it and some even ventured down to swim into the pool at the bottom. And then…we hiked back from whence we came. Luckily the hike back was a little easier. Perhaps, the decline helped or maybe after a couple hours, we were just used to it? At any rate, we felt quite the accomplishment after completing it. We were rewarded with a local beer (or water) when we returned to the van. Our next stop was my personal favorite….Titou Gorge. If you are a Pirates of the Caribbean fan, the second movie was filmed in Dominica with scenes shot in Titou Gorge. From the entrance, I was a little concerned that I might get claustrophobic swimming through the rock formations. However, once in, I was completely entranced. Swimming through the blue water surrounded by smooth rock walls, with just a peek of sky above was just darn cool. At the end was a small waterfall that we were able to swim into. I’m a water lover and enjoy swimming and could have stayed there longer, but we had places to go! Trafalagar Falls was beautiful as well and is more commonly found on other excursions. There were quite a few tourists there when we arrived, but it wasn’t crowded. Did a short hike closer to the Falls for viewing and photos. Then it was time for snorkeling at Champagne Reef. The fish and coral at Champagne Reef are not remarkable, however it’s totally worth donning the mask and fins just to see the little “champagne bubbles” caused by the volcanic action below the surface.
After a very full and active day, we were ready to head back to the comfort of our ship. But, as we sailed away, we all agreed that we’d be back again some day. We hope that Dominica can hold on to it’s rustic beauty and steer clear from the commercialism that has encompassed other Caribbean islands.
Next up….Grenada, Bonaire and Aruba!
