I wrote some posts earlier this week about what’s happening with Hurricanes Irma and Maria and how travel is being affected. But I didn’t have time to do a full-on, exhaustive story. The New York Times, however, did just a story that I found online today; a fine wrap-up that shows just what folks can expect and where you can take your holidays in the next little while. As I wrote earlier, it looks like St. Martin’s tourism sector has been devastated. Sunwing has cancelled all flights through April, while Air Canada has said it won’t be flying down this Read more
St. Maarten
What a mess. As folks in Puerto Rico try to cope with flooding and the lack of electricity from the effects of Hurricane Maria, the post-Maria work continues for St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands and in poor Dominica, which bore the full force of the hurricane’s wrath earlier this week. The Caribbean Journal today was reporting that “Hurricane Maria clobbered Puerto Rico on Wednesday, sending it into a total island-wide blackout, with reports of significant property damage.” Top that off with the severe damage done by Hurricane Irma to St. Martin/St. Maarten, Barbuda, Puerto Rico, Anguilla, Cuba and Read more
This a crushing blow for the island of St. Maarten/St. Martin, one of the favourite Caribbean retreats for Canadians every winter. Sunwing, a popular supplier of flights from Canada to the Dutch/French island, says they’re pulling out of all flights through the end of next April because of major damage caused by Hurricane Irma. The island’s airport was badly hurt by the storm, and many hotels also were badly damaged. That’s hard enough on folks who live there, but losing thousands of Canadian visitors will mean an even bigger loss for an island where folks rely on tourism to feed Read more
ST. MAARTEN/ST. MARTIN – Fine, flavoured rum. Sweet-smelling local soaps. And a dreamy beach resort with one of the best massages I’ve ever had. I had the good luck to spend roughly 24 hours in St. Maarten (and an hour or so on the French side, St. Martin) following my Caribbean cruise with Sea Dream Yacht Club. And found a lot to like. We started our day (my wife was with me, which is always great) in Marigot on the French side, where we strolled through the waterfront markets and bought some trinkets to take . home. It feels a Read more
