Getting to Maho Beach

[preemiemommy]

Just booked the October 20th Fantasy EC cruise and am soooooooo excited since this will be our first time there.... We are wanting to visit Maho Beach, so the kids can see the planes, but have the French Riveria Beach Rondezvous excursion already planned.... For those of you who have been there before, is there anyway we could do both??? Should I cancel the excursion and do the Afternoon Beach one instead??? I would appreciate any help I could get, since we really want this to be a fun day....


DH ME (12) DS (8)

 

[bmer1rick]

If you are really interested in doing both. I would recommend using Bernard's Tours. The price is extremely reasonable ($40 pp) and you get to visit both. There are many reviews of the tour on the board if you search for it. Here is one:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2864480

You need to book through them though, it is not a DCL excursion.

http://www.bernardstours.com/

 

[castawaycayfans]

A second recommendation for Bernard's Tours, we did one with in Jan and had a great time.

 

[TexasGirl]

Another vote for Barnards. That way you do both....and more. V we really enjoyed our tour w Bernard's. Maho beach was our favorite stop.

 

[toywaltz]

If you decide to not go with Bernards, you can still most likely do both. There are vans at the dock that can take you for around $75, but you can also wait on a Taxi and price is around $35. We took a short trip over there later in the day, arrived around 3pm and spent about an hour on the beach. Driver waited on us and took us back. Most of the heavy airline traffic comes in around noon-2pm so it's kind of good and bad...you miss the traffic but also the wild crowd. We got to see a few land and one take off. An hour was plenty....otherwise there's not much to do there besides drink, watch planes, and see the occassional topless beachgoer that probably shouldn't be topless

 

[onecoolpilot]

Just booked the October 20th Fantasy EC cruise and am soooooooo excited since this will be our first time there.... We are wanting to visit Maho Beach, so the kids can see the planes, but have the French Riveria Beach Rondezvous excursion already planned.... For those of you who have been there before, is there anyway we could do both??? Should I cancel the excursion and do the Afternoon Beach one instead??? I would appreciate any help I could get, since we really want this to be a fun day....


DH ME (12) DS (8)

We are on this cruise too, and while the only thing that really interests me is visiting Maho Beach, we will likely be doing the Bernard's tour. From what I've read on here, that's THE way to see the island.

If you haven't already, hop on over to our cruise meet thread.

October 20, 2012, Disney Fantasy, Eastern Caribbean-Who's with us?

 

[FriendOfFanatic]

You could just hire a taxi for the whole day. Last fall the Magic was the only ship in port, and we hired a taxi for the whole day for $90 plus tip. The usual rates from the port to Maho is $18 for two. From there to Orient beach is $30 for two. From Orient to the port is $20 for two. That is $68 for the round trip. Most of the taxis will wait for you however you want to wait at each stop. If not you can ask them to come back to pick you up at a certain time. I have taken a taxi to Maho and around the island twice. Both time the driver just waited for the 2-3 hours for us to see the planes. We also made stops in Marigot and Orient and the driver waited until we were ready at each place. It is very simple and the drivers are easygoing. This is what I would suggest, just use a taxi for the whole day. Talk with the driver at the taxi stand and agree on a price before you start.

 

[ImDMous]

I'm another vote for Bernard's Tour. It was $40 a person for the whole day, stops at Orient Beach, Maho Beach, Marigot and several other places. Great drivers, small groups, comfortable air conditioned bus. We loved it!

 

[Silverfox97]

we will likely be doing the Bernard's tour. From what I've read on here, that's THE way to see the island.

It totally is!! It's awesome & a bargain!!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[zellda]

We're also considering Bernard's Tours. Any opinions on whether Tour 1 or Tour 2 is better?? 1 has the longer stop at Orient Beach, and 2 has 10 minutes more at Maho, but didn't see much difference otherwise, so is tour 2 shorter?

 

[ImDMous]

We just went in May and there was only one tour, so it looks like they are trying out some new timing or something. Their website looks totally different now. When we went, our guide just asked us whether we wanted to spend more time at Orient or more time at Maho. He suggested Maho since he said the water was a little warmer and calmer there.

I liked Orient Beach, it was nice to have time to get a chair, go in the water, grab a drink and relax. The facilities were a bit lacking, so if you're picky about that kind of thing you might not want to stay too long.