St. Maarten - what to see and do

[swilphil]

How is Great Bay Beach? This is our first cruise and first time to the carribean. We just want some sand and surf.

 

[WIFamily]

We caught a cab to Dawn Beach, no topless ladies there. Check out my trip report for more information

Well, I just scratched Dawn Beach off the "Must See" list.

 

[rainbowfish]

Has anyone tried the Golden Eagle Catamaran excursion? .[/COLOR]

We did the evening cruise on the Golden Eagle. Best excursion ever!

 

[mickeyworld]

WE grabbed a local taxi after we got off the boat, she took us to the Kon-Tiki a great place to eat and lay in the sand. Yes, some topless ladies and one guy(he seemed to want attention...)
Had 4 kids with us and had a blast!

 

[JP-STL]

St. Martin was the best day on our cruise!

We avoided the official excursions at both St. Thomas and St. Martin as I thought they were way overpriced. On St. Martin, we simply walked off the boat with no plans. We ended up renting an open-top jeep for the day and had a blast! We had crammed the kids in the back seat (3 across) and went on our way.

We found some great little places. I think we were probablyi tresspassing on private property at times, but if there was no sign posted telling us to keep out, we went in! We found a shack on a beach where the owners kept horses and had a monkey tied up on their porch. We went to a quiet little beach with a mangrove swamp behind it that was filled with hermit crabs and lots of interesting fish. There were goats and chickens roaming around. We stopped for lunch at a ferry boat landing and had a burger at a little take-out stand. We found a nice little cafe on the French side and had a drink and a snack there. We ended up at place called "Long Beach," I think. Big waves, which my boys really enjoyed. We ended up going the wrong way around the airport, and we were right at the end of the runway (at the beach that a previous poster mentioned) when a big KLM jumbo jet took off. Wow, was that loud. And impressive.

It was just a great day of exploring on our own. I'd highly recommend it. The jeep was about $80 for the day.

 

[weathernlu]

Is St. Martin the one with casinos? I know I heard something about a casino on one of the VIs and I need to find it. Seven days on a boat with no casino doesn't work for me!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

St. Martin was the best day on our cruise!

We avoided the official excursions at both St. Thomas and St. Martin as I thought they were way overpriced. On St. Martin, we simply walked off the boat with no plans. We ended up renting an open-top jeep for the day and had a blast! We had crammed the kids in the back seat (3 across) and went on our way.

We found some great little places. I think we were probablyi tresspassing on private property at times, but if there was no sign posted telling us to keep out, we went in! We found a shack on a beach where the owners kept horses and had a monkey tied up on their porch. We went to a quiet little beach with a mangrove swamp behind it that was filled with hermit crabs and lots of interesting fish. There were goats and chickens roaming around. We stopped for lunch at a ferry boat landing and had a burger at a little take-out stand. We found a nice little cafe on the French side and had a drink and a snack there. We ended up at place called "Long Beach," I think. Big waves, which my boys really enjoyed. We ended up going the wrong way around the airport, and we were right at the end of the runway (at the beach that a previous poster mentioned) when a big KLM jumbo jet took off. Wow, was that loud. And impressive.

It was just a great day of exploring on our own. I'd highly recommend it. The jeep was about $80 for the day.

Where did you rent the car? Did you get the insurance?

How is driving in St. Martin? is it safe? (i.e. compared say to mexico or jamaica where I wouldn't personally rent a vehicle on my own ).


For $80....I may be interested in doing that on our Carnival cruise. (We will have DS's carseat with us..though not sure I'd have the boosters for the girls..hmmmm....)

 

[Barbossa]

Where did you rent the car? Did you get the insurance?

How is driving in St. Martin? is it safe? (i.e. compared say to mexico or jamaica where I wouldn't personally rent a vehicle on my own ).


For $80....I may be interested in doing that on our Carnival cruise. (We will have DS's carseat with us..though not sure I'd have the boosters for the girls..hmmmm....)

There are rental car kiosks at the end of the pier to the right (walking away from the ship). Signs are posted to guide you there, can't miss it. Budget RAC is there along with some other local outfits. Driving on SM was pretty easy, they're on the same side of the road as the US (and the steering wheels are on the left side of the car). There are turnabouts as in the UK, which are easy once you figure out what they do. I purchased vehicle replacement insurance. I reserved my car in advance, but I didn't get the impression that they were sold out. A great way to see St. Martin!

One caveat: There are two drawbridges on the island to let boats into the various harbors. Traffic around those bridges is horrendous during rush hour. I recommend that you either 1) avoid the areas serviced by the bridges after 3:00pm, or 2) make sure you get across them before they open. With a little websearching you can find out what the current drawbridge open times are.

 

[captaincrash]

Anyone have a suggestion on the best beaches for kids (with jet-skis)??

Jen

Did you get pictures? of the beach I mean..

Here is St maartens' Orient beach 4 years ago (Sept)... which was our first Disney cruise. The image at tope left was our first moments on the sand here - and our older girl was a tiny 2 + then while my spouse was in her 2nd trimester with our 2nd!

They had Jet Skis here - we did not rent them however here are some shots I had already loaded from St Maarten...

Below are a couple of snap shots of the water taxi pier near the ship which runs to town... AND then a shot of the downtown main street.

 

[captaincrash]

Where did you rent the car? Did you get the insurance?

How is driving in St. Martin? is it safe? (i.e. compared say to mexico or jamaica where I wouldn't personally rent a vehicle on my own ).


For $80....I may be interested in doing that on our Carnival cruise. (We will have DS's carseat with us..though not sure I'd have the boosters for the girls..hmmmm....)

FOr $85 (as I recollect) we got an 11 passenger van from a no-name ental car agency on this pier. We argued (and could prove) we had reservations for 2 small cars at about $45 and the guy had to beat the deal to get our business. He had no small cars left so he offerred the van for less then the cost for two cars. SO... since we saved 5 bucks on the cars plus gas (in thoery) and driving effort (a van was what we wanted all along)... we added the CDW.... which was a rip off as usual but a big measure of security for us.

 

[RBennett]

Does anyone know how much the jet skis are to rent there? My DW and I will be there on our 3rd anniversary and right now the only thing that we're contemplating doing is goin to Orient Beach for a little while and then head back to the ship for some down time maybe at the Rainforest Room or Rasul.

 

[owensjro]

After doing some searching of past trip reports and stuff on this board I think we've decided we are going to take a taxi to the butterfly farm and do the tour there. Then we will walk next door to the horse "ranch" and let our daughter do some lessons or the pony ride (she isn't old enough for the longer rides...7+) then take the taxi to Orient Beach (probably Bikini or Kakao). Then taxi back to the ship once we're done.

Oh, and I hear there's a tourist info place near the port that has a magazine with coupons for the butterfly farm.

Jim

 

[ratt1345]

Sorry if I repeat, but I was too lazy to read the previous 2 pages. I went on a bus tour of the island. I thought it was very informative. About half way through they stop for a 'nature' break. I also went into one of the casinos they have there. Didn't do anything else due to a thunderstorm rolled through, which made me go back to the ship. Whatever it is you choose to do, enjoy yourself and soak up the scenery!!!

 

[JP-STL]

Where did you rent the car? Did you get the insurance?

How is driving in St. Martin? is it safe? (i.e. compared say to mexico or jamaica where I wouldn't personally rent a vehicle on my own ).


For $80....I may be interested in doing that on our Carnival cruise. (We will have DS's carseat with us..though not sure I'd have the boosters for the girls..hmmmm....)

Don't know what "brand." Just some local outfit on the pier. As for car seats...we went with the local laws. In other words, we didn't use any. Our youngest was 4, so by U.S. standards it was a bit risky, but we threw caution to the wind and had a great day.

Also, I declined the insurance as I recall. Not sure, though.

I've also rented on St. Thomas (not on this cruise, but another trip), and taken the ferry across the channel to St. John. I'd highly recommend that as well. St. John is 10X better than St. Thomas, and renting is the best way to see it. They drive on the left in the USVI, but its no big deal. Just stay sober and keep your wits about you. Don't let your fear keep you from having a great time!

 

[JoyBender]

Hi I can't find any reviews anywhere on this! i have my husband and son reserved for this we are sailing the 8th. However if it is a waste I want to cancel before it's too late.

 

[mimi'sgirl]

Has anyone gone to Le Gallion Beach? It's supposed to be calm for smaller children to swim. Does anyone have any info?

 

[RebeccaLovesDisney]

We went to Le Galion beach on our Eastern cruise 3 years ago and really liked it. We originally planned to go to Dawn beach but it was a windy, rough day, so our taxi driver suggested Le Galion. He said it's also knows as "Baby beach" because it is so popular with parents of young children. The water is very calm and it is a small beach - not too crowded. Only one vendor came by the whole time we were there. There were chairs and umbrellas to use for a fee (maybe $10??) and there was a little bar/food stand that had restrooms and a shower.

On other trips to St. Maarten, we visited Orient beach - a beautiful beach but very crowded and water can be rough - and Great Bay beach - we didn't like this one.

 

[JoyBender]

how far is it from the ship? what time should you head back to the ship to avoid heavy traffic

 

[RebeccaLovesDisney]

I don't remember exactly how long it took to get to Le Galion - maybe 20-25 minutes. It's close to Dawn Beach and the Butterfly Farm and it's closer to the port than Orient Beach is. I think we left around 3:00 and didn't encounter heavy traffic.

 

[tidefan]

You guys should try Pinel Island (or Ilet Pinel in French). To me, it's the best beach on St. Maarten.

http://www.visitpinel.com