St. Maarten

[bermudaannie]

Any thoughts on things to do (or def not do) in St. Maarten?

 

[DisneyOHFan]

We used Bernard's Tours, which was fabulous. For us, it was a great way to see both sides of the island and get some beach time.

 

[Madhattr]

We toured the island with Bernard's Tours. Highly rated and a real winner!

 

[bermudaannie]

Great Thanks! I will def check them out! Any must sees on their tours?

 

[dznyacct]

We used Bernard's Tours, which was fabulous. For us, it was a great way to see both sides of the island and get some beach time.

We used Bernard's Tours in May and them !!! I would not hesitate at all and use them again .

 

[Wendy&Grumpy]

America's Cup Regatta - DH and I had a blast and I'm planning to take my adult & teen kids on our next cruise!

 

[newdismom]

Americ Regatta - DH and I had a blast and I'm planning to take my adult & teen kids on our next cruise!

I second that! It was so fun to race the other ships. One of my favorite excursions ever!

 

[barbarasc]

Another vote for Bernard's! a fav is Sunset Bar & Grill @ Maho Beach to watch the planes takeoff and land.....it is amazing!

 

[Bear3412]

Maho beach. Time it right and wide body jets land on you it seems.

 

[SJRB]

I second that! It was so fun to race the other ships. One of my favorite excursions ever!

Third it. We loved it-especially teenage boys!

 

[bermudaannie]

Has anyone tried Soualiga Destinations? http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...psburg_Sint_Maarten_St_Martin_St_Maarten.html

 

[John21601]

We did Bernard's as well. We did the shopping trip as opposed to the beach trip. That gave us two hours in Marigot. We ate lunch at Sarafina's. The pastries were delicious.

We also liked Sunset Grill. Since that was the last stop, the tour guide said we could stay how ever long it took for a big plane to come in. It was neat.

 

[Chee Chick]

How far in advance do you have to make a reservation with Benard's?

 

[noahsketomom]

For those who have done Bernard's, would it be interesting enough for four kids (ages 7-12)? It seems like you make a lot of stops, so I'm assuming they wouldn't get bored....

 

[bzss7x]

We went on the Random Wind (look them up on tripadvisor) back in July. We had a great sail. There were about 15 people on the boat. We stopped twice and enjoyed both. The trip is geared toward snorkeling and swimming, which we enjoyed. The food and drink was good and plentiful. We would not hesitate to book again.

 

[mom2aredhead]

I'm in the minority. We didn't particularly like Bernards.
Its a LOT of time on the bus listening to the driver say "on the Dutch side...on the French side". The kids (including my 8 year old) definitely got bored after a while.
We liked Orient Beach and if we do another Eastern itinerary I would just head right there and spend the day.

 

[reimero]

It's a little out of the way and something you'd have to arrange on your own, but my DW and I took a perfume-making class at Tijon in Grand Case. We had to take a taxi (something like $25 each way), but it was a lot of fun and a unique experience. I'd say it's probably an appropriate excursion for "mature 9" or older, since it involves some fairly precise measurements and a lot of counting and note-taking. On the other hand, the owner talked about a 12-year-old girl who had concocted a fairly involved, interesting perfume blend of her own.

It was a little on the expensive side ($100/person) but well worth it. We got a goodie bag of stuff as well as a bottle of the perfume we made.

 

[dmonroe]

We also used Bernard's Tours and had a great time! Our guide, John, was awesome. We had 6 boys (5, 6, 7, 10, 13, 15) and they all had fun. For our first stop, John asked if we were ok with the boys feeding some iguanas. We said sure, and had the best time. He brought along 2 bags of lettuce and all of the boys had a great time feeding them and getting pictures with them. After that we went to Sunset Grill to have lunch and watch the planes land--another big hit the all of the boys. After that we did a bit of sight seeing on our way to Orient Beach, then spent the rest of the day there. All three families agreed that it was a great day.

 

[mom2aredhead]

Our tour was different.
We stopped at the iguanas (20 minutes)...and the sea urchin guy (15 minutes)...and a scenic overlook (or 2) for 5 minutes...and the Dutch/French border (5 minutes)...and Marigot (maybe 20 minutes)...and Orient beach for 90 minutes...and Maho for a half hour...and some junky little souvenir shop at the end. And a LOT of time on the bus in between.

 

[mike the canuck]

Here is a video I took of my day in St. Maarten:
http://youtu.be/g2uuRVA2vzk

There is a cool Star Wars shop owned by one of the creators of Yoda. It is called Planet Paradise. It has some cool Star Wars stuff. It's in my video