# St Barts Forums > St Barts Island Main Forum >  >  Bringing Newbies Advice?

## marybeth

Hi all,
We are bringing friends (a couple) on our upcoming trip and it will be their first time...as well as our first time bringing newbies.  They are super laid back, avid travelers but haven't spent much time in the Caribbean. Any thoughts, advice or suggestions on things to do (or not)? What are your MUST DOs with first timers? Looking forward to ideas...

mb

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## JEK

1. Drive them completly around the island, stopping in Lurin for a glass of wine at A & P's place! Let them see all the neighborhoods and how they fit together. Point out the different languages/dialects in each one. Gustavia - English, Patois, Creole and Saline French.

2. Watch the sunset from the phare with a bottle of champagne

3. Hike/walk/crawl tp Colombier with a picnic lunch and a towel. Bathing suits optional!

4. Order food they would never dare eat at home and watch them enjoy it!

5. Have a Ti Punch both ways at Le Select.

6. Lunch at Grand Cul de Sac with feet in the sand - Ti Corail or Le Rivage

7. Introduce them to Eddy, Brigette and Mahé

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## phil62

:thumb up:

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## Happycamper

Don't forget to build in time for them to make some discoveries on their own. Some of St Barth is subtle enjoyment and it can be hard to zoom people around by car to all your favorite spots and expect them to see it through your eyes.  As an example, my wife and daughter love to browse through any of the pharmacies looking at the various bathing products and invariably come out with a few things to try, but I can't imagine that would work as a group tour stop.  

Also, it would be good to send them to an all-inclusive in Jamaica or the DR for a week sometime before your trip so they understand why St Barth is 10X better than elsewhere in the Caribbean.

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## NancySC

> Don't forget to build in time for them to make some discoveries on their own. Some of St Barth is subtle enjoyment and it can be hard to zoom people around by car to all your favorite spots and expect them to see it through your eyes.  As an example, my wife and daughter love to browse through any of the pharmacies looking at the various bathing products and invariably come out with a few things to try, but I can't imagine that would work as a group tour stop.  
> 
> Also, it would be good to send them to an all-inclusive in Jamaica or the DR for a week sometime before your trip so they understand why St Barth is 10X better than elsewhere in the Caribbean.




Love the 2nd idea !

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## Eve

We are bringing newbies, too.  If our newbies hate the place, they can hang out with your newbies. Ive lost too much sleep thinking of things they would like to do.
They are only there for 3 days. 
arrival night LIsoletta
Day 1 take them on the grand tour, hitting all hotels and beaches they would may want to return to. Lunch at Nikki. 
Day 2. Hanging in front of Pearl beach. We are staying at Les Ilets. Dinner at Santa Fe.
Day 3. Move to Sunset Hotel, lunch at Pearl. 
It took a lot of persuasion to talk them into SB over Aruba. This can go either way.  

see you there!  They arrive on Thanksgiving Day

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## Tiffany

Sunset cocktails at Carl Gustaf or The Christopher.

Drive up to the “point” in Columbier and take in the view.

Hotel day pass with lunch and massage if they’re open to that. 

Depending on how the food is this year, lunch at Toiny Beach Club is pretty cool.

Get them a Bananiers pizza at some point. 

Dessert at Creperie.

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## Eve

Like Bananiers pizza for us, but for a newbie, I think L’Isoletta may be better

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## Eve

And btw, Le Bouchon pizza and burgers top the chart, from our test in March

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## Cwater

My contribution…Cheryl & I were married in 1986.  I had never been to the Caribbean and wished to travel there.  June 6 Cheryl researched, before Google, an Island that had trade-winds in order to avoid the bugs.     She settled on St. Barths.  This was before it was discovered.  We fell in love with in no certain order weather, food, beaches & driving.  For newbies do what you do.  Any experience in our happy place will be marvelous.  Don’t try to micro manage.  Just let it happen and it will.  See you on the beach

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## JEK

Well, the island was getting a little press before the 80s :cool:

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## marybeth

Thanks all! So much good advice. We are booked for dinner at Eddy's first night and plan to drive around the island the first full day. They are big outdoors people so we are planning all the hikes. Other than that the week is open.  

Le Select is a must, we somehow end up there just about daily. Beach club and hotel day passes are great ideas.  Also sunset cocktails. 

Will not be sending them to Jamaica though.... :cool:  

We are actually making our first ever all-inclusive resort trip to Cancun in January.  Only going for the band, but I am sure it will be interesting.

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## steelpe

My wife and I are bringing a newbie for our upcoming trip in a few weeks..... our 8yo daughter.  This will be her first trip which should be interesting.  If she doesn't like it I will just stick her with Eve's newbies.

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## Dennis

> Thanks all! So much good advice. We are booked for dinner at Eddy's first night and plan to drive around the island the first full day. They are big outdoors people so we are planning all the hikes. Other than that the week is open.  
> 
> Le Select is a must, we somehow end up there just about daily. Beach club and hotel day passes are great ideas.  Also sunset cocktails. 
> 
> Will not be sending them to Jamaica though.... 
> 
> We are actually making our first ever all-inclusive resort trip to Cancun in January.  Only going for the band, but I am sure it will be interesting.



A band you say?
https://playinginthesand.com//

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## JEK

> A band you say?
> https://playinginthesand.com//



  What a lucky guess  :cool:

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## andynap

https://playinginthesand.com//

Thats their last tour- thank heavens. Dont tell my daughter.  :Wink-slap:

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## cassidain

> Well, the island was getting a little press before the 80s



Right. Saint-Barth was definitely discovered by the 80's

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## GramChop

Don’t discount the quaint, smaller beaches when tour-guiding the newbies. Those that I’ve shared St Barth with found Petite Anse, Marigot, Corossol and Public to be among favorites. We brought champagne to each beach, sat in surf and really captured the ambience/essence of each. 

Seeing St Barth through the eyes of newbies is magical. Enjoy!!

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## marybeth

You all are right about the band! We were supposed to go last year but it was cancelled.

Andy, we have tickets to 9 shows so far this summer...Pittsburgh, Chicago, NYC, Boston and San Fran....and counting. 

Great advice Gram, I think they will love those places as we do.  Another under-rated favorite of ours is Petit Cul de Sac.

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## Eve

> My wife and I are bringing a newbie for our upcoming trip in a few weeks..... our 8yo daughter.  This will be her first trip which should be interesting.  If she doesn't like it I will just stick her with Eve's newbies.



not a problem. 2 of them are teenagers

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## Jim A

> For newbies do what you do.  Any experience in our happy place will be marvelous.  Dont try to micro manage.  Just let it happen and it will.  See you on the beach



Some awesome suggestions in this thread, but this was the best advice IMO. Don't overbook them. If you don't go running all over the island non-stop to see everything possible in a week normally, don't do it with them. Hit one beach a day and/or hang out at the villa/hotel and relax, relax, relax. 

Take them to a couple of your favorite restos. Show them some natural beaches like Saline and Gouverneur but also rent chairs at St Jean and see which they prefer for the rest of the trip. Do what you do normally. If they like to shop take them into Gustavia one day to do so, if not don't bother and just walk around one night before dinner. If they like to hike, take them to Colombier or maybe the natural pools or maybe a half day cruise to Forchue or Colombier instead if looking for something. If you have a spare evening sunset by the hospital or whatever your favorite spot is. If not, no big deal the sun isn't going anywhere. For me I like to kind of do one thing each day and spend the rest of the time relaxing and eating and drinking!!! If they like it you can hit the other 10,000 things on your checklist over the next decade and of course they will like it  :Wink-slap:

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## Cwater

Actually in my mind St. Barth was not discovered until my honeymoon!

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## cassidain

> Actually in my mind St. Barth was not discovered until my honeymoon!



and ours 2 years later !  :Wink:

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## Dennis

One idea is to give them the car keys and let them explore on their own one morning or afternoon. After a day or two of allowing them to get somewhat oriented. 

we vacationed with another couple last year. The first time weve ever really vacationed with other people. And one thing we agreed on upfront is that we didnt need to be joined at the hip the whole time. It was perfectly OK for us to want to go do two different things during the day to reconvene back at the Villa in the evening. We also built-in a date night so each couple went out on their own for dinner and met back at the Villa for cocktails late that night.

this worked out great for us and we actually wound up extending our stay by three extra days because we were having so much fun. This was not on Saint Barts though.

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## JEK

Many years ago we took a couple along with us and after 4 solid days of day planning we turned it over to them! The highlight of the trip was their discovery of goat cheese. Every night the lady ordered it one way or the other.

Took the kids when they were old enough to drink and enjoy and that was another spirited experience.  Tried several times to get a another couple to go with us who had Jamaican experience. We could never get them past the fact that we would not be staying in the “compound” for dinner every night.

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## cec1

You have a lot of input, Marybeth, so I hesitate to add to it. I’ll say, however, that there’s a part of your message that troubles me — that your traveling companions are “super laid back.” My fear is that instead of being proactive in finding things to do, they’ll be looking for guidance & direction from you all the time. In my experience, that can be an exhausting relationship (though, as a school administrator, you may be used to it!). My recommendation, under the circumstances, would be to “program” times together . . . and times apart (which probably will require two cars — maybe you’ve already factored that into planning).

For “apart” times, have a list of pre-prepared suggestions — for example, taking a Petite Colombe lunch & bottle of wine to a beach . . . “toes-in-the-sand” lunch at Ti Corail (reservation needed) . . . Le Select lunch . . . a sunset cocktail cruise . . . an afternoon of shopping in St. Jean &/or Gustavia . . . a Pearl Beach lunch (so great for newbies to watch & hear planes landing / taking-off) . . . wind surfing lessons at Grand Cul de Sac . . . hike (or a sail) to Colombier . . . diving lessons from “Ouanalao Dive” (next to Ti Corail) . . . shopping for wine & hors d’oeuvre for evening cocktails at your Villa . . . touring island churches . . . reading by the Villa pool . . . and, of course, we shouldn’t forget a massage at one of the island’s great resort hotels!

Have fun!

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## Dennis

> Many years ago we took a couple along with us and after 4 solid days of day planning we turned it over to them! The highlight of the trip was their discovery of goat cheese. Every night the lady ordered it one way or the other.
> 
> Took the kids when they were old enough to drink and enjoy and that was another spirited experience.  Tried several times to get a another couple to go with us who had Jamaican experience. We could never get them past the fact that we would not be staying in the “compound” for dinner every night.



I had a Manchango convert once on St. John.

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## marybeth

Thanks again all, much appreciated.  We are definitely going to split up for some of the time. I love the "date night" idea and we are going to rent a second car for a few days later in the week.  Also we are staying for a second week after they leave so can chill out plenty then.

Eve, can't wait to meet you!  And for all other friends who will be there November 19 - December 3, looking forward to seeing you all!!!

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## Cwater

> Thanks again all, much appreciated.  We are definitely going to split up for some of the time. I love the "date night" idea and we are going to rent a second car for a few days later in the week.  Also we are staying for a second week after they leave so can chill out plenty then.
> 
> Eve, can't wait to meet you!  And for all other friends who will be there November 19 - December 3, looking forward to seeing you all!!!



enjoy.  Sounds like your vacation will be fabulous.  We will arrive on May 18 for a glorious 2 weeks.  Loving the chill

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