Great Bay Beach ?

[mhb]

I have been reading these boards for about 1 month now and have learned alot. My next questions for all of you.

When we get to St Maarten, I have read about Great Bay Beach and how nice it may be. Do you find this to be true? We have 3 children, 15, 13, 11 and I think they may like the water trampoine that I have read is there. Can anyone give me an idea how much that costs and is it worth it? I would love to sit on the beach and watch the children have fun doing that.

It also seems that if I'm right there we could go back to the ship if we needed something or to change to go shopping.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[christinou]

We really enjoyed it, but it is not a scenic beach, it is right in town, the water trampoline was $5 per person, and the chairs the same. It is very convenient to go there from the cruise ship, we went there in the morning, then went back on the ship for lunch and to meet up with my husband, then went back in the afternoon, they have a water taxi, that goes from the pier to the beach area constantly, it cost $5 for unlimited rides, kids are free.

 

[DisneyWorldDad]

Yes it is convenient but definately not scenic. We were there 2 weeks ago and the chairs were situated on top of a sand hill that was about 4' high. We were constantly hounded by vendors while we were in our chairs so it was not relaxing. The kids liked the trampoline, however. We have a 21 mo. old so our options on excursions were limited and we did not want to expose our 12 and 7 yo to the nude Orient Beach!

We were not impressed by the beach or front street of St Maarten.

IMHO

DWD

 

[TheWog]

If you want convenience Great Bay is perfect. The beach is very nice and the water warm. The sand is a little funky, but great nonetheless. The trampoline is $5 pp and the chairs with an umbrella are $10 for 2. We found the place that also included your first drink and we bargained in a jet ski rental and got it all for $45.00. They then come back to you and bring you drinks if you want them. The chairs are right at the water line and some are right in front of the trampoline (you will need to walk down the beach some), but beware the water gets pretty deep pretty quickly at the trampoline, so you will have to watch them. The hawkers became a little annoying, but nothing a no thank you can't take care of. They do have some good deals, but work with them if you want to buy there stuff. We spent the morning at the beach, relaxing swimming and playing and then went back to the ship using the $5.00 all day water taxi/kids free and showered changed and had lunch. Then returned to town and did some shopping. It was a great day. As said above the beach is not as beautiful as some others may be, but it was more than adequate for what we wanted and that was a great day relaxing at the beach.

 

[dis4me]

If you are looking for convenience this is the only way to go. The water ferry$5 per person kids free travels back and forth all day. They serve drinks (fee) servie on the beach and you can gt 2 chairs and an umbrella for $10. I believe there are jet ski rentals near the water trampoline as well.We have done this 3 times and loved it. Last time we had bit of an experience there but I won't rehash it on the boards.
We are going again and plan on going there for the sheer convenience of being able to get back and forth from the ship for whatever we need. I know it isn't scenic but we will do our "pretty beach" on St thomas.

 

[dis4me]

The Wog you beat me to the punch but summed it up nicely.

 

[TheWog]

Originally posted by dis4me
The Wog you beat me to the punch but summed it up nicely.

Thank you very much. We found it to be a really nice day.

 

[Favorite Auntie]

St Martin is my favorite island, and I love Great Bay Beach. I had my 5 year old nephew with me last November, and he LOVED the trampoline and the beach. It was great that the ship was right there too. Lots of pictures with the Magic in the background. Great Beach!