Paddling to Pinel

Other than our day at Loterie Farm, we spent the majority of our time lying on the beach or by the pool in a complete state of relaxation. However half way through the holiday we felt the need for a bit of adventure. We jumped in the car and drove to the other side of the Island in search of a place called Cul-De-sac and Caribbean Paddling (only took about 30 mins). We'd done a bit of research the night before and decided that instead of getting on a boat to our destination we would rent some double kayaks and paddle there instead.

Still not 100% sure that was the best idea as there were a few arguments as we started out. We paddled out for about 10 mins to a tiny little Island, Petite Clef, that was the half way point, for a short break before finishing the journey.

I know that doesn't sound like hard work but it was pretty windy so we had to paddle pretty hard (or apparently sit and do nothing so that the boys could do all the work).

We needed some time to cool off so we sat under the t-shirt tree to regain our mental strength to finish the trip.

The benefit of hind-sight....do not wear your t-shirt on the kayak; it WILL get soaked!

After we'd (read I'd) calmed down a little we could fully appreciate the view and search for fish.

Time to make our move over to our final destination for the day, Pinel Island. Once you arrive there is the choice of 2 bar/restaurants with a few rows of parasols and loungers waiting to be rented for the day; we opted for Yellow beach.

After dropping our stuff we went to find some Iguanas that the Island is famous for, along with its snorkelling of course.

We found them hiding out behind the kitchen, I believe they were eyeing up the fruit being cut up...apparently they love Mango.

Just behind the Iguanas there was a little path that we decided to follow just for the sake of adventure...hiking in flipflops and 30 degrees is not something I would recommend...but we did it anyway and boy was it worth it for these views!

 We didn't hang around long as we were in desperate need of some water; if we knew where we were going we would've taken a bottle with us! it only took us 15 mins to get back to the beach or should I say bar.

It was possibly the hottest day we'd had and most of us were actually a little pink despite constant application of sunscreen so we decided the sensible thing to do was stick to the shade for most of that day. Naturally this meant a couple of cocktails and making friends with the barman, Martin, he was really friendly and Mike's fluent French definitely was a help!

We weren't expecting much from their lunch menu after all we were on a little Island but their burgers were great! You should definitely try them, and wash them down with 3 or 4 cocktails just for good measure.

We decided it was time to cut ourselves off from the cocktails, after all we did have to paddle back to the main island, so back onto the water.

We made the most of our last hour or so, enjoying a little bit of sun and a wee snorkel for some. I went to check out some more Iguanas that had wandered down to the edge of the beach...I even touched one!

Our day on the Island was great, I'd never done anything like it before but it was so much fun. If you're planning a trip to St Maarten I highly recommend you add it to your list of things to do!