St Maarten

[eeyorefanuk]

Love to know your best excursions please

Either tour (dcl and outside company)

And

Beach (did Tortola and St Thomas beaches on our own )

There 8-5 I think

Thanks

 

[mickip]

In 2013 we did a sailboat (private excursion) and even though our weather was only so so it was still one of my favorite excursions. I believe the sailboat was later damaged in a hurricane and they replaced with a catamaran. It was called Random Wind. They did a swimming stop (we swam to the beach) and a snorkling stop. They made us lunch on the boat and drinks were included. There was also a trapeze swing off the side. I keep trying to find an eastern that fits our schedule. Last cruises 2 and upcoming have been western, at least the stops have varied slightly.

 

[lorimt]

I highly recommend an excursion to Anguilla. The beaches are amazing and not as busy as St Maarten.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

There is one beach very close to port. It's not as scenic or soft as most of the VI beaches.

We did a day sail with Soualiga. Went snorkeling, visited Tintemarre Island, went to some private beaches, did a landing at Princess Juliana Airport. Boat is limited to 16. Included food and beer. It was a lot of fun and my kids enjoyed it a lot.

 

[charlenebu]

we did an amazing catamaran tour with https://stmaartencruiseexcursions.com/ The catamaran was gorgeous with great snorkeling and food!

 

[disneyholic family]

one of the best excursions we've ever done was in st maarten...
it was an excursion when we were on the allure of the seas, but i'm sure DCL also offers it..
it was a catamaran trip to a secluded bay for snorkeling....
sounds simple and boring, but it was really great!!! fantastic half day excursion...

 

[Pinkgurlshubby]

We rented a car and drove around the island. Visited the beach, butterfly sanctuary and a small zoo and were back in the early afternoon to walk around to the chocolate store and guavaberry place to buy some liquor. This was our first cruise in 2008. Probably the worst part is the car was a total piece of junk but the air conditioning worked 100%. We stopped at a gas station before bringing it back and vacuumed it back out. I'd probably do that again.

 

[deanimal]

Okay, this might be totally out there and not suited to this audience but......

We did a stop in St Maarten with another cruise line back in November. Have you seen the videos of the huge planes flying right over a beach as they land on an island? I've always wanted to experience that and Maho Beach in St Maarten is the place to do it.

We walked about 15 minutes into the town (a little raggedy in spots but felt totally safe) and stood at a marked bus stop on Back Street, the second street in from the beach. The public buses are just regular looking minivans but they have a card in the front with a destination and the license plate has a B at the beginning. Flag down a van with "Maho" or "Mullet" as the destination and confirm with the driver. I believe the price was $2 US for adults and $1 for kids and American dollars were fine. The drive took about 20 minutes and we found it fascinating to drive across the island, stopping every few minutes for all kinds of folks; ladies with their shopping, giggling teens in school uniforms, senior citizens and workmen heading home. We helped make change for a group of four who only had a ten dollar bill.

When we got to Maho we asked the driver and he showed us where to go and pointed out the place where the buses would pick up for the return. It was a five minute walk to the tiny beach that was squeezed between the road and the water. There was also a bar where you could grab a drink or snack while waiting for the planes to land. We had checked the flight schedules on line the day before and timed it to arrive about 20 minutes before two full sized planes were due to land. The schedules were also posted at the bar.

Standing on the beach as the 737 came in was just amazing. It really did feel like we could have reached out and touched it as it swooped overhead. Even a sudden downpour that came in just before the plane and drenched us didn't dampen the fun. We stayed for the second plane and then hung out on the tiny beach for a bit before heading back to the bus stop. The return trip was just as interesting and easy. (We made sure to leave plenty of time to get back to the boat and had cash for cab fare if the bus didn't work out for some reason.)

I know not everyone would be comfortable with this sort of plan, but for us it was one of our best stops ever and came in at a grand total of $12!

Here's a really bad video of the landing. (My camera wouldn't focus because of the rain). But it still gives an idea of how it feels to be there.

 

[MrsInsG]

I highly recommend grabbing a cab and heading to Orient Beach. Our cabbie took us to the nude area because it's quieter and it was fantastic! Granted, it was just my dh and I, and I likely would have headed to the other end of the beach if the kids were with us. Regardless, the beach was gorgeous!

 

[pjacobi]

Tourist killed by jet blast on the beach:

https://time.com/4856617/sint-maarten-maho-beach-tourist-killed-airplane-jet-blast/

 

[ImDMous]

We did a tour with Bernard's Tours. Ours was not private but everyone on our tour was from the Disney ship. It went to both sides of the island. Stopped at Maho for the planes, Orient Beach for some water time, a delicious French bakery, an iguana farm and some other sites for pictures. Looking at their website, it seems they offer several different tours now rather than just the one to see everything, but they do have a customized private tour. Maybe you could get with some other cruisers from the boards and go in together. We loved our driver, he was great and had delicious rum punch for the trip.

 

[deanimal]

Tourist killed by jet blast on the beach:

https://time.com/4856617/sint-maarten-maho-beach-tourist-killed-airplane-jet-blast/

If you read the article, the lady who was killed had climbed onto a fence across the street from the beach where a sign clearly warned people not to go. Thousands of visitors go to Maho beach every year, it's perfectly safe.

 

[charlenebu]

why would someone do that