Any recommendations for St. Barts? We're headed there in April.

Sue, Ida and I declined the SS offered excursions for our sailing, but Susan Walsh said there is a gorgeous beach very close to where the tenders drop you off in St. Barts, Googled St. Barts and got this entry:

(Beach) Anse du Gouverneur. Because it's so secluded, nude sunbathing is popular here; the beach is truly beautiful, with blissful swimming and views of St. Kitts, Saba, and St. Eustatius. Venture here at the end of the day, and watch the sun set behind the hills. The road here from Gustavia also offers spectacular vistas. Legend has it that pirates' treasure is buried here somewhere. Anse du Gouverneur, St. Barthélemy.

ps..try www.sbhonline.com for insider info e.g.:


French Wine - some great deals can be had on alcohol on St. Barths (A bottle of Stolis vodka can be had for around $7 and a bottle of Muscadat for $3).

Cuban Cigars - They are indeed available on St. Barths. Here are the insider recommended spots for purchasing them:


pss..maybe someone else will have other suggestions too...r/wes

Gil and I did an early morning snorkel tour which was wonderful. We then took the tender back to the ship, showered and changed and headed back to St. Barts.

We shopped first which wasn't the best idea because the stores close in the afternoon. I would head back and eat first and then shop in the later afternoon.
I enjoyed the shopping and actually found some good bargains.

We also walked from town to shell beach which was nice too.

Sue, One of my favorite things to do on St. Barts is go to St. Jean beach. There are lots of small restaurants along the beach where you can sit and watch the planes take off from the St. Bart's airport. What a treat--the airport runway goes down hill, so watching the planes is like watching some kind of thrill ride. (You can also see several small planes in the water that didn't quite make it).
Be careful if you are going to buy anything in St. Barts, though. We spent a few days there a while back and happened to be in one of the larger shops when a small cruise ship sailed across the horizon headed for a St. Barts stop. The shopowner immediately got his wife and they proceded to run around the shop raising all the prices. I was somewhat shocked to see that some of the price increases were almost double. Take note if there is more than one price sticker on an item and don't buy it--the price has probably just gone up a bunch.

I love Flammands. Take a look

Thanks for the responses!

St.Barths is VERY expensive. For a wealth of advice go to www.sbhonline.com.
The locals are typically French.

Definitely stop at Andy's at St. Jean beach area. I think he has some of the best food on the island, at reasonable prices. He's a very likeable fellow, a Brit. Andy has a way of making you feel right at home at his place. We ate there 3 times while we were in St. Barts 2 years ago.

KarenM

Sue, did you get your Doc's yet? The SS nifty silver box is first class--like the luggage tags too...r/wes

Sue,

Nice article found in Atlanta's Sunday Travel section on St. Bart's: fyi


http://www.ajc.com/travel/content/travel/beaches/stories/031906stbarts.html

Thanks for the article Wes!

Jim

We found the shopping for certain items very affordable after all we'd heard about how expensive things were. There is a great Mephisto store there that we highly recommend. There were three nice wine stores also. Recommend shopping in the morning, if you can bring it with you, then head to the beach. If waters are calm, you may even have time to tender back to the ship and enjoy the beach in the afternoon. I forget the name of the hotel/restaurant we rented chairs from, but it was on St. Jean beach and even though we weren't staying at the hotel, they treated us like we were guests, even helping us get a cab in the rain at the end of the day. Jeff