Day 5 St Maarten

The next stop was St Maarten. I have to say this was one of my favorite islands. Between St Thomas and St Maarten I could probably go back to either. We had a couple things that we knew that we wanted to do on this island but really didn't have a plan. We decided to find a taxi and get advice on where we could go para sailing since that was one of the first things we wanted to do. We ended up with a van taxi that said he would just stay with us for the day. It was great since he had lived on the island for quite some time and seemed to know the history. St Maarten is owned half by the French and the other half by the Dutch. We wanted to see both sides of the island and that happen to work out well. We started with heading to the french side where we could para sail and go jet skiing. It was beautiful, though a little cloudy and windy when we first got there. Matt and I were first for the para sailing, it was both of our first time doing this. We had such a great time and have pictures but they are not online yet so I will have to share those later. Tami and Jalani also went para sailing after Matt and I. Rob wanted to rent jet skis so Rob and Jalani shared one and Loralei and I shared another. It was awesome, jet skiing on the ocean is a whole other experience then on a lake. Though the salt water would get in your eyes and it was really hard to see.

Did I mention that on the French side it's a clothes optional beach. I think we were a little shocked and had forgotten until the first person to walk in front of me was a 65yr man with nothing on. Aaron was not sure what to think of all this and kept trying to take pictures, though I am pretty sure the only one to turn out was a lady with her boobs hanging down to the fanny pack she was wearing. He would take a picture then stick his head under the towel to see if it turned out. It was quite entertaining!! After half the day on the French side we really wanted to head to the Dutch side to visit Sunset Beach. You can find it on U-tube for some great views of what we saw or visit my sister Angela's blog since her husband took video but I will explain it the best I can. Sunset Beach is known since the Airport is right across the street from the beach. Airplanes land right over top of you and take off where you feel the jet blast, or should I say sand blast.

The beach was absolutely beautiful. Matt and I were in love with the color of the water and the fact that you could swim in it:)


This does not do it justice but here is one airplane landing and then I tried to take a picture of me being under one but you forget they are still going a 100mph. I also was trying to take a picture of the sand blast that you get. There is actually a bunch of people running for the water there but since the sand is a good 10ft high you can't see them. The pilot was actually waving at them when he went to turn and take off, that is how close the airport is. We finished our day at St Maarten headed back to the boat.