Île Pinel

Overcrowded and absolutely rubbish. Why ? Dozens of sunbeds aligned on a small beach and tourists walking in a small piece of seawater while having drinks.. What an adventure .. how exciting . Reminded me tourists going for a Gondola tour in the Vénitian hotel in Vegas.. Worth leaving this area and go to the other side of the island where you have beaches with almost nobody and where you can do snorkeling too. Restaurants are good but the island has definitely become a tourist trap. Was certainly beautiful 30 years ago before mass tourism took over..

You can get to Pinel Island either on a boat, kayak or by ferry.  We took the Pinel Ferry out of Rue de cul de Sac, Saint Martin for $12 or 10 euros (cash only).  The ferry typically runs between 10 am and 4 pm daily.  However if the tides and winds bring heavy sargassum (seaweed) into the bay, the ferry may shut down as the sargassum clogs the inboard motors. The ferries run about every half hour. On the short ride to Pinel, you will pass to the left of a rocky island called Petite Clef.  Upon arrival you disembark this time at the dock in front of Karibuni Restaurant (which was temporarily closed) as a new permanent dock on Yellow Beach is presently under construction. Generally you can rent chairs from either restaurant, but today only Yellow Beach Restaurant and Bar was open. You can rent 2 chairs and an umbrella for $25 per day (credit or cash).  Food and drinks are available for purchase with beach service.  Near the rest rooms, you will be able to view and feed the iguanas with any leftovers from your lunch. Previous storms had changed the beach and swimming area some, so the water depth this time was no deeper than 3 1/2'  in the roped swimming area.  There are several smaller beaches on the island that require hiking to. These other beaches are covered with sands and stones.  Snorkeling was great again this time over the grass beds between Yellow Beach and Petite Clef. In May I saw 2 spotted eagle rays, several green turtles and many conchs. This time I saw a green turtle over the grass bed and several conchs. The side of Petite Clef that faces Orient Beach has many fans, corals and sponges covering the slope which drops to a depth of 20'.  There are blue tang fish, parrotfish,french angelfish, great barracuda, wrasses, bar jacks and other fish as well as a small green turtle among the fans, coral and sponges.

This is a must see spot on St Martin. A wonderful and beautiful beach with a couple of good restaurants. It can only be accessed via a local very reliable ferry service or private boat.

One of the highlights of Saint Martin is this small islet off the main coast of the French side. Small in size, but very interesting to roam around and explore it by yourself or with a company. You can go to the highest point or simply stay on the single beach where you can swim. The others are rocky and not so clean with "wilder" waters. The ferry that takes you there costs 10 EUR per person round trip and it goes either every half an hour or every hour, depending from the season. No snakes, simply a lot of friendly iguanas that would like for you to feed them, so bringing some fruit for them is always recommended. Visiting it will not make you regret the trip!

Not sure if it’s because we weren’t on the first boat there but got there at 12:30 - island totally packed. No places to sit and not even a person who worked at any of the restaurants to ask. The water was filled with seaweed - very murky. Maybe this was just an odd day but we stayed for under 2 hours and left. In our opinion very disappointing but maybe others would not feel that way. Also $12 USD pp for RT boat. Bring cash.

Really nice and relaxing day, the beach is really nice with snorkeling opportunities and lots of iguanas. Boat trip takes 10 mins and costs 10 euros, sun bed rental is 25 euro for 2 ppl.

We stopped here on Captain Bob's speedboat tour. Cute little island. There was still a little bit of sargassum in the area. Ok for a quick stop. Lots of iguanas!

Fun excursion to french side of St Maerten. Small boat ride across to nice beach. Think it was $12 a person. Couple of bar restaurants over there and hiking trails. Nice way to spent the afternoon. Can also rent kayaks to get there if that appeals to you.