It is so cool to see progress on stuff that was down for a long time. I visited Pinel Island yesterday and it was beautiful again. Pinel is a tiny island in the north east corner of Sint Martin. You can only reach there by boat and it has no roads.
What do you do then on Pinel?
Well everything that has to do with water you can do around the island. The water is very shallow so it is perfect for family activities. A lot of people paddleboard (SUP) of take a canoe to enjoy themselves. But ofcourse a day at Pinel is mostly a lot of chilling.
How do you get there??
Since you are dependent of boats to reach Pinel, it might seem challenging to reach there. But this is not the deal actually because they have a ferry service. Leaving from French Cul de Sac its about a 5 minute ferry ride costing you about 10 euros or 12 dollars. This is roundtrip and it is on a super small boat. Every half hour the ferry will go or being you back from 9.00 to 17.00 daily. I prefer to be flexibel so I always rent my own transport: this fine canoe. 15 dollars per person and its yours for the day. So here was my watertaxi ;)
Once you reach the island...
...The maximum chilling begins. There are two beachclubs (Karabuni and Yellowbeach) which will rent you beachchairs and umbrellas. They will also pour you nice drinks ans serve you good food. There is no running water on Pinel nor electricity, and it is amazing how they are capabel of providing you quality still. So the plates are bio degradable disposable which I like and the restrooms have a whole explanation on how our poo will be processed ;)
Its amazing how they built back these clubs because hurricane Irma took literally everything on Pinel. Not one wall or terrace was left after. It took them 6 months to build it all back, bringing everything construction wise again by boat. Hard work baby!!
So you can order your snack again and chill in the shade which these little birds called Sucrieres also enjoy again. Yes they was to steal your food hahaha! Sucriere means sugar and these small birds crave sugar.
Also on the island are always a lot of Iguanas and also Heremitecrabs. Heremites always love to crawl around in the heat.
Its so nice to just relax in your chair or even relax in the water. You see so much while you are just swimming around a bit.
I saw some more activity going on. Some parapenters took off from the French Hills, crossed the canal and were flying above me. The thermic was good because they kept flying for hours. They looked to relaxed sitting in their little air-chair.
Well I wasnt doing too bad myself chilling in the water I have to say ;) Lets me honest hahaha.
It just was a beautiful day!