A Café With Wifi in Simpson Bay, on the Lagoon

Two questions come up at our Simpson Bay counter more than any others. The first is whether the almond croissants have gone yet. The second is the name of the wifi network. The answer to that one is LaSucriere_Guest, and it is free. This is a guide to getting a good working morning out of our terrace on Simpson Bay Lagoon: when to arrive, what to order, where to park, and how to be the person everyone is glad to share a table with.

Is there free wifi at La Sucrière?

Yes, at both maisons. The network is LaSucriere_Guest and it is free for our guests. If your device asks you anything you are not sure about, ask at the counter.

Simpson Bay is the place to sit down and work. Our Philipsburg maison is set up mainly for takeaway, which makes it good for a coffee and a look at your messages, but not for a morning of writing.

Where is it, and is there parking?

We are at 130 Welfare Road in Simpson Bay, and the terrace sits behind the bakery on the lagoon. Parking is free on Welfare Road directly outside, with free street parking nearby, and the entrance and counter are at street level. Full directions are on our Simpson Bay page.

• From Princess Juliana airport, about five minutes by car.
• From Maho and Cupecoy, five to ten minutes.
• From the Simpson Bay marinas and Port de Plaisance, a short drive or a walk.
• From Philipsburg, about twenty minutes.

When is the best time to work here?

We open at 6 AM every day of the week, and close at 7 PM, or 6 PM on Sunday. The terrace is quietest right at opening and busiest between about eight and eleven in the morning, most of all on weekend mornings in high season, which runs from December into April.

So the best working hours are the early ones. Arrive at six or half past, take a table by the water, and you will have the place, the light and the boats largely to yourself until the morning rush. If early is not for you, the terrace is open until closing. Just know that the busy morning stretch is when tables are most wanted.

A working morning, hour by hour

• 6:00. A café au lait and a butter croissant. Together they come to around five dollars.
• 7:00. The light on the lagoon is the best of the day. Do your hardest thinking now.
• 8:00. The terrace starts to fill. If you have a big table to yourself, this is a kind moment to move to a smaller one.
• 11:00. Switch to iced coffee. From about eleven the island makes that decision for you.
• 12:00. Lunch from the same counter: quiche at $4.75 or a baguette sandwich from $6.50.
• Afterwards. A tart, a last coffee, and the boats going past close enough to read their names.

What should you order for a long morning?

Coffee first: espresso, cappuccino, café au lait and iced coffee, all from 6 AM. Coffee prices are shown at the counter, and our coffee page has the details. Then, from our price list:

• Croissants. Plain butter $2.50, chocolate $2.75, almond $3.00, almond chocolate $3.25, pecan $3.50.
• Rolls. Cinnamon roll $3.00, raisin roll $3.00.
• Something savoury. Breakfast sandwich $4.50, ham and cheese croissant $4.25, quiche $4.75 in ham and cheese, mushroom, spinach or chicken.
• Lunch. Classic baguette sandwiches $6.50, the larger ones $8.50, tuna salad $8.00, chicken salad $9.00.

One warning, from experience: the almond croissants go early. If your working morning depends on one, reserve it twenty four hours ahead through our order page and it will be bagged and waiting. For what a proper breakfast here looks like, see our breakfast page.

The terrace, honestly

Behind the bakery there is a deck on Simpson Bay Lagoon with around sixty seats. It is outdoors, it is first come, first served, and there are no reservations. That shapes what kind of work it suits.

• Writing, reading, planning and email: ideal.
• Long video calls: possible, but this is a shared open air terrace with boats and conversation around you. Headphones help everyone.
• Power: come with a charged battery. We would rather not promise a socket at every table.
• Sun: it moves. A table in the shade at seven may not be at ten, so choose your seat with the morning in mind.

And then there are the iguanas. They are native, they live around the lagoon, and they come up onto the deck to sun themselves. We do not feed them, and we would ask you not to either. They are perfectly indifferent to laptops.

Meeting someone, or catching a flight?

The terrace works well as a meeting point because it is easy to find and easy to park at. Give your guest the address, 130 Welfare Road, or the plus code 2WJ6+QR. There are no reservations, so if the meeting matters, set it for before eight, when a table is easiest to find. Two coffees and two croissants come to around ten dollars.

We are also about five minutes by car from Princess Juliana International Airport, and we open at 6 AM, which makes a last working hour before a morning departure entirely realistic. Send the email, finish the coffee, then drive to check in. Our airport page has the details.

A little terrace etiquette

None of this is a rule. It is simply what makes a shared terrace work.

• Order something every couple of hours: a coffee, a pastry, lunch. Free wifi is something we offer our guests, and it stays that way because people use it that way.
• In the busy morning stretch, share or give up a bigger table if you are on your own.
• Keep calls short and quiet.
• Tipping is optional, and 100% of every tip goes directly to the staff.

Staying longer on the island?

If you are here for weeks rather than days, on a yacht, in a villa or in an office, the morning can come to you instead. We run standing breakfast orders, coffee included, for offices and for charters around the lagoon. They are set up once and then simply repeat. See villa and yacht provisioning and office catering.

For everything else in the neighbourhood, from the marinas to the evening strip, our local's guide to Simpson Bay is a good next read. But start here, at six, with a coffee and the lagoon still quiet.