St. Maarten Private Eye

Some friends went snorkeling off Dawn Beach a couple of weeks ago, the reef was already in serious decline and nothing has changed. It's hard to compare without photos from before, but they report that alot of coral is dead or appears to be dying.
This was already occuring, bleaching, global warming etc, just a difference of a degree or two over several months can spell doom for a reef. Without this reef, the beach is unprotected. Dawn Beach is also on the side of the island where most hurricanes come from.

I would say your dream is likely to come true. One option Westin may have is to install biorock reefs.

It is my understanding that there is no law on SXM that makes having insurance mandatory. I wonder who has insured Westin, if at all. If the place gets trashed in the next major storm as many of us think, will we end up with ruins ala Mullet Bay?

Time will tell, eh?

Flipper