St Barts Trip Report: July 13 - 21

by GregB

Flew into st Barths for 8 night stay at Les ilets de la Plage from Guadeloupe on Air Caribes—waited five hours in ptp airport for volcano ash to clear and finally arrived in st Barths as first plane of day at approximately 5:00pm only due to efforts of st Barths airport to clean runway of ash from Montessaret volcano eruption—while waiting in ptp knew that if there was a way we would make it to st Barths that day given the past record of st barthians in keeping open the doors to their own livelihood-tourists. When we left ptp with 19 passengers the gate agent warned that no flights had landed in st Barths this day and the pilot was free to determine if it was safe to land—if not the plane would bring us back to ptp, Guadeloupe. Two on board were st Barths residents living on a sail boat in the harbor of gustavia, both recent arrivals after sailing from France with the wife having a newly established office on the island as the only ophthalmologist, a family of five living on Guadeloupe and who a villa they were visiting for 10 days on point milou (sib ali), as well as two other families. While waiting at ptp airport as back-up and in search of real information, called st barth commuter and was told airport was closed to certain types of aircraft, eg., winnair and air caribes turbos, but open for their charter aircraft as they flew piston engine aircraft with air filters that were unaffected by volcano ash in the air, while the turbo craft of winnair and air caribes were not free to fly as ash in the air is very corrosive to this type engine. Quote: 1500 euros for one way passage from Guadeloupe to st Barths with a total of nine passengers plus baggage. Since Air Caribes tickets were already paid for with check months ago, and no quick refund was in the offering, we decided to hang out and if need be, delay our eventual flight to st Barths rather than pay the additional cost to get there that day. It was comforting to know, however, that if the other airlines would not take us to st Barths, there was at least one way to get there if need be.

Restaurants and dining of note include La Plage for ok lunch (where hostess informed us kids could not use pool as they had late-sleeping guests who could not be disturbed—a departure from our last visit, and it was our only visit to this place whereas we were felt welcome to literally reside here last trip). Eddys for dinner with great food, great service and reasonable price, La Mandela for dinner sans kids and with another couple from Toronto—good food, view of gustavia, good service and witnesses to wedding proposal where bride to-be cried along with restaurant patrons, all captured by island photographer Alain. Pimiento for reasonable dinner with specials for kids, Niki beach for cocktails with place wife loved for ambiance yet waiter turned off any desire to linger, boat trip to Fourchue island with lobster and chicken lunches with cheerful company of Toronto couple we invited (next time I would do snorkeling part of trip prior to dining—learn something new every trip), lunch at El Sorreno, good food but pricey, and then wife and I were able to leave kids with nanny for Sand Bar lunch that was exquisite topped off later with dinner at Le Gaic—the rouge Mercurey still lingers on the taste buds followed by drinks at Le Ti St Barth where we ran into the Guadeloupe couple flying with us to st Barths. Last full day we all had a very decent lunch on Sunday at Do Brazil, with limited choices, as most other restaurants were closed. Not to be forgotten, Bastile day saw fireworks from gustavia that were a reminder of fireworks at home before we left and served to our kids that each nation has national holidays and that our own holidays are not the only ones deserving of celebration.

As far as accommodations, Les islet de la Plage worked very well for a family with two kids (5 and 10) plus nanny/niece aged 16. The location on st jean beach meant kids could stroll to beach, the pool shared by the several “villas” on the site was almost never used by other guests, there were beach chairs for use, and the three bedroom “villa” with two full baths had a perfect floor plan for our gang with a semi-open kitchen and covered living area, with bedrooms and baths air conditioned beyond cool, plus the manager Patricia was most accommodating to any of our requests. With most breakfasts in the villa and some dinners as well on the barbecue, the location and setting was more than I expected. Beaches visited included Saline, Gouvernour, St Jean daily and Lorient on a surfing lesson for niece with Eric the island surfmeister, contacted with the assistance of Ric Seles and Terri, both offering island tips and contacts that benefited our time in st Barths. Also MikeR in Colorado, whose wife was considering the birth of their child while we were in st Barths, deserves credit for information and inspiration offered from his many years on the island.