Excursions to St.Maarten

[mjw]

I have seen lots of posts about doing Trunk Bay in St. John on your own. Wonder if there is anything similar in St. Maarten. Our DD is 9 and wants to snorkel. We are considering the Golden Eagle Catamaran but wonder about the quality of the snorkeling and whether we will have enough time. Am a little hesitant to go on our own as we have no desire to see nude bathers.

 

[Señor Ferrari]

On St. Maarten, we like to go to Dawn Beach, which is said to be the best snorkeling beach on the island. It's about a 15 minute cab ride from the pier. You can rent chairs,umbrellas,floats, etc. right there, and there is a small restaurant with restrooms. The only drawback with Dawn Beach is that the water can sometimes be rough if the weather is bad. Another good snorkling choice is Little Bay Beach, which is just west of Great Bay, where the ship docks.

If the water looks choppy, Little Bay might be a better choice, if not, I'd vote for Dawn Bach. Both are on the Dutch side of the island, so there is no nudity to speak of.

 

[bkline]

We've done Golden Eagle twice. It's a nice excursion, but not the best snorkeling in terms of seeing a lot of different fish and other sea creatures. You get about 1 1/2 hours at the beach/snorkel area. The catamaran ride is enjoyable. My DS was 5 1/2 the first time we went and we thought a short excursion was the way to go in case he got too tired.

 

[kcand sunshine]

Just got back from the 3/23. We did the Golden Eagle trip in the afternoon. It was very bumpy and lots of people got sick. Once there, alot of kids didn't want to snorkel. I snorkeled and by the time I got over to where they were feeding the fish we had to head back to the boat-didn't see a thing. The ride back was very smooth and alot of fun. Lots of beer,champagne ,sub sandwiches and singing YMCA as we got into port!!!!Very nice crew but I heard it's calmer in the morning!! Heard also the 5 star Trunk Bay is the way to go. Just make sure your child can handle an all day excursion.