St Maarten Beaches

[calhous2]

Hello fellow Disney cruisers!
We are planning for our 7 day Magic cruise leaving on November 2nd and can't wait! I was trying to find someone who could recommend a beautiful beach to visit when we are in St Maarten. Rather than touring at the ports, we want to spend the day at beautiful beaches!! We're set on Megan's Bay at St Thomas, but didn't know what was recommended for St Maarten. Also, for anyone who recommends a beach- did you just grab a cab off the ship and go? Was it very expensive and how did you arrange to get a cab to return you to the ship?

We'll have kids with us, so we're looking to avoid nude beaches. I love reading these boards - thanks for all the great information and advice!!:

 

[GoofyDisney]

I wouldn't call it a beautiful beach, but it had a great view!!! When we tendered into St. M. (we followed the advice of previous posters) we hung an immediate left and walked right through town, and then down one of the alleys between the buildings towards the beach. Once through the alley, you could take your pick of spots. There are beach chairs lined up along the beach. We picked the ones that looked most comfortable, haggled with the guy and had a seat. (don't remember how much it was, but the people are competing for you so you can haggle). The seats came with two rum puches. And we sat and played on the beach. All the while, looking straight across the water at the Magic!!! Got some great pictures of the family in the water with the Magic behind us. Again, not the most beautiful beach, but it had the best view and was the easiest to get to!

Have a great cruise!

 

[lUVTOGO]

We are also on the Nov 2nd cruise, and I called today to reserve the Golden Eagle Catamaran for St. Marteen.My dh is not a beach person so i figured this would interest my kids(snorkeling) . But in reading many posts here, the taxi's are waiting when you dock to take you to whatever beach you like, and will come back and get you also. Most are 7$ a person. Counting down the days!!

 

[my3kids]

Oh my gosh.....did I just write the origionl post? I'm the Nov. 2nd also and have been working like a madman over the weekend trying to figure out the St. Martin Beach thing before Tuesday's excursion booking day.

We are traveling with 3 children. I am currently leaning toward Dawn Beach. From what I read the beach near the ship is large, but not especially scenic. Dawn Beach is supposed to have some of the best snorkeling on the island. I've read sometimes the surf can be rough though, so we'll have to watch that carefully. My other beach idea is to take a boat to Pinel Island from the northern part of the island. That sounds fun also.

While we are thinking that doing the beaches and/or town on our own will be nice and on our own schedule, the taxi fares might add up. If the $7 pp includes children, we'd spend about $200 to go to the beach, back to drop our stuff, then to town and back!! Is the $7 negotiable or are children less? If we have filled up the car would they do the trip for a flat fee less than $49 each way each leg of the trip?

See you on the 2nd!

 

[prymsu]

We went to Dawn's beach and this was easy to get to. Once you step off the ship, walk towards the visitor center (there will be folks there to direct you) and tell them you want to go to Dawn's beach. I think for three of us it was $18 one way for a taxi. The beach is very clean, and you can rent two chairs and an umbrella for $12 (if i remember right) There is drinks, a little cafe also there for you to use. There were taxis there waiting to take you back to the ship. I want to say it was about a ten minute ride one way. This was very easy to do on our own.

 

[RellingTwin]

We went to Dawn Beach and had a wonderful day! 2 adults 2 kids cab was 22.00 each way. Chairs(2) with umbrella was 12 for the day. We asked the cab driver to send someone back at 2pm. There is a small rest/bar with restrooms right on the beach. We packed our soft sided cooler with sandwiches from the ship, and soft drinks/beer from our "stash". The whole day cost us 56.00.The water was very nice with small waves the day we were there.
Have a great time, no matter what you do!