Shore Excursions on St. Maarten?

[Jen in MA]

We are trying to decide which excursion to do on our St. Maarten day... What have you done? A brief report and your thoughts/comments would be greatly appreciated... Thanks!!!

 

[tvguy]

We did the 12 metre regetta. It rocked. I never in a million years would have done that on my own, but my wife thought it sounded fun. All four of us enjoyed it. Daughter was 12 at the time, son 16. You can be as involved or uninvolved in running the boat as you want.
An added bonus was the Queen Elizabeth 2 was anchored out in the bay, so we were sailing around her..........although the QE2 wasn't as impressive in person as I expected. But still a classic ocean liner.

 

[gdulaney]

We've done the 12-metre too...it's so much fun. They have "physical" and "not so physical" activities.

The Rhino Rider is also alot of fun.

Let me know if you have questions about either...I'll be glad to try and answer.

Ginny

 

[Disneybridein2k3]

We are trying to decide which excursion to do on our St. Maarten day... What have you done? A brief report and your thoughts/comments would be greatly appreciated... Thanks!!!

We did the Butterfly Farm tour -- DD10 LOVED it and DH and I thought it was pretty cool too. The bus ride (around 45 min) was very informative and on the way back, the bus drops you off in the shopping district.

 

[DOOGIERUNNER]

We did this in the Summer of 03 and loved it. Visit www.offshoresunsations.com for more info. Click on testimonials, we're the folks from July 03.

 

[Skallywag]

Try the little zoo if you have children with you they will love it and it is very close to the terminal.

 

[jennat]

We are doinG Lord Sheffield (like a pirate ship). It got fantastic reviews on cruise critics ports of call boards. Also, I would love to go to Maho beach and watch the planes land. Check out this picture....(scan down to third one) http://www.jamesjohnstonphotography.com/4.html Let us know what you do.

 

[Jen in MA]

jennat - What a cool pic! Where is Maho beach? What's the best way to get there?

 

[jennat]

I'm not exactly sure. I'm sure you just jump in a cab and go. I hope to find out, but not until Sept. I think my kids would get a kick out of it. I hear the big planes come in after 12:00. here is a link to a bar on the beach http://www.sunsetbeachbar.com/livecam

 

[mickeyfanmom]

We did the "See and Sea Island" Tour. I heard mixed reviews on this board and was not that excited to go. But our friends really wanted to go, so we did.

It was actually very good. Our tour guide, Felix, took us through the history of the area and drove us all around and we saw much more of the local living areas than we would have ever seen on our own. We then went into the semi-submarine, which our two children, DS9 and DS6, absolutely loved. It also got them in the right frame of mind for the snorkel trip we were taking on St. Thomas also.

He also took us to a straw market area, and the West Indies shopping mall. We didn't buy a bunch, but it was great to look around.

All in all, a very good trip. We saw a good representation of the area and had a lot of fun.

If you have specific questions, just PM me.

PS-- Now on St. Thomas I highly recommend the Doubloon. It was AWESOME!

 

[dgaston]

We rented a Rav4 through Budget (even used a Mousesavers code) and drove around the island, stopping at Orient Beach in the Bikini Beach section. I wish I'd gone to the Butterfly Farm first (it's very close), because after the beach, I couldn't get my family to go!

 

[Jen in MA]

Thanks for all the great responses... I just called DCL today and booked the Rhino Riders/Snorkeling excursion... BF read about it and thought it looked cool. Anyone ever done this one???

 

[gdulaney]

This is the review that we did in 2003. I don't know how much (if any) it's changed...but hopefully this will give you a starting point. Hope you guys have fun!! Ginny


We enjoyed the Rhino rider and snorkeling excursion. You have a brief van ride to the lagoon, where you receive basic safety instructions and learn the "ground rules" for the excursion. The tour leaders advise you to slather on the sunblock and then you pop all your stuff in communal lockers. You then get your snorkeling equipment and a life jacket. The rhino rider holds two passengers and I believe they will pair you up with someone if you are by yourself.

The tour starts out in a structured manner, meaning that there are several stops (your guide will point out little trivia bits about the island and the people who live there). There is also a photo taken as you come out from underneath the bridge. Once you reach the snorkeling area, the rhino riders are tied together and you have about 45 minutes or so to swim, snorkeling or relax. Soft drinks and bottled water are available (free).

On the way back to the dock our tour guide told us that as long as we kept him in between us and the shore that we didn't have to follow in a straight line...until we reached the area approaching the bridge (a NO wake area)...after that we would have to follow in a straight line. This is due to the numerous shipwrecks that are at the bottom of the harbour.

We returned to the dock, checked out our picture (cute, but expensive) and boarded the van for a ride back to the dock.

There were several parent/child and parent/teen combos on our excursion. Active senior citizens would probably enjoy the excursion, but beware you are on a "wave-runner" type boat...depending on how choppy the water is...it could be a VERY bumpy ride! Everybody on our excursion seemed to have alot of fun.

 

[princssdisnygina]

We did the golden eagle catamaran which was unbelievable!! When we go again next year I will definitely be doing this excursion again! We had a blast! Plus, the private island they took us to was gorgeous and just that, private! It was awesome! Worth every penny!

Gina