St. Maarten/St.Martin was a very different island than today when Andy Susko and his lifelong friend Jack Ianicci arrived here from their native New Jersey back in 1979, but it wasn’t until 1985 that Brooklynite Cheryl Wallach came to the island and met Andy and the rest is St. Martin history.

Andy, Cheryl and Jack joined forces and in 1989 opened the “Surf Club South” on the beach in Grand Case which became one of the best known watering spots on the island back when Grand Case was the place you went to party. The open-air Surf Club South became particularly famous for its live music “Dollar Sundays” and Surf Club was always packed. No matter what you were doing on any Sunday, the day or evening was never complete without going to Surf Club to see all your friends and drink and eat and party.

In 1995 the island had a visit by something called hurricane Luis which, along with its accompanying devastation, took with it Surf Club South and its tradition. Sundays were never quite the same without it but within a short period of time the guys opened “Surf Club South-New Jersey Steakhouse” on the road to Orient Beach. This place was a bit larger, replete with swimming pool and other amenities but in 2000 it was also the victim of a hurricane. This one named Lenny.

That leads us to Baywatch which opened on Orient Beach in 2000 and topped them all, offering a unique and very American ambience, reasonable prices and a totally American menu.

In 2004, Andy and Cheryl tied the official knot after almost 20 years at a wedding attended by pretty much everybody and it was a party to remember.

With Andy and Cheryl at the helm and with their own special personalities, Baywatch has developed the largest and most loyal clientele among tourists and locals alike making it one of the most popular, if not THE most popular place on the islands most famous stretch of beach.