The island of St. Martin, despite having some great places to visit, it's becoming quite a crowed/confusing place.

It was my first time on the Caribbean and I must say I was expecting something else. A more relaxed place, more natural, more wild. In Pinel Island I found that.

Pinel Island it's a wonderful place to visit and the perfect getaway from St. Martin.

You have to go to the eco-snorkeling site and dive there, do the trail around the island and lay low on one of the two existing restaurants (for me, I advise you to go to the Yellow Beach).

I would rate it the no.1 place to visit if you're ever in St. Martin.

Love going to Pinel for a quiet day away from the hustle of Orient.
A short ferry ride from Cul de Sac (5 min. and $7.00 per person) it is great day to relax by calm waters with 3 restaurants to choose from for lunch. You can hike to the other side for beautiful views and the actually have some of the best snorkeling there. We always set aside a day for Pinel when in St. Martin.

We put this off till the end of our trip and I really regretted it. It is a small island right off the shore of St. Martin. The beaches were beautiful and kid friendly (the water stays shallow). While the island is "uninhabited" there are 4 restaurants there. The one we ate at was good (nothing amazing), especially considering everything was prepared by shipped in water and generator power. Iguana roam the island and seem to have little fear of people. What I really enjoyed was the hike. There is a trail that goes around the island with information as you go to explain what you are seeing, point out the sights or just teach you about the area. I would like to go back, try the other restaurants and finish the hike.

The snorkeling trail on Pinel Isle is amazing. Isabelle was very informative and helpful, even though we brought our own equipment and snorkeled the trail on our own. Lunch at Karibuni's was good. The beach is hot, but the water is shallow and so clear - one of the best beaches on St. Maarten. As the afternoon wore on and the heat kicked in, we decided to go snorkel on the trail some more, since it was so great. Ferry was $7, to Pinel at 10 AM, back to Cul de Sac at 3:30 PM. One of the best day trips we had on St. Maarten, and an absolute must!!!