Best beach for five adults?

We are going to be in St. Maarten in September. Our ship is the only ship in port. At first I was considering Great Bay for convenience and walking, but the pollution bothers me. A co-worker stayed there at a time share and loved it, but I am worried.

Then I was looking at Orient, Mullet, Galion and Dawn. How do I decide what is best? We want beautiful beach, food, alcohol, and clean bathrooms. No snorkeling is necessary. Waves and water toys/sports are optional.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

I can only comment on Orient Beach, but our experience was fantastic. The water is is gorgeous and the sand like something out of a magazine. There are lounge chairs and umbrellas for rent along the entire beach (prices vary, but we paid $40/$50 USD for two chairs & umbrella) and lots of restaurants and bars to choose from as well. It is a very busy beach, but I found the size made it seem less busy and the organization of all the lounge chairs really helped to reduce/eliminate the chaos.

And I'm sure you've already read about it, but there is also the clothing optional end of the beach as well, if you and your party looking for a little more 'freedom'!

The two negatives we noted were the number of people selling things up and down the beach. Keep your head down and politely decline if you're not interested and you should be good. Though they will return 20 minutes later. The other negative was the 30-40 minute drive from the cruise port, but we also had to detour due to construction, so that may not be the norm.

I'm curious to read the comments on the other beaches, as we're heading back next April.

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We go back to Anse Marcel each year. French side(duh). The view is incredible, the food is amazing and the beach club is very clean(restrooms).

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Is that part of Grand Case, near Grand Case?

No. North of there. Highly recommend.

http://www.ansemarcelbeach.com/

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No. North of there. Highly recommend.

 

http://www.ansemarcelbeach.com/

 

 

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Do they sell day passes here, or can you provide the cost for access or rentals? I can't locate anything on their website.

Thanks!

Do they sell day passes here, or can you provide the cost for access or rentals? I can't locate anything on their website.

 

 

 

Thanks!

Sorry,

This is where we book. Emails are quick with reservations and info.

http://stmaartencruiseexcursions.com/stmaartenbeachbreak.htm

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Sorry,

This is where we book. Emails are quick with reservations and info.

 

http://stmaartencruiseexcursions.com/stmaartenbeachbreak.htm

 

 

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Great, thanks for the link!

We are going to be in St. Maarten in September. Our ship is the only ship in port. At first I was considering Great Bay for convenience and walking, but the pollution bothers me. A co-worker stayed there at a time share and loved it, but I am worried.

 

Then I was looking at Orient, Mullet, Galion and Dawn. How do I decide what is best? We want beautiful beach, food, alcohol, and clean bathrooms. No snorkeling is necessary. Waves and water toys/sports are optional.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

http://www.karakterbeach.com is my suggestion for your group.

We went to Grand Case in April and it's a beautiful beach that has an adult feel to it. We knew we wanted to eat at the Rainbow Cafe and had the taxi driver drop us off there. The guy on the beach was lovely and really took care of us. Chairs and umbrellas were free if you were eating lunch there. Lunch was amazing. My husband still talks about the fresh fish he had had there. Ask the beach guy, or someone in the cafe to call you a cab for the return. We had arranged for the cab driver that took us there to pick us up but he never showed up.

We went to Grand Case in April and it's a beautiful beach that has an adult feel to it. We knew we wanted to eat at the Rainbow Cafe and had the taxi driver drop us off there. The guy on the beach was lovely and really took care of us. Chairs and umbrellas were free if you were eating lunch there. Lunch was amazing. My husband still talks about the fresh fish he had had there. Ask the beach guy, or someone in the cafe to call you a cab for the return. We had arranged for the cab driver that took us there to pick us up but he never showed up.

Love, love, love Grand Case. Le Soleil is our go to. Chairs and umbrellas are free there with food and drinks and the food is awesome.

Sorry,

This is where we book. Emails are quick with reservations and info.

 

http://stmaartencruiseexcursions.com/stmaartenbeachbreak.htm

 

 

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This sounds really nice, but it's quite expensive - is it really worth the money?

This sounds really nice, but it's quite expensive - is it really worth the money?

It would not be worth it to me because Anse Marcel beach is not what it used to be when the Radisson Blu was there. The change to the AI RIU resort really ruined the beach there IMO. Now its umbrella after umbrella.

Grand Case via taxi with the option to pick the beach restaurant/loungers where you want to be on the beach would be better to me.

Can you snorkel off the Grand Case beach? Friends traveling with us next May love to snorkel. I dont remember beach snorkeling at Orient either. THanks.

Can you snorkel off the Grand Case beach? Friends traveling with us next May love to snorkel. I dont remember beach snorkeling at Orient either. THanks.

Are you cruising and stopping at STT or Tortola? If so they both offer great off-the-beach snorkeling options as well if you want just a beach day at GC.

At the very far end of Grand Case there is a resort called Grand Case Beach club. Just beyond the gate for it is a path to the other beach in Grand Case called Petite Plage. At the far end of that beach there is a rocky coastline and I have seen people snorkeling there and I have seen boat trips bring snorkeling tours there around the point a little.

They have snorkeling trips to Creole Rock from GCBC and its 5 min by boat and the snorkeling is very good. I would look up there website and arrange a trip prior to visiting though.

Orient Beach is our favorite. :D

Originally Posted by 54cruzin View Post

Sorry,

This is where we book. Emails are quick with reservations and info.

http://stmaartencruiseexcursions.com...beachbreak.htm

I checked this out too - prices have gone up to $111 pp - seems a lot to me!