Best beaches for kids St. Maarten St Thomas

Please let me know which beaches are good for kids, I have 4 kids. 12,9,7 and 16 months. I heard alot of beaches are nude. I would rather not expose my kids to them. Please let me know. Thanks

I've only been to St. Maarten once. We just took the taxi to town, the beach is right there. No water toys though. Orient Beach....you're likely to see nudity.

St. Thomas....probably Coki Beach. There's an aquarium right there that the kids would probably like. No water toys there either though.

I've only been to St. Maarten once. We just took the taxi to town, the beach is right there. No water toys though. Orient Beach....you're likely to see nudity.

 

St. Thomas....probably Coki Beach. There's an aquarium right there that the kids would probably like. No water toys there either though.

You really don't want to swim in Great Bay, Phillipsburg, St Maarten until they get the sewage issues fixed (ewww :( :p ). The Dutch side has less chance of nudity, and many other great beaches besides Phillipsburg.

St Thomas will have the same probability of topless bathers as any other US beach. No worries.

You really don't want to swim in Great Bay, Phillipsburg, St Maarten until they get the sewage issues fixed (ewww :( :p ). The Dutch side has less chance of nudity, and many other great beaches besides Phillipsburg.

 

St Thomas will have the same probability of topless bathers as any other US beach. No worries.

Uh oh......how long have they had sewage issues?? We were there in '06. Never heard anything about it.

Thanks for the heads up though. I want to go back to St. Maarten, but I'll find a different beach!

Please let me know which beaches are good for kids, I have 4 kids. 12,9,7 and 16 months. I heard alot of beaches are nude. I would rather not expose my kids to them. Please let me know. Thanks

Best you keep the kids on the ship in St Maarten;)

St Maarten I would recommend Little Divi Bay. In St Thomas I would recommend Megans Bay. Both of these have calm waters and a gentle slope. Both are easily accessible by cab on your own.

We travelled to St. Thomas and St. Maarten. The kids were 10, 8, 4 & 4.

In St. Thomas, we took a wild taxi ride (approx. $20) to Magen's Bay (admission $4.00 per person, five and under free) and spent the afternoon relaxing on the beautiful beach. The water has a very gradual slope, so it is great for kids. We thought it was great that you could catch glimpses of little fish swimming around you ~ the water is crystal clear so you can see to the bottom easily. We rented a kayak on the beach (for approx. $20) and were able to tool around the bay. Magen's has a walk-up food service "hut" on the beach where we ordered food for lunch. For all of us we ordered a large pizza, big order of fries and four drinks to split and the total food bill was only $28.00. We truly enjoyed Magen's, especially the kids.

On St. Maarten, we opted to take the Water Taxi (about five dollars per person for unlimited day rides) to Phillipsburg and roam around and do some shopping. Next time we are on St. Maarten, we will be a little more adventureous! But, it was a very hot day and we were pretty wiped out from the day before on St. Thomas.

Enjoy your visit on these two beautiful islands. Hope this info was helpful!

We didn't experience any nude sunbathers at Magen's ~ I believe it was posted as prohibited on the entrance sign.

Last march we took our seven year old son to Coral world and then next door to Coki beach. Private cab for the three of us was $20. Beach isn't that big but wasn't crowded.

Please let me know which beaches are good for kids, I have 4 kids. 12,9,7 and 16 months. I heard alot of beaches are nude. I would rather not expose my kids to them. Please let me know. Thanks

Almost all of the beaches on St. Thomas will be fine. You might see some topless women, but it is very uncommon.

St. Maarten is a different story. Except at Great Bay, right in Phillipsburg, you are going to have topless women at every beach, in fact it will be the norm not the exception. In addition you will find total nudity at a number of beaches on the French side. If you do not want you children to see this (and it will bother you a whole lot more than it will your kids) then don''t go to the beach on St. Maarten.

St Martin - Check out Divi Bay Beach. No nudity. Not a long cab ride. However, don't cut it close coming back because of the awful traffic in Phillipsburg.

St. Thomas - Megan's Bay and Coki Beach are good choices. However, if it is windy and the surf is up, go to Secret Harbor. This is a condominium resort and has a restaurant and bathrooms. You can also snorkel here. There were no waves, so you don't have to worry as much about the kids.

The best beach for kids in St. Maarten is Le Galion Beach. It is like a swimming pool - no waves. It also has good snorkeling.

You will need to take a cab. The exit to get there is just before Orient Beach.

Have fun!!

The best beach for kids in St. Maarten is Le Galion Beach. It is like a swimming pool - no waves. It also has good snorkeling.

You will need to take a cab. The exit to get there is just before Orient Beach.

Have fun!!

Le Galion is a clothing optional beach, so I don't think it will meet Toni12345's request. All areas of all beaches on the French side are topless-optional for women. Parts of some and all of others are clothing-optional. For example, Club Orient on Orient Beach is the fully clothing-optional resort. There are usually at least a few folks, not necessarily from CO, who stroll the beach in the "all together" (as my Southern grandmother liked to say). There are topless women all along Orient. Sometimes, members will say that they "only saw a few topless women" or "there weren't any we saw," but it varies from day to day and season to season how many women will be topless (or either gender will be au naturale). Le Galion has a sign, in both English and French, that the beach is clothing optional. I think it would be a wonderful choice for a family with children, but not if they want absolutely no chance of nudity.

IMO (and this is very biased), the nicest beaches for the "wow" factor of gorgeous beach, great water, amenities are not Little Divi or Great Bay. Orient is fabulous and a top pick for us; we don't expect everyone to feel the same way. Many, many families with children visit all the beaches on both sides of the island. There's no right or wrong to it. It depends on what is comfortable and appropriate to each person and family's tastes.

There's much less toplessness and nudity on the Dutch side, but not none. I think Little Divi is a good choice for those who want the least chance of any nudity of any kind. I believe the beach is man-made or imported sand and not as "nice" (soft and sugary) as some of the other beaches. But, if no nudity of any kind is the goal, then Little Divi or Great Bay are probably the "safest" choices. We wouldn't step one foot into Great Bay's water because of the water quality issues. People will say, "But it looks so clean" and it does. However, it's in an industrial/commercial port bay with drainage from ditches and sometimes sewage issues. Microbes and other "nasties" aren't always visible to the naked eye.

Bottom line is that if you want an absolute guarantee of no toplessness or nudity of any kind on the beach, period, then St. Martin is not the best place for beaching. There really aren't any 100% guarantees, not even at Little Divi, where it's about a 98% chance of no nudity or toplessness.

beachchick

<snip> Le Galion has a sign, in both English and French, that the beach is clothing optional. <snip>

Thanks for the confirmation. I thought that I was the only person in the whole world that had seen that sign.

gary

Thanks for the confirmation. I thought that I was the only person in the whole world that had seen that sign.

 

gary

You're not alone, we've seen it. I'm positive I've also seen photos of the sign too, maybe on the forum here? I can't seem to find any, but I can confirm that the sign does (or at least, did) exist!:D

beachchick

In St. Martin go to Little Divi Beach Resort - a family atmosphere, I didn't see any nudity there.

Coral World is a good choice for kids of all ages in St. Thomas

Please let me know which beaches are good for kids, I have 4 kids. 12,9,7 and 16 months. I heard alot of beaches are nude. I would rather not expose my kids to them. Please let me know. Thanks

When we have been to Orient Beach there have been nudity, but the kids that are playing in the water never seem to notice, it is the adults that do the looking:p . We were at the far end of the beach opposite of the nudist colony so there usually are not many. In my opinion this is a beautiful beach.

Le Galion is a clothing optional beach, so I don't think it will meet Toni12345's request. All areas of all beaches on the French side are topless-optional for women. Parts of some and all of others are clothing-optional. For example, Club Orient on Orient Beach is the fully clothing-optional resort. There are usually at least a few folks, not necessarily from CO, who stroll the beach in the "all together" (as my Southern grandmother liked to say). There are topless women all along Orient. Sometimes, members will say that they "only saw a few topless women" or "there weren't any we saw," but it varies from day to day and season to season how many women will be topless (or either gender will be au naturale). Le Galion has a sign, in both English and French, that the beach is clothing optional. I think it would be a wonderful choice for a family with children, but not if they want absolutely no chance of nudity.

 

IMO (and this is very biased), the nicest beaches for the "wow" factor of gorgeous beach, great water, amenities are not Little Divi or Great Bay. Orient is fabulous and a top pick for us; we don't expect everyone to feel the same way. Many, many families with children visit all the beaches on both sides of the island. There's no right or wrong to it. It depends on what is comfortable and appropriate to each person and family's tastes.

 

There's much less toplessness and nudity on the Dutch side, but not none. I think Little Divi is a good choice for those who want the least chance of any nudity of any kind. I believe the beach is man-made or imported sand and not as "nice" (soft and sugary) as some of the other beaches. But, if no nudity of any kind is the goal, then Little Divi or Great Bay are probably the "safest" choices. We wouldn't step one foot into Great Bay's water because of the water quality issues. People will say, "But it looks so clean" and it does. However, it's in an industrial/commercial port bay with drainage from ditches and sometimes sewage issues. Microbes and other "nasties" aren't always visible to the naked eye.

 

Bottom line is that if you want an absolute guarantee of no toplessness or nudity of any kind on the beach, period, then St. Martin is not the best place for beaching. There really aren't any 100% guarantees, not even at Little Divi, where it's about a 98% chance of no nudity or toplessness.

 

beachchick

Well said! Thanks!

You're not alone, we've seen it. I'm positive I've also seen photos of the sign too, maybe on the forum here? I can't seem to find any, but I can confirm that the sign does (or at least, did) exist!:D

 

beachchick

Since you are confirmed members of the RCI Balcony Club, ever joined the auxiliary in the waters of Club Orient?

Since you are confirmed members of the RCI Balcony Club, ever joined the auxiliary in the waters of Club Orient?

Hee hee hee.

What you're really asking here (RCI Balcony Club reference) is if beachchick has ever had sex in the water at Orient Bay. That would most certainly be frowned upon by all of us that spend time on that end of the beach, but the quote that you include is a reference to le Galion beach, not Orient.

Your fantasy seems to be leaking through to what is presented as reality.

gary

Hee hee hee.

 

What you're really asking here (RCI Balcony Club reference) is if beachchick has ever had sex in the water at Orient Bay. That would most certainly be frowned upon by all of us that spend time on that end of the beach, but the quote that you include is a reference to le Galion beach, not Orient.

 

Your fantasy seems to be leaking through to what is presented as reality.

 

gary

The Balcony Club thread is an active thread on the RCI board . More double entendres than you can shake a stick at. :D

We have seen people 150 ft out sort of spinning around in the water, but since I can't use my superzoom on the beach can't say for sure.

Since you are confirmed members of the RCI Balcony Club, ever joined the auxiliary in the waters of Club Orient?

Hee hee hee.

 

What you're really asking here (RCI Balcony Club reference) is if beachchick has ever had sex in the water at Orient Bay. That would most certainly be frowned upon by all of us that spend time on that end of the beach, but the quote that you include is a reference to le Galion beach, not Orient.

 

Your fantasy seems to be leaking through to what is presented as reality.

 

gary

The Balcony Club thread is an active thread on the RCI board . More double entendres than you can shake a stick at. :D

 

We have seen people 150 ft out sort of spinning around in the water, but since I can't use my superzoom on the beach can't say for sure.

:o Boys, you're making me blush...just teasing.

Gary, Booper is quite right about the current RCI thread. While I wink-winked, nudge-nudged on my post there, it was pretty obvious that my DH and I have made excellent use of our cruise balconies (usually, but not always, in the evening) over the years. (Not for the Canada-PNW cruise though--kinda cold to be that unclothed, IMO.) I'll even admit that those are not the only "outdoor" situations where we've found private times to be enjoyable when we're alone.

Orient Beach is a no (sex-wise) for numerous reasons, especially because there are far too many people close by to keep it discrete. I'd hate for the "novices" to think the worst of us "no clothing" types. Plus, my sister and BIL have been right near us in the water most times (at Orient and other vacation spots)--Love 'em, but don't want to share that much with 'em. This is not to say though that I'm not well aware that my DH still finds swimming au naturale with me to be...pleasing. Let's just say that our balcony makes a great place to express that enjoyment later the evening of the same day.;) Nice to know that after so many years (and so much change due to child, gravity, and time) that my DH still finds me so appealing and sexy. (Yep, I'm one of those gals who thinks sex with someone you love is fabulous fun...Guess you probably already figured that out though.):D

beachchick

It would appear the Booper has found a way to counter near-shore WAVE ACTION. Yes, waves can disrupt the best laid plans of mice and men....so they say. For one, I'm up to hear the secrets. But in the end I keep thinking back to the wisdom and guidance from that noted philosopher, George Costanza, regarding shrinkage. :eek:

The Chick - We could compare notes regarding temps on Canada/PNW outdoor life, but if the subject here dealt with the ski slopes I would offer a story but it would be "off the beaten path". And from other philosophers, Roy and Dale Rodgers ..... Happy Trails To You. ;)

We had the same concern on our first visit to the island. I followed advice I got on this board and went to Le Galion Beach. It was perfect. In fact we've been there on three cruises so far. We travel with a large group of 30-50 people of varying ages. It has become everyone's favorite part of the cruise. The beach is quiet, with no waves, so it's perfect for little ones. Two chairs and an umbrella can be had for $15 for the day. The food at the small snack shack is incredible, as are the drinks.

The cruise ships don't offer excursions there, so you avoid the crowds. One year we saw no nudity and the other two years included just one topless woman. We just get a taxi to the beach and make arrangements for them to return for us. We usually have them stop at a small hardware store on the way so we can purchase sand toys. The horseback riding and the butterfly farm are within walkin distance if you get tired of the beach.