St Maarten - Butterfly Farm/Orient Beach

[august1963]

I think we want to do the Butterfly Farm on our own. What I'm wondering is the specifics of doing this..... I know we would take a taxi to the Farm, but my sister said that Orient Beach is about a mile from the Farm (she said you can see it) and that you would have to walk to get there, as there are no taxis around the Farm. My problem is that we have a 5-year-old that I know is going to say her feet hurt - lol. Should we bring a stroller? Can we get a taxi? Will we be able to find a taxi from Orient Beach back to the pier? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

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[bob&karen]

When you are dropped off at the farm, you may ask your driver to return (or have another taxi return) at a set time to pick you up. If you're a compulsive cruiser (hey, most of us on this board are) you may want to jot down the SXM taxi phone number when you're dropped off, so you can call them if need be. With all the taxi traffic at Orient Beach it shouldn't be a problem for them to pick you up.

B.

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[CruiseFever]

Excellent advice.

There's really no reason to book a ships excursion to the Butterfly farm. All you'll get is probably a bus ride and a stop for shopping in addition to what you can do on your own.

In addition to the being able to see Orient beach down the way from the turn off to the Butterfly farm you can also see a cool villa area, one of the one's I wouldn't mind living in if DW and I ran away from home.

Happy Cruising

Chris

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[jemingway]

When we did the butterfly farm and the beach on our own, the cab driver just waited for us. We didn't ask him to wait, he just did it on his own and he didn't charge us anything extra. We increased his tip, but it seemed like he had nothing else to do.

JV

[HoosierCruzer]

From the "for what it's worth" department; Orient bBeach is a "tops optional" location.

[glentally]

I thought it was a clothing optional beach?

Glen

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[dsclark]

FWIW, we went to a beach (not Orient) and had a blast snorkeling. On the way back, we met a woman who just did the Butterfly trip. She was upset because she didn't see many butterflies, and regreted not going to the beach instead. A wasted day in St. Martin is a terrible thing indeed.

[keysjohnson]

Orient Beach is fantastic. And yes, cabs area lined up to take you back to the ship. There are showers there also. You have to pay to use them, when I was there I think it was $1. There's a huge sign right before you enter the "nude" area so you'll know. Of course my husband ran right past it and kept on going. Needless to say, he loved it. And the snorkeling is great there too. We got 2 chairs, and umbrella and 2 drinks each for a total of $20. Have fun.

[powriel]

We were at Orient Beach in February and it is totally clothing optional. We were sitting at this hut having a drink on the clothing side and it didn't really matter. The ones that "forgot" their clothes walk wherever, so it might be quite an eye opener for your 5 year old.

Oh yeah, it cost 50 cents to use the bathroom!

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[jaguar9748]

The Butterfly Farm is a fabulous place. Lots of butterflies, a cool tour and some neat souvenirs. For us, it was the highlight of St. Martin. Orient Beach was OK and it definitely has a clothing optional side. Those on that side were definitely NOT shy!

Kerri
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