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Water taxi in St Maarten


loonlagoon1
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THere is a schedule of flights that as stated mostly land after 1:00. At the least the largest planes. It's posted at the beach on the snack bar area. But the tourist office would be able to give you the info for your particular day too.

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No, the water taxi does not go to Maho Beach (the beach with the airport across the street?)

 

You can get there by taxi or by a tour.

 

the planes mostly come in in the afternoon

Is this the beach where the young people hang onto the fence while the planes take off? If so I've seen it on TV, interesting to say the least.

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The water taxi has two stops, it takes you to the main area of shopping and also the beach.

 

Not sure if or what the name of the beach there is. Lots of chairs and umbrellas to rent.

 

Correct! Maho Beach is not reacheable by Water Taxi or within walking distance from the Philipsburg Pier.

 

The Water Taxi is an OPTION to walking... to Downtown Philipsburg, as already noted:

 

a). From Pier to the first stop:

 

Water Taxi ride from Pier/ Port Philipsburg in St. Maarten (Thursday 12.29.2011)

 

Took the Water Taxi from the Port/ Pier area ($6.00 USD/pax all day long, unlimited trips).

- Seen from the Water Taxi are Celebrity's SUMMIT crise ship, Cunard's Queen Mary2 and Norwegian's Dawn.

 

- See short VIDEO here:

 

View photo album (50)

 

 

b). From Downtown (last/ 2nd stop) back to the Pier:

 

Water Taxi ride to the Pier in Philipsburg, St. Maarten (Thursday 12.29.2011)

 

- Seen from the Water Taxi are Celebrity's SUMMIT crise ship, Cunard's Queen Mary2 and Norwegian's Dawn docked in Philipsburg, St. Maarten.

 

View photo album (50)

 

 

 

*** Maho Beach - seeing the aircrafts landing in St. Maarten (Thursday 12.29.2011)

 

MAHO BEACH is a beautiful beach on the Dutch side of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, in the country of Sint Maarten. It is famous for the Princess Juliana International Airport adjacent to the beach.

 

Arriving aircraft must touch down as close as possible to the beginning of runway 10 due to the short runway length of 2,180 metres (7,152 ft ) resulting in aircraft on their final approach flying over the beach at minimal altitude.

 

- See VIDEO here:

 

View photo album (175)

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Just a few more questions, if I may.......

 

1. Approx. how long of a taxi ride to get to Maho beach?

2. Approx. how much does taxi cost to Maho beach (6p)?

3. Approx. what time in the afternoon would you want to be 'on your way back' if your ship is leaving at 5pm?

 

Thanks alot!

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If your ship leaves at 5pm you will need to be onboard before 4:30.

 

You also need to find when the bridge opens as that could cut into your time when you leave. You do not want to be on that side of the bridge when it opens.

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Just a few more questions, if I may.......

 

1. Approx. how long of a taxi ride to get to Maho beach?

2. Approx. how much does taxi cost to Maho beach (6p)?

3. Approx. what time in the afternoon would you want to be 'on your way back' if your ship is leaving at 5pm?

 

Thanks alot!

 

It's hard to predict how long it takes to and from Maho. We went from Orient Beach there and it took us about 45 minutes via the French side. When we left, there was a traffic jam (the one people talk about on here) so our driver said he could take us back via the French side. That took a little over an hour. I would allow at least 2 hours to get back to port.

 

Here's the link for the taxi rates:

http://taxistmaarten.com/images/files/Rate_Sheet.pdf

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If your ship leaves at 5pm you will need to be onboard before 4:30.

 

You also need to find when the bridge opens as that could cut into your time when you leave. You do not want to be on that side of the bridge when it opens.

 

I really think the whole bridge thing is overblown here.

 

Yes, there's a bridge that opens and halts traffic, but it really shouldn't affect most cruisers.

 

The mid-day opening is at 11:30, and then the next scheduled opening is 16:30 (high season) or 17:30.

 

Most cruisers should already be back at the cruise facility by the afternoon opening.

 

That said, yachts can request an opening at any time. We haven't experienced this, but I understand that for a fee that I have read might be from several hundred dollars to perhaps $1,000, up goes the bridge whenever they want.

 

If you own a $300 million yacht the $1,000 probably wouldn't concern you, but we can't do anything about their schedule.

 

gary

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THere is a schedule of flights that as stated mostly land after 1:00. At the least the largest planes. It's posted at the beach on the snack bar area. But the tourist office would be able to give you the info for your particular day too.

 

A good source is flightaware dot com. In the box on the lower left, enter airport code TNCM and you will see the flights inbound and outbound. Most of the larger aircraft, some from Europe, will be arriving after 1300.

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  • 3 years later...
A good source is flightaware dot com. In the box on the lower left, enter airport code TNCM and you will see the flights inbound and outbound. Most of the larger aircraft, some from Europe, will be arriving after 1300.

 

Small and medium size aircraft arrive every few minutes. Here is the schedule for a few of the big boys!

 

KLM 785 (B747) arrives from Amsterdam at 10:55 am

 

DAL 461 (B757) arrives from New York at 12:50 pm

 

AAL 498 (A340) arrives from Paris at 2:00 pm

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