dawn beach-St.Marteen(taxi's)??

[BABYJOSIE98]

I was researching for our upcoming Eastern trip(O5) I know it is far away,but I am just that way..hee hhe
I was looking at a website that listed all the beaches in St.Marteens and there is a beach that is called DAWN BEACH that looks beautiful. Has anyone ventured off on their own?? Are taxi's easy to get and could you set a time for the driver to come back and pick you up????

Great Bay sounds good and is close to the ship,but I might like to venture off a bit. Dawn beach on the map does not look that far from where the ships dock.

Just trying to find out my options- making notes in my travel folder. Thanks for any help???

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

Dawn Beach is my favorite beach on the island. It's easy to get there on your own. There is a taxi stand at the base of the cruise ship pier, with signs to group people by various destinations. Just go to the one for Dawn Beach, you shouldn't have to wait long for a cab. It's about a 10-15 minute ride, and I think it cost about $15 for two the last time I went. You can set up a time with the driver to come get you, but that's really not necessary. There's a small restaurant there, and they can call you a cab when you're ready.

The beach itself is very nice. Some of the best snorkeling on the island. Some days it gets a bit rough, since it's on the Atlantic side of the island. You can rent chairs, umbrellas, floats, etc. right on the beach. You can grab lunch at the restaurant. There are restrooms there, too.

 

[BABYJOSIE98]

That sounds perfect....Is it really beautiful??? The pictures look like it is.
I printed the info from the St.Marteen website. I will have to make note of it.

Thanks for all the info....I want to get out and see a few different things while on this cruise. Since we have 3 days at sea...I can relax on those days.

I'm excited! Only thing is I have a whole year to wait!!!

I am going on RCCL in Jan and it stops at KEY WEST. I am excited to go there too.

 

[wildernessfamily]

The day we went the surf was a little rough, and the beach seems to drop off not far from shore. So if you plan on swimming or snorkeling I would recommend you be a good swimmer. The snorkeling was great as the other reply said and I also agree on what they said about the taxi, bathrooms and lunch. It was not crowded so it made for a very nice day at the beach. Enjoy!

 

[musicgirl]

Dawn Beach was beautiful. We were just there 2 weeks ago. The taxi's are nice and they do have a fixed price. It was suppose to be $18 for the 3 of us one way. We arranged to have him pick us up in 1 1/2 hours. He did not have us pay ahead of time for either leg.

He was very informative and arrived back right on time.

There was only one slight problem. For some reason, he thought we wanted to go downtown instead of back to the ship. We should have stated our request again when we got back in.

Anyway, he went to drop us offf downtown, when we explained we wanted to go back to the ship, it was no problem.
However, he upped our total in taxi rates to $42 instead of $36.

It was really very easy.

Lorie

 

[RellingTwin]

Another vote for Dawn Beach. We had a great day there!

 

[abitjaded]

Dawn Beach is nice. You can also rent a car and drive there. The car rentals are right at the end of the dock. We rented a van, may be cheaper if you have a large group. The rental info is on Dave's site. the snorkeling is supposed to be the best on St. Maarten, but I want to second the other posters. The waves can be high and there is a fair drop off. To see the fish you will be in water above your head. If you are very experienced snorkelers or divers, do not be expecting to be dazzled by the fish variety, it is just O.K., if you have snorkeled often. There is a nice beach restaurant there. They do sandwiches and drinks and grilled fish. There are restrooms and space to change. There is a limited supply fresh water gear rinse and outdoor shower (fresh water is very expensive on St M, conserve!). It is easy to swim here, then have plenty of time to cruise the rest of the island and do a little shopping (which is great fun in Phillipsburg).

Carla