Anguilla with Tweens?

[meajuly5]

Heading to Anguilla with two Tweens. Anyone been and have suggestions for activities or meals? Will likely head to St. Marten for a day so suggestions there appreciated as well, especially for an excursion.

 

[Lisa Lisa]

Hi. We stayed on St. Martin/St. Maarten (SXM) for a week last year for spring break and took the ferry to Anguilla for a day. I don't have much advice for you about what to do on Anguilla since we were only there for a day, but I'll share what I can. First of all, do some research on the ferries between Anguilla and SXM. If anyone in your group is at all prone to motion sickness, try to avoid the small ones that are closed and sit low in the water. We took one of those on the way over and a couple of us got sick (even though the ride was only 20-25 minutes). I am very prone to motions sickness, and I actually passed out -- even though I had taken Bonine that morning (should have taken 2). On the way back to SXM, we took a large ferry with open air seating on top. Much, much better.

We asked the driver who picked us up outside the ferry terminal on Anguilla to take us to Shoal Bay, and he dropped us off at a small resort called Serenity. We realized after he left that he had sort of pulled a fast one on us because we were at the far, far end of what could be considered Shoal Bay. We're thinking he must have had an arrangement with the proprietors at Serenity. We decided to stay for a little while, and we were glad we did. We had the place almost to ourselves. The beach and water were beautiful, and the staff kept the drinks coming! There was decent snorkeling right in front of us, and the kids entertained themselves for hours with the coconuts that they found all over the place. There was a small covered area where we took shelter during two very brief rain showers. At one point my friend and I walked to Shoal Bay proper, which was about a 10-15 minute walk. We were around a point so not able to see it from Serenity. When we returned to Serenity, we had a fantastic lunch overlooking the ocean and spent the rest of the day there before being picked up by the same driver.

I have lots of advice about SXM since we spent the other 6 days of our week there! Here are some of our favorite activities:
1. Take a speed boat tour with Soualiga Desinations (http://soualigadestinations.com/soualiga_destinations/Welcome.html, click on Most Popular).
2. Spend the day at Orient Bay and have lunch at one of the beach clubs there. Kakao was our favorite. Pretty beach area with activities and amazing food!
3. Take a cab to Cul-de-Sac and either kayak or take the very quick (and calm) ferry ride to Pinel Island. Beautiful beach with two restaurants.
4. Book the Radom Wind for a sailboat charter (http://randomwind.com/). We did this while on SXM for a day on a cruise and it was a lot of fun.
5. Go to Mullet Bay (beautiful beach with gorgeous water) on the Dutch side, and then go to Maho to see a couple of planes land.

We traveled with another family, and we had two 11.5 year olds and a 10 year old in our group. They all agreed that our day with Capt Brett and Soualiga Destinations was their favorite, followed by our day on Pinel Island. Orient Bay was amazing as well, but I'm thinking you'll get plenty of beach time on Anguilla.

Enjoy your trip!

ETA: If you want more of a land tour of SXM, a lot of people swear by Bernard's tours. We've never used them, so I don't have any personal experience. I do know that if you book a private tour, they'll take you anywhere you want to go. If you go that route, I'd definitely go to Marigot and hit one of the yummy French bakeries (Serafina's is one of the most popular), as well as Maho for the plane landings, and a beach -- either on the Dutch side or the French side. You could also do some shopping in Phillipsburg (the Dutch capital), Marigot (the French capital), or both.