Karysa Posted October 20, 2014 #26 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Thanks to you and ALL others for reporting back.LuLu I hope that we can get some first hand reports about how things are post hurricane Gonzalo soon. We definitely could use some updates on beach conditions and the progress of rebuilding at Orient and Pinel especially and the St. Maarten Park (zoo) as well and which excursions are still operating. Hopefully those visiting soon will come back and update us. My sister will be on the island from Oct 28- November 11 so I will ask her to post from there or at least fill me in so I can pass the info along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtaylor Posted October 24, 2014 Author #27 Share Posted October 24, 2014 I just got an e-mail from my friend Joyce, who has posted an update on her Website. Short version: The people of St. Maarten are vigilante and the situation will not stop us from welcoming our tourist back to our shores with a warm smile and offering the wonderful service that we are known for. All hands are on deck cleaning up to restore normalcy Just one week later our port was open to cruise ships and our airport has been up and running two days later. We are ready to serve you and give you the experience of a lifetime. What I find amazing is the set of photos from a French side photographer that she links to. I've spent literally hundreds of days on Orient Beach, including during a two week visit earlier this year, and many of these bars/restaurants are destroyed beyond recognition. gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merinski Posted October 24, 2014 #28 Share Posted October 24, 2014 I just got an e-mail from my friend Joyce, who has posted an update on her Website. Short version: The people of St. Maarten are vigilante and the situation will not stop us from welcoming our tourist back to our shores with a warm smile and offering the wonderful service that we are known for. All hands are on deck cleaning up to restore normalcy Just one week later our port was open to cruise ships and our airport has been up and running two days later. We are ready to serve you and give you the experience of a lifetime. What I find amazing is the set of photos from a French side photographer that she links to. I've spent literally hundreds of days on Orient Beach, including during a two week visit earlier this year, and many of these bars/restaurants are destroyed beyond recognition. gary Thank you for the link , that is devastating! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtaylor Posted October 24, 2014 Author #29 Share Posted October 24, 2014 I hope that we can get some first hand reports about how things are post hurricane Gonzalo soon. We definitely could use some updates on beach conditions and the progress of rebuilding at Orient and Pinel especially and the St. Maarten Park (zoo) as well and which excursions are still operating. Hopefully those visiting soon will come back and update us. My sister will be on the island from Oct 28- November 11 so I will ask her to post from there or at least fill me in so I can pass the info along. FYI, the Zoo has already reopened. gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Life is Good Cruising Posted October 25, 2014 #30 Share Posted October 25, 2014 FYI, the Zoo has already reopened. gary That's great the zoo reopened, I'm happy for them. We're going to Orient Beach next month. Thank you for sharing the pictures. It's very sad to see the damage done to Orient Beach, it will somewhat of a somber day when we go. This island is one of our favorites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtaylor Posted October 25, 2014 Author #31 Share Posted October 25, 2014 The following information that I have gathered from many island sources has been generally confirmed by my friend Joyce. This is not intended to be all inclusive by any means, and any info that I've seen posted here earlier is not repeated. ................................. Simpson Bay resort (Pelican) up and running. Cheri's café up and running. Summit Resort up and running. Calmos Cafe up and running. (Many others not identified by name) Most of downtown Philipsburg up and running (still cleaning up) The Cruise Facility is fine. There was a ban on swimming at Orient, possibly lifted on Thursday, but it had not been enforced. Reports are that the 'reef' and the water are fine after a period of discoloration and smell, possibly from Saragasso seaweed and not sewage/pollution. Lots of fish. Lots of debris in the water and on the bottom. People retrieving bottles from the bottom, open and unopened. Some heavy debris. Orient was hit badly, but other parts of the island are near fine, and Orient Beach is already coming back at many locations, others probably not so soon. Some Heavy Equipment was on the Orient clearing debris and getting ready to rebuild. A few locations that were not completely damaged put out chairs and umbrellas and opened up their Bar; La Playa, Wakikki, and Coco's opened around the issues and people began hitting the beach. Palm Beach is closed. Dawn beach is open and clear except for some Sargasso seaweed. OBBR facilities are available including: Spa, Shop, Gym, the Marina and the water sports. Captain Alan back at work. The restaurants near Oyster Pond have all reopened including Busby’s, Big Fish, Canoa, Daniel’s By The Sea, Mama’s Pizza and others. There are many other beaches that appear safe to swim in already. gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indie Posted October 25, 2014 #32 Share Posted October 25, 2014 Orient Beach and all of its businesses look absolutely devastated. Those pictures are sad. Thank you for the imformation gtaylor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ba' Datz Posted October 26, 2014 #33 Share Posted October 26, 2014 What is the situation on Maho Beach? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbird1 Posted October 26, 2014 #34 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Orient Beach and all of its businesses look absolutely devastated. Those pictures are sad. Thank you for the imformation gtaylor. I was just there and lots of damage but they are trying hard to rebuild. Our party still had a nice beach day. I heard the beach by the AP did not have as much damage Sent from my iPhone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtaylor Posted October 29, 2014 Author #35 Share Posted October 29, 2014 Some video and still clips of Gonzalo damage: [YOUTUBE]LUWSY9D9GhQ[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]7_YK3Y9qY0w[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]OSE4fb7OODo[/YOUTUBE] gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karysa Posted October 30, 2014 #36 Share Posted October 30, 2014 FYI, the Zoo has already reopened. gary That sure didn't take long. Good to hear. Thanks:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My Mattie Posted October 30, 2014 #37 Share Posted October 30, 2014 We spent the week of October 18th to the 26th at OBBR in Oyster Pond. We have spent a week each year, the same week of October on St Maarten for the last 5 years. When we arrived on Saturday the 18th, most of the cleanup had already been done in Phillipsburg. There is quite a bit of vegetation damage, but for the most part, will grow back. Things that will take longer will be at Orient Beach, from Pedros to about 150 yards north of there. Most of those beach bars were severely damaged, if not destroyed including Pedros. However, some were in the process of cleaning up, and some already were setting up chairs in front of their location while repairs were being made. The water at Orient was returning to normal and we swam every day. Water sports activities were back in operation and being used. The debris from these beach bars were for the most part about 15 feet deep in the ocean. As stated earlier, most of the good things were being pulled out of the water, but debris will probably remain for some time, but should not affect any normal swimming activities. The sand in the Maho area in front of Sunset Beach Bar actually was wider than it has been in past years. Also, as stated earlier, there were many boats sunk or grounded in Simpson Bay, but efforts were under way to salvage the remains of the boats. We had an enjoyable week while there and the weather was great. We wil be back in port on a ship for a day during the first week of December, and will probably see what progress has been made since we left. The island spirit is alive and well, and the people of St Maarten are resilient people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krisa20 Posted October 30, 2014 #38 Share Posted October 30, 2014 The damage in the photos is so devastating. :( Does anyone have an update on how the clean up is progressing? We are going to be there on November 12 and we were wondering what beaches will be cleaned up enough to visit. Orient Bay, Le Galion? And does anyone know if the LoLos in Grand Case were completely ruined or whether they are up and running? We are hoping to frequent some local businesses while we are there, not only to experience what the island has to offer, but also to support local tourism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My Pappy Posted October 30, 2014 #39 Share Posted October 30, 2014 We ate at Sky's the Limit last week. Talk of the town has been closed for months. Scoobys was not open the night we went. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karysa Posted November 3, 2014 #40 Share Posted November 3, 2014 My sister is on the island and was at Orient Beach today and said that there was not much beach by where Orange Fever is but it is up and running. She said that Kontiki looked good and the beach there was ok. Apparently the water was "awesome" today with no seaweed and very calm. She's visited Karakter Beach Bar on Simpson Bay a couple of times. She did not comment on the beach or water but it looked good to me in the picture that she e-mailed me. She had been to Friars beach a couple of days ago and said that Friars Beach "Club" was closed. I think that she means the beach bar and said that it should be open in 3 weeks. She didn't mention Kali's so I have no word on that. She also said that "people should be reassured that the island has rebounded and is very open for business." She commented that you would never know by visiting Phillipsburg that there was a hurricane. I will post more if she sends me another update.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karysa Posted November 4, 2014 #41 Share Posted November 4, 2014 DS e-mailed me and said that Pinel was in good shape yesterday and they enjoyed the beach and lunch very much. There were no ships in and there were not many people on the island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karysa Posted November 13, 2014 #42 Share Posted November 13, 2014 This past Friday/Saturday brought lots more rain to the island. My DS told me that there was a no driving curfew on Saturday during the day so that the roads could be tended to. The pictures from the newspaper were awful. There was someone rowing a dinghy and you could actually see the yellow line of the road beside him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markel201235 Posted December 3, 2014 #43 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Will be visiting in two weeks and wonder if the damage from the hurricane has been restored? Plans were to taxi to Orient Beach for the day. Thanks, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily14 Posted December 7, 2014 #44 Share Posted December 7, 2014 We had a great day at Orient Beach on November 11th. Most of the of the businesses were up and running. We saw more damage on the end where Pedro's is and the beach had eroded a lot on this end. As we went left from Pedros 's, things started looking more normal. We camped out at Kon Tiki and enjoyed it very much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fcatlanta Posted December 8, 2014 #45 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Is the beach at and to the right of Pedro's, toward Club Orient, still pretty much non-existent due to the hurricane? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jey01 Posted December 8, 2014 #46 Share Posted December 8, 2014 We are going in about a month and were hoping for orange fever. We may head to maho instead Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily14 Posted December 10, 2014 #47 Share Posted December 10, 2014 I did not go right, so I can't speak to that. Orange Fever's beach was severely eroded. They had a few chairs out crammed together. We had originally planned to camp out at Orange Fever but kept walking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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