St. Martin Christmas 2025 - Day 2: Christmas Eve ease

The views from the various balconies were greatly improved by the rising of the sun.

The island in the distance is Saba, which is part of the (Caribbean) Netherlands (unlike St. Maarten, which is in the Kingdom of the Netherlands). Fun fact that I just learned: the highest point in the Netherlands is on the island of Saba in the Caribbean.

I suspect these trees are the ideal distance for hammock usage, but I haven't tried it yet... and not just because it only occurred to me right now.

We had reserved a charter boat trip for tomorrow, but the company contacted us this morning to say the forecast tomorrow looked rainy and they suggested we move the trip to later in the week. Seeing as the locals here do not seem to be concerned about rain, in general, we opted to believe them and pushed the booking. Sabrina and Lauren then spent an hour or so rearranging various other reservations.

We decided to have a lazy morning at the house, enjoying the infinity pool and the weather (and hiding from the sun). 

We were surprised to discover that the pool is a solid 6' deep by the wall

The property manager sent someone by around 1 PM to fix a broken toilet seat, which coincidentally was when Lauren made the first iguana sighting.

Once the guy realized that Lauren was very much Not A Fan of them, he offered to chase it away. In the process, he noticed two or three others who were convening on the hot metal roof next door, in search of warmth and food. I went inside with Lauren to not-be-supportive-at-all.

Eventually, after being convinced that the iguanas only eat plants and were going to do their best to avoid us while we were outside, we transitioned to iguana-spotting mode and managed to find probably five or six different specimens in the trees.

Once the iguana-citement settled down and the maintenance guy left, we eventually packed up the van and headed down to the closest beach (Little Bay) for a few hours. The traffic was thick, so we opted to duck into the first public parking area near the far end of the beach instead of fighting for a spot by the hotels.

The water was clear and tranquil, and the sand was so very soft; we spent a few hours engaged in various permutations of sun-lounging, ocean-floating, and snacking.

Lauren and I took a shortcut through the surf over to the beach bar, rather than walking back along the road, and were delighted to discover that it was BOGO Happy Hour. Carrying the drinks (and an appetizer) back through the crashing waves was a bit sporty, but we managed with no casualties.

Being unsure how long it would actually take us to get across the island for our dinner reservation, we packed up some time between 4:30 and 5 PM, changed into our dining ensembles in the parking lot, and set out for the commercial area near Maho Beach area. (This is the famous spot where beachgoers line up to feel like a plane is going to land on them and/or get blasted by jetwash during takeoffs.)

Our destination was JAX steakhouse, where we enjoyed an excellent Christmas Eve meal.

It occurred to us that stores would probably be closed tomorrow, and possibly also on Boxing Day, so we hit the local mini market near JAX for a few more essentials. #BePrepared

(Mickey had informed us that they absolutely observe Boxing Day here, despite not being a British territory [although it probably was, at some point], so perhaps it's a Caribbean-wide thing. More research required.) 

After dinner, we returned to the Airbnb. Now that I'd seen the top of the driveway and was confident that it didn't immediately end in a stone wall, I was more willing to coax the minivan into a running start. That, coupled with noticing-and-turning-off "econ" mode earlier today, allowed us to make it up the hill (forward!) on the second attempt. I'm honestly not sure which approach everyone preferred.

Tomorrow is a bit of a wildcard, depending on the weather. We have several options and contingency plans, though, so no worries.