St. Maarten Island

My first visit to the Caribbean was one for the record books. My family decided to make the trip during Thanksgiving week and gave me full planning power! After some major research on private villa rentals, we found the most beautiful villa nestled on the Island of St. Maarten. The island is actually divided by two separate countries, the northern side is French and the south side is Dutch. For an island of 9 miles wide and 8 miles long, you can truly see the uniqueness between each side. Villa Oyster Pearl is nestled on the hillside on Dawn Beach, the Dutch side, surrounded by a few other villas. It was the first time any of us had rented a villa directly from the owner and the process was (surprisingly) a breeze. I first stumbled upon the villa on Homeaway and reached out to the owner directly to inquire about booking. David, the villa owner, rents his villa year round to visitors from near and far. After chatting with David, I was convinced this was the perfect spot for my family to meet and make memories. We jumped on a plane and four hours later landed in the most perfect little piece of paradise in the middle of the Caribbean Sea.
Villa Oyster Pearl is 4 bedrooms, 4 bath, full kitchen, living room, deck/patio – not to mention from every part of the villa you have the most OUT OF THIS WORLD views!!! It worked out that the owner was in town during our visit –  he was super helpful and gave us the run-down on restaurants, adventures and some local knowledge to help us during our stay. He even gifted us with a bottle of the local rum!!! 
The first morning of our stay, I awoke to the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. The bedrooms were positioned facing East which made it pretty difficult to miss. It was unreal……I had never seen the sun look SO BIG in the sky before. It was beautiful. Every part of the villa is perfectly positioned to soak in the sunsets to their full potential. From that day onward, I awoke with every sunrise. The evenings were just as beautiful…. SUCH HAPPY FEET!!!      

Most of our visit consisted of full relaxation, but one day we rented 4x4s to tour the island. Being able to see the island this way was the best part of the entire trip! We were able to explore all the way up to the highest point in the island, Pic Paradis. We had the most amazing experience and totally recommend SXM Rally Tours.

~There were Iguanas all of the island ~Staying on the island for a full 7  days gave us so much time to explore! We had heard there was a small island off the coast, not to far away from our villa, so one day we headed out to find this area. We followed signs along the way towards Pinel Island and found a dock where there was a ferry that would bring you across to the island every hour or so. There was also the option to kayak across so we ended up kayaking from the main land over to the Illet de Pinel (known as Pinel Island). It only took about 20 minutes to crosss over to the island. The water was crystal clear and we saw so many sea turtles and fish along the way! They were swimming all around us. It felt like they were guiding us to the other side. We soaked in the ocean for awhile and then ate the most delicious Caribbean style ribs at Karibuni.