St Maarten Grand Case plan questions

So we are sailing in January with a stop at St Maarten. Thinking that this trip, for a change, we would go to Grand Case for the day. Planning to get taxi from port and arrange with them to pick us up 2-2.5 hours before on board time, so if traffic is not bad we have time to shop Philipsburg a little.

Questions:

1. Any issues with these logistics? Potential problems with making taxi arrangements for return? We will be the only ship in port the day we are there, which is a Tuesday.

2. Any suggestions for a good beach bar/restaurant that will have the usual chairs/umbrella/drink & food service?

3. My impression is that there is not really a lot of shopping in Grand Case. Hence the desire to get back to Philipsburg in time. Am I understanding correctly?

4. Beach at Grand Case is OK for swimming a little? Don't need snorkeling or water sports, just nice water to float in and enjoy not being in the wintry north land for the day, and a nice beach to lay in chairs and enjoy a view.

Appreciate any input. thanks in advance!

BobJ

We stayed for a week on the beach in Grand Case prior to our cruise. It was fantastic! Our condo was right next door to the Rainbow Cafe. They are the nicest folks there. They have beach chairs you can use as long as you buy some lunch or drinks and the food is very good. It's a nice spot and you can walk the beach and the town. There is some shopping but not your typical big stores. Most restaurants are open for dinner but the Rainbow Cafe fits the bill. And I'm sure they would call you a cab to go back to port as well.

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Cool! Thanks for the input!

Bobj

You can take a look at reviews for Le Soleil as well. It's much smaller but it's very nice and my favourite place for lunch on the island. You can eat at the restaurant and then go down to the beach chairs or get served down at the beach. There are no watersports so if you have kids you might want to chose another place.

Thanks, Karysa!

BobJ

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We had lunch at the Rainbow Cafe a couple of years ago whilst on a snorkling trip. As lunch was included in the price of our snorkling tour I really don't know how expensive it was. We had a couple of drinks that were not included but I really don't remember how much they cost. I just went back and checked my review of the place on Trip Advisor and I said if I was ever back on Saint Martin I would not hesitate going back there. The beach was quite nice and they did have chairs with umbrellas as others have mentioned.

If anyone knows about how much it would cost to get there by taxi from the cruise port I would be interested in knowing.

Sorry I can't answer about a taxi to Grand Case. We rented a car and drove there for our weeks stay prior to our cruise. We just loved it there and would recommend to rent a taxi to go. I'm pretty sure there is some what of set prices for travel around St Martin but I'm not sure where I've seen that.

I think that the price for a taxi to and from Grand Case/pier is $25 each way for 1-2 people each way and it goes up from there.

Following because this is exactly what I want to do in January as well!