Well I was the late riser today! Slept in til nearly 10 – guess being tossed aound the rocks didn’t suit me. We had a late breakfast then headed to the French side for a beach called Plum Bay.

A NOTE: I’ve referred to the island in a number of ways – St. Maarten, Sint Maarten, and St. Martin – the reason is that there are two distinct sides to the island – Sint Maarten is the Dutch side, sometimes abbreviated as St. Maarten. St. Martin is the French side. There are markers to remind you when you cross the border, but since 1848 there have been no border checks, or border guards. Some people, incorrectly, refer to the island as St. Marteen, but that is wrong, and is caused by a confusion over the way the French say the name of the island.

Because we got moving later in the day, we ran into traffic problems, and we got hot waiting at BOTH traffic lights, so we decided to give Cupecoy Beach a try. Well, let me tell you a secret – nude beaches are NOT what they are cracked up to be. Those people you want to see in the nude, are NOT at the nude beaches. The first person we saw was approximately 65 and about 280 pounds. Not a pretty sight. And it got worse. We tried to come up with a formula, and decided if you weigh over 300 pounds, it’s better to keep your clothes on! Unfortunately, these guidelines were exceeded – often! We saw the largest, hairiest ass you’ve ever seen! Tim tried to issue them a citation with the words, “Do you know how fat you were going??”

Seriously, Cupecoy Beach is NOT worth going to – it has an incredibly steep descent down a cliff, with broken stairs, and the ocean is far too choppy to want to swim in, let alone try to snorkel in. If you enjoy ogling exceptionally fat, hairy, old people, you’ve got a dream destination!

We QUICKLY got back in the car and headed to Baie Rouge (Red Bay) and it was an exquisite beach. A huge curving bay, with lots of parking, easy stair access to a uniquely sanded beach. Most of the beaches we have been to have this fine powdery sand, but Baie Rouge has a sand similar to the beaches of Mazatlan, with a larger, coarser texture. Maggie referred to as like corn meal, but it was even larger than that.

The entrance to water was easy, with sand quite a ways out. The waves were mild, almost non-existent, except right at the water’s edge. As soon as we hit the water, there was a school of palometas. But the water is not as clear and the visibility is not as good as Aruba or the Cayman Islands. There were plenty of fish, especially to the right of the bay. Unfortunately, we have not managed to get good pictures underwater. I’m not sure why, but there are a number of factors – the waves keeps the water churning, making it cloudy, and oxygenated. Most of the pictures we’ve taken have been murky and unfocused, almost like the camera focuses on the “sparkly bits” in the water rather than the fish.

We had lunch at “Chez Raymond’s,” a beach side bar and grill. I had the shrimp stew, and it was an amazing creole concoction. The shrimp were obviously caught that morning – they were so fresh they tasted like little tiny lobsters. I’ve had shrimp on this island nearly every day and these were easily the best. BY FAR! BY FAR!!

We stayed at Baie Rouge most of the day, and got back to the condo in the late evening. A really fine and fun day.

We had a late dinner at Daniel’s, the restaurant that Mr. Busby’s Beach Bar turns into at night. Honestly though, the restaurant is overpriced for the value. You sit on the same plastic beach chairs, with plastic tables. The food was less than ordinary, and the service indifferent at best. In my opinion, this is because they force you to pay a 15% service charge, so there is no incentive for the staff to provide stellar service, so they do not.

We have found an Argentinian Steakhouse so we’re eagerly looking forward to trying them out. It is a long drive from here, but I’m betting it will be worth it!