Help and advice re catamaran trip

Hi. I'm looking for some advice and recommendation for a half day catamaran trip from St Maarten. I've been looking at a number of the trips but am a little wary about them. To put in context, we've done several of these type of boat trips from various cruise destinations over the years and many of them haven't been that good. Problems we've encountered include boats with too many passengers so they are crowded onboard and/or when snorkelling. Boats blaring out tedious music for the whole trip (don't mind some music but the same Greek song being played on a loop can drive you slowly crazy!). Boats which are just glorified booze cruises with passengers looking to get as drunk as possible on the inclusive rum cocktails (don't mind a drink or three but not appropriate when travelling with kids). Terrible food. Uncomfortable. Poor destinations ('deserted beaches' which end being visited by six boats at the same time and becoming very un-deserted!). Or how about beaches infested by millions of wasps! You get the picture.

So, are there any boat trips (catamaran or otherwise) on St Maarten which are uncrowded, chilled, relaxing, good destinations, good food and drink, etc. I can't justify chartering a private boat as there are only 3 of us. Your help would be gratefully received. Many thanks.

This might not go over well here but look at a boat trip that doesn't start close to the pier and isn't geared to cruisers. You can see if Scoobi-doo out of Anse Marcel and Grand Case has anything that would work for your time frame. We have used them on a couple of occasions and I would highly recommend them to you.

http://www.scoobidoo.com/

Our first cruise to SXM we took the 1/2 day cat sail on the Golden Eagle and it is still one of our favorite daysails. We booked it through the cruise line, but it was a great choice - Excellent crew, great lunch, nice, relaxing vibe and not too many guests. We're not avid snorkelers and just wanted a nice daysail. We stopped at Tintamarre and enjoyed that beach. Floated in the water and the crew delivered cold drinks - doesn't get much better than that. Their website still lists Tintamarre as part of an itinerary but you'd have to contact them for the details as it's been a few years. We had time to see Philipsburg first, return to the ship, and walk to the GE dock.

We've since returned on land vacations and taken their full-day sails and would also highly recommend that.

www.sailingsxm.com

Not sure about finding a good half-day catamaran snorkeling trip independent of the ship. If you give the time you are in port it might enable someone to make a better suggestion. Also, are you looking specifically for a catamaran - if so, sail or power - i.e., is the type of boat important?

Thanks for the advice so far, I'll certainly look into them. We are sailing on the Celebrity Reflection, docks 9.30am and leaves 6.00pm. Doesn't necessarily have to be a catamaran, powered or otherwise. Anything that floats and is comfortable will do.

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PaulieC - Let us (me) know what you find out. The missus and I are doing the same cruise (Celebrity Reflection) and having been to Sint Maarten enough times in the past, we're looking for something similar to what you're looking for. Have done a couple catamaran cruises in Barbados with a max. of 12-14 passengers (Heat Wave & Calabaza) - fantastic times.

(We were actually hoping to find some sort of round trip "water transportation" to Marigot so as to avoid buses/taxis, but sigh, no luck).

As has been pointed out, I think the challenge is that some of the best boat trips aren't going to be convenient for a cruise stay. They leave from the other side of the island and/or are too long. I think I'm going to go with blue_water's recommendation and book the Golden Eagle through Celebrity. Thanks all.

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As has been pointed out, I think the challenge is that some of the best boat trips aren't going to be convenient for a cruise stay. They leave from the other side of the island and/or are too long. I think I'm going to go with blue_water's recommendation and book the Golden Eagle through Celebrity. Thanks all.

 

 

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You won't be disappointed. We've rarely booked excursions through the cruise lines. But the GE in St Maarten and the Excellence in Antigua (the See Antigua by Sea option) are the exceptions, and both are still two of our favorites years later.

As has been pointed out, I think the challenge is that some of the best boat trips aren't going to be convenient for a cruise stay. They leave from the other side of the island and/or are too long. I think I'm going to go with blue_water's recommendation and book the Golden Eagle through Celebrity. Thanks all.

 

 

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Golden Eagle is great. We did an all day around the island on it. There was a big storm that came in early so our sail back from Mullet to the Marina was quite an experience but we got back and we had a great day and we will never forget it. Later that night around 8 pm when the storm was in the Anguilla channel it briefly met hurricane strength and was a category one hurricane.

We also enjoyed the full-day sail while staying in St Martin, amazing day around the island and a fabulous lunch and beach at Calmos Cafe! But the 1/2 day sail we took the first time on a cruise stop was also great and that was what prompted us to split our land visit between SXM and Tortola rather than Tortola and another island. We had 7' waves on the 1/2 day sail and a couple people felt that, but that isn't typical unless there are swells or storms and high winds.

Great day!

http://www.randomwind.com

is my choice in St Martin.

Not a catamaran, and no snorkeling, just a fun day sail with lunch. Drinks are included, but I have never seen anyone get ripping drunk.

You can also search them on TripAdvisor.

http://www.randomwind.com

is my choice in St Martin.

Not a catamaran, and no snorkeling, just a fun day sail with lunch. Drinks are included, but I have never seen anyone get ripping drunk.

 

You can also search them on TripAdvisor.

I second that choice - we had a great time !

PaulieC:

Last December we had a great 3.5 - 4 hrs on the Mirabella. It's a catamaran with under-cover & outdoor seating, was not packed at all the day we took it. It made two stops, one for snorkeling not far from the airport beach, the other for swimming off of Mullet Beach. Staff was outstanding, very efficient & safety conscious. The stop at Mullet was close enough that we could swim in from the boat (they provided noodles & snorkel equipment). We actually had a different excursion planned that was cancelled, and found this at the pier when we got off the ship and happened on a group gathering to go on the Mirabella. The cost was $65 or $70 and we thought it was a fair price. Plenty of refreshments and basic lunch served onboard. They leave from the same dock as the water taxi.

where do you meet for random wind? is it near where Allure docks? thanx

where do you meet for random wind? is it near where Allure docks? thanx

It's all clearly explained on their web site - They tender you to the sailboat from a restaurant dock in Simpson's Bay, a ten dollar or so cab ride from the port.

Plus, Diane will send detailed instructions when you make your reservation.

We looked at RW and other day sails for our upcoming land vacation, and because we prefer a catamaran over a monohull we will probably take the GE again as we loved our previous sails with that one. But if you haven't experienced it before, tacking on a monohull sailboat can be fun when you are part of the crew.

Hi. Just to give you an update. We are back from our cruise and went with Golden Eagle on St Maarten. It was a fabulous half day excursion. There were only 18 of us onboard, so loads of room. The crew were very friendly and helpful. The snorkelling and swim to the beach were great fun. The whole experience was laid back with a lovely Caribbean vibe. Would highly recommend. Thanks again.

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