Maho Beach St. Martin

One of my favorite parts of our trip to St. Matrin's and a bucket list item checked off was to visit Moho Beach.  I have read about Moho Beach and how airplanes of all sizes land directly behind it. I had no idea what to expect but MAN OH MAN was it COOL to watch. The beach was extremely crowded and it is not a place I would hang out and sunbathe. However, for a quick dip cool off and play in the water while waiting for the planes to land the beach was perfect. 

We ended up at Moho Beach right at lunch time. The Sunset Beach Bar was packed but we only had to wait about 5 minutes for a table to open up. The Sunset Beach Bar had some of the best food and drinks we had on our entire trip. They also had a DJ playing music, a pool, gift shop and numerous food choices.  Sunset Beach also displays all the arrivals and departures on a board just like the airports use. You could see what times and sizes the plains were that were flying in. 

So close it was almost like you could reach up and touch it. 

The screen behind Simon is what shows the arrivals and departures for the airport. 

The DJ mixing it up!

A little swimming while watching the planes land. 

I was surprised how many people stood by this sign and waited to feel the jet blast! 

The only draw back to the entire experience was the parking. A sign when you enter says free parking if eating. It failed to mention you had to have your ticket marked at the bar and you couldn't just show your receipt. The parking attendant was extremely rude about the entire situation. While it only cost us a few bucks it it worth noting to get your parking ticket validated when you eat! 

The Butterfly Farm-St. Martin's

The Butterfly Farm on the French side of St. Martin's was a fun and amazing experience for our family. We rented a car in St. Martin's and were driving to the beach when saw the signs to the Butterfly Farm. I am so glad we did. We arrived just in time to take the 20 minute tour where all the different species of butterflies were explained along with the history and mission of the farm. The entry fee to the farm is good your entire vacation and since we were cruising we received a slight discount. I believe it was about $30 for the three of us. My husband thought it was a little expensive but it was an amazing opportunity and my son is still talking about it. Therefore it was money well spent!  

After the tour we were free to wander around as much as we wanted. They sold cups of sugar water for $2 in order to dip your finger and have the butterflies land on your fingers. However, they landed on us without the sugar water. It may have been the sunscreen we applied earlier that day! Both my son and husband enjoyed having the butterflies land on their fingers. 

The Best of Grand Turk

Our 10 year old would tell you Grand Turk's was his favorite stop on our entire cruise! He loved the clear water, snorkeling and that there were no waves so swimming and snorkeling were more enjoyable. It was also the perfect 80°F which helped! 

We initially were going to hang out at Margaritaville but once we arrived while the pools were great the beach area wasn't the greatest. We continued walking down the beach until we got to Reef Shark Bar & Grill. The Reef Shark Bar & Grill was only a 5 minute walk down the beach. Totally worth it. The service was amazing, chairs and umbrella cheap and cheap, cold local beer!  

Castillo San Felipe del Morro, San Juan Puerto Rico

Our afternoon in Puerto Rico was all about National Parks and history. Since we took our son out of school for 8 days we thought we should do at least one educational visit. San Juan was the perfect place do to this. As an added bonus our son has the 4th Grade National Park Pass so there was no charge for us to enter Castilla San Felipe del Morro.

When we arrived at the pier we walked through Old San Juan on the way to the bus stop. Old San Juan is full of beautiful architecture, brick roads and friendly people. We tried to find a bus to take to the Fort but decided not to wait and walked. It was a little over a mile.

On the way to the Fort we walked by the beautiful Cathedral of San Juan Bautista. We spent about 20 minutes exploring the church.

Once we arrived as the Fort we spent a couple of hours exploring the fort. As with all National Parks in the U.S. There is a great deal of signage that explains the history of the fort. There are also many areas set up to re-enact how the fort looked centuries ago.

 

Cemetery next to the Fort

 

View from the top of the Fort

On our way back to the ship we stopped by a little bar called La Cueva Del Mar for Chicken Salsa Plantains and Sangria. The drinks were refreshing and strong and the plantains were delicious.

A Day at St. Kitt's

The 3rd port stop on our recent Carnival Sunshine cruise was at the beautiful island of St. Kitts. Our premise for this cruise for our family was all about relaxation and beaches. St. Kitts satisfied this goal!

St. Kitts was first seen by Christopher Columbus in 1493 and became known for their large sugar farms. Our taxi driver told us they still grow sugar but it is for their use only now and their is hardly any importing remaining.

After reviewing numerous websites we determined we wanted to spend the day at South Friar Bay Beach. Our taxi driver said he knew the perfect place to take us. For $14 for the family of 3 he took us from the cruise ship to Carambola Beach Club.  He agreed to pick us back up later that day.

While the Carambola Beach Club is beautiful with food, bathrooms and chairs and umbrella's to rent, I highly suggest going down to the beach and to the left and walk down towards Shipwreck Beach Bar & Grill. The chairs and umbrellas are half the price as the Club and the food and drinks at Shipwreck Beach least 25% cheaper if not more. My drinks were amazing and only $5 each and chicken wings were $5. The Club charges approximately $15-20 US for lunch.

We had packed a life jacket for our son and our snorkel gear in an extra suitcase. It was well worth the extra bag (as we flew Southwest and didn't have to pay baggage) as we didn't have to rent gear at all of our stops.

The snorkeling from South Friar Bay was perfect for our 10 year old and my husband. There were few waves and not to far from shore was a small reef where sea cucumbers, fish, star fish and sea anemone were living.

Our tax driver picked us up on time and took time on the way back to the pier to show us the island along with the tip of the island where the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean meet.

Our goal for St. Kitts was to spend less than $50 and we were successful as the cab ride, chair/umbrella rental, a couple of drinks and some appetizers came to $50!