Pinel Island vs Maho Beach

My fiance & I are debating on if we want to go to Maho Beach or kayak to Pinel Island for our stop in St Martin for our first cruise. We have never been to St Martin. I would love to experience the planes but I think Pinel Island/Kayaking sounds like a more fun day trip. What would you guys recommend?

Thanks!

We went to both. Stopped at Maho on our way to the boat for Pinel.

My fiance & I are debating on if we want to go to Maho Beach or kayak to Pinel Island for our stop in St Martin for our first cruise. We have never been to St Martin. I would love to experience the planes but I think Pinel Island/Kayaking sounds like a more fun day trip. What would you guys recommend?

 

Thanks!

For the day I would choose Pinel over Maho. Of you are combining Mullet, Maho and shopping then it would become more of a competition. If 4 or more ships then I would definitely choose Caribbean Paddle to Pinel. It's lovely but the cost will be significantly more as well.

Well,

I would take a different approach.

First cruise, first visit to St. Maarten.

I think that there are many opportunities to kayak, in the Caribbean and elsewhere, but this is your opportunity to get an overview of this new (to you) island in the Caribbean.

I would strongly suggest that you book a group tour with someone like Bernard. Relatively inexpensive for a round-the-island tour (with drinks :) )

If you have the cash and want a nice private tour I would suggest Joyce.

Either would show you all the high-spots, and entice you to plan future visits for a land stay. Watch out, it can be addictive. :)

gary

We recently went to Pinel and it was beautiful and we had a lot of fun. We have went to Maho a few times now. I agree with Karysa that you don't just want to go to Maho for the day. There needs to be more to it (as suggested heading to Mullet in the morning and then walking over to Maho after that).

I have detailed reviews with TONS of pictures in my signature line on both places if you are interested. :)

We went to both. Stopped at Maho on our way to the boat for Pinel.

Hi! Can you please tell me the details of your day? I contacted Bernard but they don't offer the Pinel/Maho excursion any longer. He said there was too much time spent in traffic. When my sister and I went a few years ago we took a taxi to a place where we rented kayaks. I don't remember what it was called - it was just a little stand on the beach. We spent the morning/early afternoon on Pinel, kayaked back and took a taxi to Maho. We only spent about an hour there which was plenty of time. Then grabbed a taxi back to the ship. I'm trying to figure out if this is the best option and what I should expect to pay. There are 3 in our group. I should add that I would love to find a tour that offers both so I don't have to do the worrying about transportation and timing but I can't seem to find this. Thanks!