St. Martin/Butterfly Farm& Coral World/St. Thomas on your own

[Phyllisi]

Has anyone visited the butterfly farm on there own in St. Martin. We are going on the 2/21 cruise and are thinking of doing this tour on our own since our 5 yr old daughter is crazy about butterflies. There will be 2 adults and one child, about how much will the taxi cost? In addition, we are thinking of grabbing a cab to Coral World. Since that is next to the beach we think we will have a nice time in St. Thomas. About how much will a cab cost? On our last Magic Eastern Magic cruise (18 months ago) we took the Godfrey tour. It was wonderful. He charged us $20.00 each and no charge for our daughter so he got a nice tip. He picked us up at the pier.

 

[QueenTrident]

Can't answer the butterfly question, but will relay our Coral World experience.

We left the ship at 8:30 to take a cab. We were instructed by the dispatcher to get into a certain vehicle. There were a bunch of cabs going downtown, but only one going to the Coral World vicinity. The cost was $7 per person and DD could not sit on my lap.

Also, we had to wait until it completely filled up. We waited and waited and waited while the driver hustled people to get on. Finally, at 9:15 we were off. It had been so long, the driver forgot where we were going and started taking us on the St. THomas tour and wanted to charge us for the two stop we saw before reminding her we wanted to go to Coral World.

By the time we got to Coral World, it was close to 10:00 and we were pretty steamed. For the three of us, admission cost $48. I think it was $18 per adult and $12 for children over 3. Honestly, I don't think it was worth the money. I felt the facilities were poorly kept up. The "hands-on" section was really lame. I've seen guppies that looked fiercer than the sharks. I was really disappointed and it didn't really keep DD's interest. She was more interested in seeing the Sea Trekkers than anything else. And, by the way, don't bother with that. Everyone that I saw do it looked looked miserable. And it looked somewhat dangerous. People were slipping on the the ocean floor and did not look comfortable at all.

One of the reasons we wanted to to Coral World on our own was so we could spend some time at Coki beach. But, because of how long it took to get there, we didn't have time to do Coki beach and go shopping downtown.

So, from Coral World, we took a cab (again, $7/person) to downtown. We shopped for a bit and took a cab back to the ship ($3/person).

All in all, because of trying to do Coral World on our own, I'd say our visit to St. Thomas was a bust. Next time, I'll pay a little more to do a sanctioned excursion, just to avoid the frustration.

 

[JeffPort]

Your best bet in St. Martin is to rent a small car when you get off the dock (there are several rental agencies with cars available right at the dock) and immediately head north to the butterfly farm.

If your daugher is a butterfly fan, you'll be going to the right place. It's nothing fancy, but they have a beautiful little garden, with a net canopy (to keep the birds away) and tons of butterfly species. The employees are very friendly and very knowledgeable. You'll have butterflies flying right up to you everywhere you turn.
Early morning is the best time to go -- it's when the butterflies are most active.

However, don't take the tour. The place is not all that large, and the tours tend to saturate the place. The roads in St. Martin are well maintained and the butterfly farm is situated right on the main road from Phillipsburg to Grand Case. With a rental car, you'll be able to explore other areas as well. Consider one of the great beach areas (Orient Beach is 5 minutes from the butterfly farm) and/or a stroll through the French town of Marigot.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[edith76]

We went to Coki Beach on our January cruise. They do try to fill up the cabs to Coki/ Coral World and Magean's Bay because it is so far. No one else was going to Coki - but they didn't make us wait more than 5 or 10 minutes. It was 6 dollars p.p. each way - (some charge 7) . At Coki, we got 2 lounge chairs - $10 - which came with a few milk bones to feed the fish. Coral World is right next to Coki - so you can go back and forth if you want to do both. We didn't go to Coral World - but there are a lot of very tame fish at Coki - and they come to you...milk bone trained. There can be traffic on the way back so make sure to allow extra time coming back.

 

[strawberryblonde]

Any tips on how to get into a smaller cab headed for Coki beach? We are meeting up with some relatives and don't want to take too long.