This week we are in St Barth’s, and it is a huge shift for us from being in Saint Martin (only 12nm away). Paul and I love SXM for many reasons, but coming to St Barth’s is a whole other story. St Barth’s is naturally very beautiful, and where we are moored has the clearest water we’ve found in the Caribbean so far. It is a peaceful, beautiful place.
There are many reasons for that. St Barth’s is the most expensive island to visit around here, and I don’t believe that the preserved natural beauty is the reason- I think the beauty is preserved because of the money that’s pumped into this place. While the French side of Saint Martin has almost no sidewalks and pot holes the size of VW Bugs, St Barth’s has smooth cobble stone roads, well maintained landscaping, Dior, Rolex, Hermes and well-maintained sidewalks on BOTH sides of the street. It is a play island for the wealthy- and looking back at its history, it seems to have been so for a long time.
Columbus came in 1493 and really changed the whole trajectory of the island- (he named it after his brother before he bounced), and Spanish pirates used it for a place to hide and spend their loot. The French took over for a long period of time, before selling it to the Swedes (the main town is Gustavia, named after King Gustavia III) and then was later sold back to the French. Gustavia is a free port town, as per the sale conditions, so its long been a popular place to come and buy things- but it wasn’t until the world’s mega rich discovered this tiny jewel that St Barth’s became what it is today. The 1950’s was when the Rockefeller’s bought property- and the Rothschild’s, and things picked up from there.
We are moored in Anse de Colombier. From here, we can see the old Rockefeller estate at the top of the hill. The beach by us is not accessible by a road, only by a long walk, or by boat. It’s beautiful, rocky, and blue. Because St Barth’s includes the use of its well-maintained mooring balls when you check into the country, and forbids anchoring in marine parks, the sea grass is recovering and we have seen dozens of turtles, from small juveniles- to large adults. We have two large remoras under our boat right now, stuck on and waiting for any food scraps. Bar jacks jet out to each fruit rinds. Yesterday’s swim to shore showed us at least 2 dozen different fish species, as well as a dozen kinds of coral and single big “fishstick” (barracuda). This is becoming unusual in the Caribbean.
The affordable way to do St Barth’s is to bring your home with you- We showed up with room and board, and so far, our only cost has been checking ($24 euros for the first day, and 2e/PP each day after), and some baked goods we felt we had earned for coming ashore. We also provisioned in St Martin before sailing over, so we’ve cooked all our meals on board. We once walked into a food store along the main road in Gustavia, Food Land, and found an artistic display of Japanese knives, $500+ bottles of champagne, and very rare types of meat. Not your typical provisioning stop, we left without buying anything. Basic hotel rooms are $600+ per night, and a dinner for two will start at about half that. Cruise ships don’t stop here, not because they don’t want to, but because they’ve been kept out. The arrival of the mega yachts at New Year’s show that the island can clearly handle boats of great size, but Beyonce would never vacation here if the hordes of Cruisers were walking down the streets, and even sailing here can be a difficulty (how does the wind always come directly FROM St. Barth’s? It’s so punishing to sail a catamaran directly into the wind).
The money of the wealthy has ensured that St Barth’s has roads, recycling, water treatment, electricity, well maintained structures, and well thought out city planning. It has allowed the island to recover and flourish in its natural beauty in ways that many of the other Caribbean islands have not been allowed, and for that I try not to begrudge it. As we sit on a mooring with the wind skimming the blue water, I can see 6 turtles coming up for air in between bites of their sea grass salad breakfasts. We are lucky to experience the island this way, and for that I am immensely grateful, but it will affect how I see the other islands in the Caribbean, often left to fend for themselves after centuries of exploitation.
Paul has pointed out that all of the other boats we see are very well kept but no one waves back at us. This is the only place where we haven’t felt either welcomed or exploited… we’ve just been ignored. The only exception to this was the two very nice, very gay, very naked boats that moored next to us yesterday. They joyfully waved back and seemed to be having a ball. The rest remains beautiful but aloof.
Till next time
L+P
TIBURON MARINO 