Best excursions: St Maarten, St Thomas & Nassau Bahamas

We'll be cruising in January and I was wondering what your favorite excursions are? I'll be with my husband and two boys, ages 14 and 12. I have a huge list of excursions but I can't seem to narrow it down and I don't want to miss anything good.

In St.Maarten we have 2 favorites and they are not ship excursions. We enjoy Bernard. He will take you all over, beach included. Its a great tour

http://www.bernardstours.com/

We also enjoy Little Divi Bay. Less than 10 minutes from port by taxi you can use the resorts amenities. They will call a taxi for you when you want to return to port. Our family enjoys the jet ski's.

http://www.diviresorts.com/DiviLittleBay/st-maarten-water-sports.html

Your boys would love the America's Cup on St. Martin. In Nassau we always take a taxi to Breeze's and buy a day pass. Great beach and pool. Includes all food and drink. You can take the ferry from St. Thomas to St. John or the water taxi to Water Island.

Another vote for the America's Cup excursion! Had a wonderful time with this one!

While in St. Maarten, go to Maho Beach. It is right by the Airport. Great day to spenbd at the beach and watch the planes land and take off. Definitely a memorable experience. The boys would have a great afternoon. You can just hop a taxi to go there.

One of the stops Bernardstours does is Maho. Check it out.

http://www.sint-maarten.net/St-Maarten-Beaches/MahoBay.html

Bernards tour was one of the best tours we have done:)

I agree with the suggestion of Bernards Tours. It was the best excursion we ever took. We saw more of the island than our previous visits. St. Johns is a great option but if it is your first St. Thomas visit your boys might enjoy Coki beach and the aquarium. In Nassau a beach club is your best option. A day at Atlantis is expensive but memorable.

We'll be cruising in January and I was wondering what your favorite excursions are? I'll be with my husband and two boys, ages 14 and 12. I have a huge list of excursions but I can't seem to narrow it down and I don't want to miss anything good.

We have never done a Caribbean cruise. One reason it that we like historical and cultural sites, like in Europe. We live close to the beach, so see no need to go on a cruise to go to another beach. If we took a Caribbean cruise are there other activities or excursions that we could go on other than beach or water sports?

My DH & I did Bernards & while it's a nice tour it's ALL day and a long time in the van with very limited time at Maho & Margot. Next trip (Feb) we'll likely just hit the beach (drawing blank on name) and the go to Maho in the pm since the afternoon is when the big jets come in.

St Thomas - I'd highly recommend Fury Charters. You won't be disappointed! Small group, great staff & loads of sea life.

Nassau - enjoy a mostly empty day on board, hit Two Brothers for lunch & maybe go to atlantis.

We have never done a Caribbean cruise. One reason it that we like historical and cultural sites, like in Europe. We live close to the beach, so see no need to go on a cruise to go to another beach. If we took a Caribbean cruise are there other activities or excursions that we could go on other than beach or water sports?

We did a walking tour of nassau that you can find on line at frommers. That was very interesting and a nice walk....

My DH & I did Bernards & while it's a nice tour it's ALL day and a long time in the van with very limited time at Maho & Margot. Next trip (Feb) we'll likely just hit the beach (drawing blank on name) and the go to Maho in the pm since the afternoon is when the big jets come in.

 

St Thomas - I'd highly recommend Fury Charters. You won't be disappointed! Small group, great staff & loads of sea life.

 

Nassau - enjoy a mostly empty day on board, hit Two Brothers for lunch & maybe go to atlantis.

Hi, can you give me some contact information for Fury Charters or a website. Thank you

Another vote for Bernard..we had the best of everything with him. Nassau- Blue Lagoon Island, Atlantis is just too extravagant and expensive (although beautiful to see) St. Thomas we love Godfrey Tours. He never disappoints and when my daughters were in their teens they loved those tours.

America's Cup in St Maarten - hands down for teenage boys.

How about snorkeling with the turtles in STT on the pirate ship, that is a lot of laughs. They give you fake tatoos, make you walk the plank, the parents drink painkillers, and you get to snorkle with the turtles.

Nassau -- go to the Ports of Call Board and see which places offer day rates. It is easy to taxi around Nassau or Paradise Island. I love the beach here, and you can rent waverunners or take a parasail ride.

If you want to really enjoy St Marteen I suggest just rent a car. We get an open top Jeep for ~$100 and get to go at our own pace.

Nassau I highly recommend the dolphin excursion it a once in a lifetime experience.

Only excursion we have done in St Thomas was cycling around water island which was really cool but doesn't give you enough time to actually see the island of St Thomas.

We have never done a Caribbean cruise. One reason it that we like historical and cultural sites, like in Europe. We live close to the beach, so see no need to go on a cruise to go to another beach. If we took a Caribbean cruise are there other activities or excursions that we could go on other than beach or water sports?

The botanical garden on st Thomas is beautiful!

There is the governors mansion, gorgeous views, beautiful gardens, and a great bar.

I spent a fantastic afternoon there last Jan.

Hi, can you give me some contact information for Fury Charters or a website. Thank you

http://www.usvisailing.com/

I called Capt. Mike and set up the trip. He's super nice and was quick to take care of everything - was on time at the dock and had great equipment for snorkeling.

That's one of my favorite itineraries, and I enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts. I will definitely have to try some of those excursions. St. Martin is my family's favorite island--good shopping and Orient Beach is awesome. Though it is a "nude" beach, I first brought my teenage sons there after their dad died. One the left, clothed side, you occasionally see some nudity, but you can rent jet skis reasonably, parasail , banana boat, inflatable slides--its a full service beach with aqua water. St. Thomas is another great shop and swim island, and I parasailed off Sapphire Beach and it was unbelievable--you could see the whole Caribbean. Nassau is good for snorkeling [as is St. Thomas, but not St. Martin] abd the Straw Market is fun for souvenir shopping and snorkeling, but this week, I'll be trying a day pass at the Sheraton.

Thank you everyone for all the feedback. You all have been so helpful! :) There are so many fun things to do and see....just wish I didn't have to wait for 9 more months to go.

http://www.usvisailing.com/

 

I called Capt. Mike and set up the trip. He's super nice and was quick to take care of everything - was on time at the dock and had great equipment for snorkeling.

Thank you

http://www.usvisailing.com/

 

I called Capt. Mike and set up the trip. He's super nice and was quick to take care of everything - was on time at the dock and had great equipment for snorkeling.

thanks for the link. We will be sailing the Sun next year and are looking for suggestions for tours. We will do ST Thomas, Bahamas, Puerto Rico and Nassau on Feb 25th. The itinerary isn't new to us but it has been years since we have sailed the eastern Carribean.

Nita

We have never done a Caribbean cruise. One reason it that we like historical and cultural sites, like in Europe. We live close to the beach, so see no need to go on a cruise to go to another beach. If we took a Caribbean cruise are there other activities or excursions that we could go on other than beach or water sports?

We also prefer the historical & cultural sites etc. to beaches and on our Caribbean cruise our favorite stop was St. Thomas where right off the ship we took the tram to the top of the hill on our own. By going early we beat the crowds, and were able to spent some time on the top having lunch and drinks with beatiful views. After coming down we took a short cab ride into town to do some sightseeing and shopping. We really enjoyed just walking around. There were plenty of open air taxis available everywhere there that could take you wherever you wanted. Most of the islands are beach destinations but you can usually find something else to do, and the weather is usually awesome.