Eastern Cruise - Best Beaches

[royalfun]

We're going on Disney Magic next week with two 10 yr old girls. Does anyone know the best beaches to go to on St Maarten and St Thomas. If they're crowded, are they still fun to go to? Any suggestions? Thanks for helping.

 

[AnnMorin]

We went over to trunk bay in St. John while in St. Thomas. It is rated one of the ten most beautiful beaches in the world and I can see why. It was just beautiful! Can't help you with St. Maarten as we avoided the beaches there. Be aware that in St. Martin/St. Maarten the beaches are clothing optional, I believe on the dutch side they are only topless but on the french side anything goes. Our table mates went to pinal island (sp?) in St. Maarten and had no problem with "exposing" their daughter to "new sights" but do be prepared it can happen there. A quick talk about other cultures may be in order in case you are in for a surprise
*****
Edited my post to clarify that I mean their daughter was not "exposed" to anyone's nudity. Re-reading it I did not sound clear, I was not saying the parents had no problem with her being exposed but rather they did not see any naked people that day

 

[markey]

We went to Orient Beach (French side), and it was a very nice beach. Could rent wave runners, there were neat bars where you could get the best smoothies (non alcoholic, which I got) and the people were very friendy. We told the Taxi driver to take us to Orient Beach, he siad he will take us to the best family part. We saw maybe 3 or 4 topless. We had 2 grandkids, 5 and 6. We did not make a big deal about it, in fact I don't even know if they noticed and they never giggled, like that age would do, about it . I think a lot make too big a deal of the bathing suit optional statement. I do not want to run around without clothes, and would not want to watch a volley ball game played in the buff, but that is not what we saw. Another thing, the Europeans are raised on beaches where this is the norm, and they act very casual about it. It's most of the people from the USA who think it's awful, and I'm sure if you checked you would probably find more sexual crimes in the USA where we would never allow such things on our beaches.

 

[AnnMorin]

But since my son is almost ten I do not think it is appropriate for him.
That is my personal opinion. He is already becoming aware enough of girls/woman in general and I don't think he needs to see them naked-just my personal preference.

I was simply making the original poster aware that nudity is accepted there in case they were not aware. Some people may feel uncomfortable with ten year old girls seeing a completely naked grown man. It is not unreasonable to warn someone that is a possiblity that this could happen where nudity is the norm.

I don't think it is awful or whatever but since my son is not raised in that culture I do not see a need to indoctornate him to practices that are unacceptable at home-i was not judgeing anyone on their culture.

As for the sex crimes tie in you lost me there.

At any rate the caribbean beaches are beautiful have a wonderful trip!

 

[Jobro2]

I can certainly understand your viewpoint...when we cruise in June, my DS will be 13, my DD 11. We cruised in June 2001 and went to Coki beach and there was no nudity..that said, I would not pick a beach this time where nudity was a possibility...I don't think my 13 yr. old son needs to be exposed to nudity, inparticular women...that is just my personal opinion...there is enough going on with his hormones now without adding naked women!! Also, I have no desire for my 11 yr. old daughter to see naked men marching around a beach..and yes, my children would notice people topless or naked...we were not brought up in that culture, so it would definately stand out to them and would be uncomfortable for all of us! Call me "old fashioned" if you want, but I'll keep to a clothed, family beach!!

 

[4nana]

There are so many beautiful beaches on these 2 islands,
I do not think you can go wrong with whatever you pick!

We stuck with the family beaches-
On St. M our family took a taxi 10-15 min to Dawn Beach. The section we went to was very quite, w/o the hustle bustle. The water current was strong and the grands loved the waves.

On St. T we chose Coki Beach. It is connected to Coral World and Caribbean Watersports. The men went parasailing, while the ladies took the kids to Coral World, an underwater observatory
not to be missed. Later we all met for a fun time on the beach and a picnic we'd brought from the ship. The aqua water was absolutely beautiful, clear and peaceful, perfect for snorkeling.
It goes w/o saying you will find more people here. It was a great day and we had a wonderful time!

I have included a couple sites that I hope will help you. Enjoy!!

http://www.coralworldvi.com/9exhibits.htm

http://www.experiencestmaarten.com/sports/bythesea.htm

http://www.virginisles.com/activities/beaches.html#stthomas