St. Martin, the French side of a tiny island in the Caribbean, offers adventures to its visitors that emphasize comfort and elegance due to the French influence found throughout the area. Among these are many adventurous and spectacular locations such as secluded beaches, luxurious hotels, fine French restaurants and a shopping experience complete with beautiful French fashions.
The beaches and waters found at St. Martin offer excellent adventures to anyone wishing to explore them. The beaches here are secluded; therefore, they offer privacy as well as tranquility while in a breathtaking setting. These beaches are bordered with rugged cliffs, beautiful landscapes or shaded by palm trees. The beaches at St. Martin also offer velvety white sand, great snorkeling and diving in clean water, horseback riding and topless sunbathing. The waters surrounding St. Martin offer excellent deep sea fishing for Marlin, tuna, dolphinfish, barracuda and kingfish as well as other water sports such as sailing, wind surfing, water-skiing, parasailing and jet-skiing. St. Martin also offers its visitors the opportunity to go hiking, with 25 miles of footpaths that run through the mountains and along the shores. Tennis is also a favorite pastime here and courts can be found throughout St. Martin.
Fine dining is always available in St. Martin. A visitor here has the opportunity to dine at restaurants specializing in French delicacies and Creole cooking to Chinese and East Indian dishes. Dancing is offered at most of these restaurants with the music ranging from zouk, calypso, reggae and jazz to pop.
Shopping is another favorite pastime of visitors to St. Martin. Shopping includes items from all over the world, such as French and Italian clothing, Dutch and Japanese electronics, Indonesian batiks and Chinese embroidery, jewelry, leather, crystal, liquors and fine porcelain all duty free.
A tourist to St. Martin also has the opportunity to enjoy the culture and history found on this side of the island by visiting Fort St. Louis, the St. Martin Museum, Marigot, Ground Case, Orleans and the Marigot Market. A visit to Fort St. Louis, the largest historical monument in St. Martin, provides the tourist with a step back into history to 1767 when the fort was built to protect Marigot from foreign invaders. A steep climb to the summit of the fort provides a panoramic view of the island and the sea that surrounds the island. The St. Martin Museum houses artifacts from St. Martin’s past, such as a reproductions of a 1500 year old burial mound and artifacts from 1800 B.C. Marigot, the capital city, is another stop a tourist could make. This city is full of French influence from its colonial houses that stand beside café’s and bistros to pastry shops and boutiques. Grounds Case is a little fishing village that is famous for its fine foods and distinctive style of architecture. Orleans is also a quiet little fishing village, which was the original settlement of the French in St. Martin. Some of the original 17th century structures are still preserved here for the visitor to enjoy. The Marigot Market, open on Wednesday and Saturdays, is an open-air market that offers a visitor an array of homegrown produce, tropical fruits and spices and freshly caught fish.
St. Martin has ample opportunity for a visitor to enjoy themselves on this beautiful island, all the visitor has to do is be prepared for what awaits them here.
