POINTE BLANCHE–The Pelican Peak zipline developed by Sea to Sky Ventures will open this spring. The island’s third zipline activity will offer a unique series of adventures in Pointe Blanche, just steps from Port St. Maarten.
Sea to Sky Ventures has a history of building attractions with low impact on the environment and using nature as part of the experience. This project has been in development for more than five years and was scheduled to break ground just prior to Hurricane Irma.
“Irma significantly changed our plans. However, our commitment to open the project in St. Maarten remained intact. St. Maarten is the gateway to the Caribbean, and we hope to enhance that image and promote the island as a thriving destination,” said Sea to Sky Venture partner and Chief Operating Officer Rex Owen.
Owen is responsible for the creation of several world-class attractions, including Royal Caribbean’s popular Dragon’s Breath zipline in Labadee, Haiti; Fremont Street zipline in Las Vegas; Queen Elizabeth zipline in Vancouver; the zipline at the San Diego zoo; and several others around the globe.
The first phase of this project includes a zipline with a take-off point located on the hillside adjacent to Dock Maarten.
Guests will embark from the Pelican Peak landing area at Dock Maarten by vehicle on a guided adventure up the hill. Along the way guides will entertain with stories of the cultural, maritime and natural history of St. Maarten. The hillside offers easy walking trails and several viewing decks overlooking Great Bay and neighbouring islands. The trails end at the take-off platform and guests will ride the zipline back down to sea level.
The zipline cable will be suspended more than 100 feet above the roadway and guests will land on top of the blue structure located at Dock Maarten, approximately 50 feet above the ground. The blue landing structure is made of recycled shipping containers stacked to create an iconic arch visible from Philipsburg as well as the port.
“A goal of this project is to energize guests going into Philipsburg as well as coming out, and attract guests off the ships and into the downtown corridor,” said Owen.
When asked about the concern of guests flying over Juancho Yrausquin Boulevard, Owen said, “Many of our projects are suspended over busy vehicle, pedestrian and protected areas, which is one of our specialties and adds to the uniqueness of the adventure. It is very safe and we have never experienced any issues with this design.”
The Pelican Peak team has benefited from the direction of Nature Foundation’s Tadzio Bervoets and archaeologist Jay B. Haviser of St. Maarten Archaeological Centre Simarc to create accurate content and educational material for the Pelican Peak guides.
Sea to Sky Ventures has recently led a joint initiative with Nature Foundation, world-leading coral scientist Dr. David Vaughan, and global sea conservationists Sea Legacy. Together they kicked off Dr. Vaughan’s “Plant a Million Coral” initiative. This is currently underway with its start in St. Maarten and expanding throughout the Caribbean with the goal of planting one million coral by 2025.
The zipline is only the first in a series of planned attractions for the area and will continue to grow its offering on the hill and by the water to allow guests to enjoy a new and different memorable experience in St. Maarten.
Pelican Peak is continuing to build its team in St. Maarten. To learn about employment opportunities, visit
www.PelicanPeaksxm.com or, to apply, contact careers@seatoskyventures.com .
I noticed that the Rockland Estate people lowered their cables for hurricane Irma. I assume that with long spans of cable like that they do it to prevent the cables from whipping around, breaking loose and killing people. I wonder how they can lower the Pelican Peak cables over the road when a hurricane threatens. Has the building department considered this in it’s granting of a building permit? Would be interesting to find out what they plan to do.