St. Maarten shore excursions?

[mbaidacoff]

Our family (DH, DS15, DS11, and me) will be on the 3/22 Eastern Magic. Does anyone have any recommendations for which shore excursion(s) we should take on St. Maarten? The boys really enjoyed the snorkelling trip on our 1st cruise (2/8/02 Wonder) On St. Thomas we have decided to rent an open air jeep from Budget and explore the island and beaches ourselves. Thanks!

Only 46 days to go!

Marian

 

[CRSNDSNY]

DH and I LOVED the island tour and butterfly farm. Butterfly Farm was definitely the highlight. There were many kids on this excursion, as well. They did a demo/talk about the different stages of butterfly development -- educational and fun. We actually saw a buttefly come out of its cocoon while we were watching the demo.
See my website for pictures of this.

 

[Henn1313]

My DH, DD19, DS17 AND DD12 loved the 12 metre regatta! It was exciting and they were able to participate in the sailing and racing of the sailboat. Myself and DD4 went on the sea and sea tour which I would not recommend, especially for teens or pre-teens. Its not very exciting and involves a good bit of time riding a bus Next time I'm going on the regatta!

 

[CRB#33]

CRSNDSNY--Did you do the DCL excursion or did you go on your own? Do they do anything else on this excursion? Did you shop? Thanks!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

CRB#33
We did this through DCL Excursions. We stopped in a town area where there were shops and food for about an hour (had the best cup of coffee I've EVER had). It was enough for us. We were there on Christmas Day during our cruise, so they may do something different as half of the island was closed for Christmas.

Overall, you get an island tour, stop to shop/eat, etc. and then the Butterfly Farm. There was some shopping at the farm, as well.

It was great timing...it left us enough time to have the excursion, get back to the boat, change and then take a taxi to a beach for the remainder of our time.
Was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

 

[CRB#33]

Okay! Which beach did you go to? LOL--more questions! This is pretty much what I was thinking about doing!

Thank you again!

 

[Mommypoohbear]

My sister has owned a house on the dutch side of St. Maarten for about 18 years now.

We have been there a few times.

Our absolute favorite family beach is Orient Beach, it's located on the French side. This beach is actually on a bay so the water is calm, it has a great restaurant right on the beach called Kontiki, a little pricey but worth every penny. You can sit in glider bench tables and put your feet on the sand underneath, it's a wonderful feeling.

A beautiful beach is Cupecoy, it is on the ocean and has high rock cliffs, just get ready for the drop off in the ocean.

If you love food and want to sample St. Maarten's best then you must go to Grand Case, a beautiful French Street filled with some of the finest gourmet restaurants. One side all of the restaurants are on the water. Our favorite is The Fish Pot.

Here's a link to a good reference site for St. Maarten
.http://www.gobeach.com/page3.html

Hope it helps, we'll be doing the Western, guess i'll miss my sister, maybe next time

 

[prymsu]

i had read lots of good comments about Dawn Beach, so when we were on the eastern we decided to do this on our own. Lovely beach, and very easy to get to on your own, and very inexpensive. The only problem was the day we were there the water was pretty choppy and it was hard to snorkel...

 

[CRSNDSNY]

The beach we went to was Orient Bay (not the family side)
We are a childless couple (for now!).

LOL

It was fun!

 

[CRB#33]

Glad you had a nice time!

I was wondering why there were no pictures of the beach on your website! LOL

 

[Kaybee]

Orient Beach is a beautiful beach. It is a clothing optional
beach. When we went even though we were on the "family"
side there were still a lot of nude/and or topless sunbathers!!
I don't know if I would take my kids there--they would certainly
get an eyeful!!!

 

[Viking]

Welcome in the real world, Folks

 

[fred ferdlap]

yep.
We went to Orient Beach (Family side) It don't matter!.
Nudity was everywhere.
Nice beach and it did not bother us, but I would not take the family there again. The girls 9 and 11 were a little uncomfortable.

 

[TinkHappy]

We LOVED Orient Beach. DD's 6&7 really didn't care if people were nude or not. We, DH and I, "warned" them ahead of time that some people could be nude or topless so they were prepared. I'll never forget an older couple was walking down the beach nude My DD's were just playing in the sand, I thought for sure they would be mortified, nope. My youngest looked up, saw people stark naked, looked at me, snickered, then went back to building her sand castle. It was never an issue. I asked them if they wanted to go back to the same beach this year and they couldn't wait.
Although, I am thinking about doing the Catamaran excursion this time.

 

[CRB#33]

Well, when we go we will have my 15 year old DD, my 13 year old DS and my fiance's 15 year old DS. I think any kind of nudity will make this an extremely uncomfortable situation for the two older ones at least. My son would probably be in his glory

 

[mbaidacoff]

When you say that you did a beach "on your own", how did you get there? I imagine there are taxis at the port, but is it easy to get back?

 

[fred ferdlap]

Taxis could not be eaiser.
they are more like large vans 10 pass.
it's $5/pp and 1/2 for kids.
The local govt. sets the rate. Lots of taxis to take u back.
Shower and toilets close.
$15 for 2 chairs and umbrella.

Lots cheaper that the boat tour.

Good view of the towns

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Getting a taxi was pretty easy. There is a taxi terminal a short walk from where you are docked. There is also a little store there and an ATM. For those of you who want to have a beer or two on the beach (or soda), I suggest you buy a six pack or something in this store, rather than buy them individually from the bar at the beach (save yourself some money).

I was even a bit shocked at the nudity -- but there was no other way to spend Christmas Day than on a beach with an ice cold Corona. It was fun. No pictures, though.

 

[Pugdog007]

Mommypoohbear:

Is Grand Case within walking distance of Orient Bay? Or will we have to take a taxi?

If there's only time to really "do" one side, would you do the French side or the Dutch? or is it small enough to do both?

Sorry for all the questions... but you look to be quite the expert!

Pugdog

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Originally posted by Pugdog007

Is Grand Case within walking distance of Orient Bay?

No.