PINEL ISLAND ★★★★★
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Beach Review, Pinel Island, St. Martin
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Pinel Island
Just the Facts Beach Type: Hidden gem Surf Type: Calm Amenities: Chairs, umbrellas, restaurants Location: Pinel Island, North of Orient Beach
Parking: park in Cul-deSac, take the ferry $7 roundtrip Good for: Kids, Groups Other Beach Info: Last ferry at 5pm (4pm during low season)
Pros Great day trip away from the mayhem Calm, shallow, pristine waters for basking in the sun Phenomenal snorkeling just off the beach Tasty and fun restaurants
Cons Requires a 10-minute ferry ride, packed in like cattle; expensive beach chairs
Overall Rating ★★★★★ At the northern end of Orient Bay, along the northeast shore of St. Martin, there lies a tiny little island called Pinel. There are no cars and no hotels. Just beautiful beaches, pristine calm water, fabulous snorkeling and a pair of yummy restaurants (operated off generator). As our friend joked: “it’s good to have a little island to escape to when St. Martin gets to be too much.” Pinel is without a doubt a required day trip during your stay in St. Martin, and a favorite paradise. To get to Pinel, you take a “ferry” for $7 roundtrip that takes about 10 minutes each way. I put “Ferry” in quotes because it appears to be a recycled landing craft from Normandy, which they use to pile in as many cattle, I mean people, as possible, to the point where the
Pinel Island ! boat is barely floating, and can only go about 2 knots. I was tempted to jump out and swim at several points along the way, to prove that I could have gotten there faster, and more
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Mood Romance
★★★★☆
Relaxation ★★★★★ Fun
★★★★★
Family
★★★★★
Value
★★★☆☆
Atmosphere Sand
★★★★★
Beach size ★★★★★ Cleanliness★★★★☆ Swimming ★★★★★ Snorkeling ★★★★★
comfortably. Luckily the trip is very short, across extremely calm water, or I might not have been the only one abandoning ship. On our first trip to Pinel during high season, our foursome was the cause of some ire as we were the last to arrive, and the captain insisted on squeezing us in. If you can’t stand the ferry, you can also rent a kayak for an easy trip across.
Surfing
★☆☆☆☆
Amenities Food
★★★★☆
Chairs
★★★★☆
Equipment ★★★☆☆ On our second trip to Pinel during low season, my mom and I were thrilled to be invited to go Parking ★★★☆☆ with several of our friends who live in St. Martin, and have their own 18-ft whaler, thereby avoiding the cattle car. As it turned out… their boat is docked in Anse Marcel, which made for a longer, far more thrilling ride to Pinel, as you have to circumnavigate the northern tip of St. Martin, skimming against the waves for 20+ minutes before turning with the waves and coasting into Pinel from behind. Luckily our friend is a fantastic captain… and everyone had taken their seasickness medication, or shared my enthusiasm for adrenaline. It was a bit like Disneyworld on St. Martin – no need for roller coasters after that ride! I was glad to hear my mom giggling like a schoolgirl behind me. And then we coasted into Pinel’s perfect, pristine shallow waters…
Beauty of Pinel Island When you arrive on Pinel, !you are struck by a sense of island paradise. Imagine removing the hassle of cars, roads, bikes, etc., and leaving only the perfect white sand beach and calmest pristine water you’ve ever seen… that’s Pinel. You can wade into the water for miles (and practically walk back
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Shallow, calm waters: With bathwater temperatures, we never saw a reason to leave the water - except to eat!
to St. Martin). It’s perfectly blue, and completely protected from any surf. The water is calm, clear, warm, shallow, pristine… all the adjectives you look for in the Caribbean. We claimed a couple beach chairs (for $16, ouch), which it turns out we never really bothered to use (on either trip), it was just such a perfect day to simply lounge in the water. The restaurants are properly integrated into the beach atmosphere – lots of tiki huts and picnic tables. There aren’t even any power lines on the island, everything is run off generators. Though the island itself has obviously been around for millennia, geologically speaking that is, the notion of Pinel as a destination is far more recent. Pinel started a couple decades ago when a guy started to row his BBQ and a cooler over to the island each morning, and serve whoever showed up. Since then, it’s built up to have
proper, more semi-permanent amenities, but it still feels a bit more like the unspoiled ambiance of Gilligan’s Island than a developed country. Every night the island is packed up and put to bed.
Waters of Pinel Island Beyond having perfect water for wallowing, Pinel also boasts fantastic snorkeling. We were lucky to be there with our Extreme Shallow Snorkeling friends as they showed us just how much fun it can be to brazenly snorkel in the ultra shallow waters, wondering whether your belly is going to be able to clear that next clump of grass and coral (the trick is to inhale, to make yourself float higher in the water). There were tons of fish, even fairly large ones, very close to shore. I even saw some crazy-looking needle-nosed fish in the protected area. Apparently these unassuming little guys are the
Pinel Island !
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Pristine sands: Even during low season, when storms kick up debris and stones on other beaches, Pinel retains its clean, soft sand.
predators that cause all the fish jumping that we see at night from the shore of Grand Case bay. I also joined a school of thousands of little green fish for a while; I just floated there until they considered me part of the landscape and swarmed all around. Of course, once I started to move again, they scattered like the wind. On our second trip, we also ventured out for some snorkeling expeditions, not in the protected area cordoned off to the South, but instead blazing our own trail around the Western
Snorkeling tip: Bring your snorkeling gear! Not only is there a lot to see in the cordoned off area, you can head around the west side of the island too.
end, where we saw tons of trumpet fish and even a spotted moray eel. If you go around the edge of Pinel that direction, you’ll eventually hit some surf, as well as maritime traffic, so keep your eyes open above water as well as below. In addition to the snorkeling, the water is perfect for swimming… or simply basking. The water is extremely shallow – all the way back to St. Martin for that matter – which makes it great for just braising yourself in the sun. You do want to keep an eye out for the ferry coming in/out if you happen to be basking near the dock.
Amenities on Pinel Island Pinel island has two excellent restaurants (Yellow Beach and Karibuni), a small shop and copious amounts of beach chairs. The beach chairs are of the comfortable
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Yellow Beach: Eating in a second-story tiki hut, overlooking the beach.
cushioned variety, which is important since you are going to pay an arm and a leg for them – $16 for a pair – though that’s on par with Orient Beach. The good news is there are plenty of spots in between or to the side of the chairs to lay a towel or blanket and partake of the sand for free. In fact, the water is so lovely, you may decide to just not bother ever getting out. But the good news is chairs and umbrellas are certainly available, and there are plenty of them. On our first trip, we retired to the Yellow Beach restaurant for lunch. We had smartly made a reservation when we arrived on the ferry so that we got a premier spot when we sat down at 1pm (reservations are strongly encouraged during high season; low season you’re probably OK unless you have a large group or want a special table). At Yellow Beach, they seated us in a private straw hut on stilts, overlooking the beach and sea, which made for the perfect atmosphere for a lengthy, wine- and rum-filled lunch.
Reservations Tip: During high season, and if you are a large group, make a lunch reservation as soon as you arrive to ensure one of the good tables.
The food wasn’t remarkable, though the fries and escargots w/ roquefort cheese were stand-outs. I had the tuna tartare and it was a little disappointing. However, the crisp, cold French Rose went down very easily, as did the three varieties of rum digestif that they conveniently left on our table.
per
Pinel Island !
Karibuni: Excellent lobster, steak, salad and ribs, though not the best service.
Pretty soon we were drowsing on the beach. On our second trip, we decided to hit Karibuni, the other restaurant on the island. We’d heard rave reviews of their grilled lobster, in fact some claimed it was the best on St. Martin (well, technically not on St. Martin), so in the interests of Lobster Quest 2010, I agreed to sacrifice myself and partake. Lunch at Karibuni was a multi-hour, leisurely affair, filled with lobster, steak, burgers, ribs and trumpet fish – in theory too cute to eat, but apparently in reality, too tasty not to (which I personally confirmed at Le Ti Provencal). My lobster was perfectly cooked, moist and tender, but somehow I missed out on getting any dipping sauce. Luckily there was still enough butter in the shell for a shallow dousing, and in the end it was probably better for my waistline than a dish of melted butter. French fries weren’t frites at all,
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Pinel Island !
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The Ferry: Packed to the brim in high season, the ferry isn’t much more than an open-air cattle car.
instead fried potato wedges, which were also good… though I’ve rarely if ever met a potato I didn’t like. Of the rest of our party, my mom went for the Karibuni salad, which she thought light and tasty, and greatly enjoyed. The kids had burgers, which they consumed quickly. The trunk fish salad was a huge hit. The BBQ ribs were succulent and moist, and they brought you a proper pile of them, along with a plastic cup of extra BBQ sauce. The Nems appetizers (fried spring rolls) disappeared very quickly, as did the l’attitude sauvignon blanc, which was refreshing and hit the spot after a leisurely snorkel. When I found the same wine available at Bacchus wine store a couple days later, I immediately purchased a couple bottles. Instead of a two-story hut, at Karibuni our party of nine was treated to a huge round picnic table under a palm thatched roof, which was perfect to protect us from the brief passing shower that was kind enough to hit during our lunch. As far as service goes… well, it was definitely not the speediest, nor were they entirely on top of their game. But the food was outstanding, as was the company, which more than made up for having to wait for refills.
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The Last Ferry: Every night Pinel Island is packed up and put to bed when it closes at 5pm (4pm during low season), and the last ferry leaves the island.
Unfortunately Pinel doesn’t stay open in the evenings. The last ferry departs at 5pm, so around 4:30 people start lining up, waiting for their ride back to the “mainland.” Note: in low season, the last ferry is at 4pm. If you’re leaving on your own boat, you get to watch as they pack up the chairs and umbrellas in the waning golden light. On the ride home we essentially got to ride the waves like we were on a boogie board, skipping our way back to Anse Marcel where we were treated to a brief refreshing sprinkling of rain, followed by a vibrant rainbow. What a perfect ending to the day!
Bottom line
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Pinel island is not just a destination, it is a state of bliss. Paradise is yours, for a brief $7 ferry ride. With great food, pristine beaches, snorkeling, shallow warm water… if I only had one day on St. Martin, Pinel would be at the top of my list.
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Pinel Island
ABOUT LUCINDA’S LIST In Fall 2009, my husband Steve and I thought we had it all figured out. Beautiful house in Berkeley, CA, the requisite yellow lab, great technology careers... and I was pregnant. But when the fourth miscarriage hit in December, we were heartbroken. We needed time to heal. A break. From everything. We decided to go to St. Martin, and after an incredible six weeks, it inspired us to change our lives. The people we met, the experiences we had, the living in the moment, the food we ate... we were forever changed. And we wanted to share what we found with others. So instead of returning home to our old lives, we decided to take our Silicon Valley knowledge to help create a community of people who love the Caribbean. We figured something special was bound to come out of bringing together
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