St Maarten Tours

[gismo1554]

OK so I was wondering from those people that have been to St Maarten, if any of the Disney tours take you to the beach where the airport landing strip is and the planes fly in a few feet about the beach? (Not sure exact height but it looks low!)

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Not sure about Disney excursions but we booked a private tour with Joyce Prince. She has a website http://princepersonal.com/index.htm

We did the private tour of 4 hours and it was 3 of us for $175. She did exactly what we requested and added some things based on our interests. She also does group tours but we didn't want to share. I have the most amazing picture of the Magic in port before any of the other ships got there. Most people think the picture came with the photo book that I put together it looks so good.

I know its not a Disney tour but you may want to look into her tours.

There is also someone else named Bernard that does tours and he has rave reviews as well. Enjoy St. Maarten.

Oh and I wanted to add that we did go to the airport and see the beach. It's very small and the big planes don't come in until the afternoon. We decided not to stay but that was our preference.

 

[gismo1554]

Thanks for this. Will look into it

 

[TLHB70]

We also used Joyce Prince for a private tour. I completely agree with Eeyore'sthebest. Joyce did everything we asked her to do, took us where we wanted to go. I highly recommend her.

 

[chrissyt27]

since we booked last minute Joyce was already full. We went with Bernard's tours. I am very glad we didn't do DCL, this was the best of both worlds. Drove us around, stopped at a cheap place to shop, went to beach, and airport and talked about the whole island. We had John, he has a van, and gave us free drinks, including beer. He worked for Bernard. John was super awesome. he stayed with our stuff while we were at the Beach. The little boys we were with fell asleep after the beach and while we were at the airport he let the air run for them. He was super nice.
It was 35 each and we met him at 9 and stayed with him till almost 4.
http://www.bernardstours.com/

 

[alwayslisad]

We booked w/ Bernard for our up coming trip. He contacted me already (cruise is not till Nov 09) and explained where to meet the van - what to expect and the cost. I was VERY impressed.

We will do the same tour in St. Thomas with his counterpart there - Burlie.

 

[rkwier]

We rented a mini van at the port and drove to Maho Beach to watch the planes come in. The water was nice, but the beach drops off quickly because of the backwash from the planes. (Also be aware if you have little ones that the beach has European sunbathing.) It was really a neat experience to have a 747 come in right over your head! DH stood in the wake of the plane when it landed. His face looked like it had been sand blasted for days!

 

[gismo1554]

Thanks all.

rkwier - can you remember how much it cost?

 

[hgon76]

We booked with Bernards Tours and had John as a driver also. He was AWESOME. We went shopping, to the beach to swim, to Maho beach (planes overhead) We are going again next year and plan on using him again. Well worth every penny! Here's some pics.

Maho beach

John showing us the sea urchins

Beach we swam at

 

[AllieRek]

Whoa!!! The pic of the plane is nuts!!

 

[rkwier]

Originally Posted by gismo1554

Thanks all.

rkwier - can you remember how much it cost?

If I remember it correctly, it was around $70ish for the day. We split the cost between two families.

 

[delta0413]

DW and I took a cab to Maho Beach. It's been a couple of years so I don't remember how much it cost, but it wasn't that bad. We had the cab drop us off at the Sunset Beach Bar and had lunch and adult beverages while we watched for the approaching inbound aircraft. There is a surfboard at Sunset that has a list of the flight times and ETAs. They also have a scanner set to the tower frequency so you can tell who's been cleared to land.

If you decide to take one of those insane 'under the aircraft as it lands' shots like I did, take my advise and bring some ear plugs with you. It is INSANELY loud. I have been in the airline industry for more than 20 years and I still got a HUGE kick out of being at this world famous place.

DW said I had a dopey grin on my face for the rest of the day.

 

[gismo1554]

Thanks all! The photos look great and thanks for the tip on the bar. Found the bar on the web and although its closed at the moment looks like its reopening in May under new ownership!

 

[Dreamsoftravel]

DW said I had a dopey grin on my face for the rest of the day.

My DH had the same grin on his face! We rented cars and did our own tour of the island. Went to Maho Beach and made my DH day. He said next time we go, that is all he wants to do.