Tight Budget on St. Martin and St. Thomas

I've tried searching for this answer with no luck, but are there things to do at St Martin and St Thomas within walking distance? We are stretching our dollars to take our 4 kids on this cruise before the oldest leaves the nest and don't have a lot extra for excursions, so I'm trying to figure out what we can do while there. I'm happy just heading to a nice beach, but from what I'm reading, it will cost $10pp each way for even that. I hate to spend $120 plus tip just for a ride to the beach and back. My husband says we should just stay on the ship, but we've never been to either place before, so that doesn't sound fun. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

On st. Marten you can take the water taxi to downtown for very little money. There is a beach across the street from some restaurants.

A guidebook from your library is what you want....it will tell you EVERYTHING there is...price estimates, transportation options, food, shopping, safety, etc... a library book is free to use!

On st. Marten you can take the water taxi to downtown for very little money. There is a beach across the street from some restaurants.

You can easily walk to the downtown beach and shopping. It takes about 15 minutes and is an easy walk that any folks do. I've done days in St. Martin where I spent almost no money and had a very nice day.

St Thomas is a little tougher. Freedom docks at Havensight. I think you can walk downtown along the waterfront and a cab back would be about $4-5/pp. Morningside Beach is the closest beach, but I'm not sure about the cab price - probably in the $4-5 range. You would not want to do this walk on the road.

That is all great information and gives me ideas on things to research. Thanks so much!

In St. Maarten... Great Bay Beach is right there. No taxi required. :)

LuLu

So all the good stuff is in St Martin, it sounds like? Lol. That's where I keep hearing about Bernard's tours, too. If I can mange to do an excursion, that seems like the one to do. St. Thomas is evidently a little tougher. I'll figure something out, I'm sure. Again, thank you!

On st. Marten you can take the water taxi to downtown for very little money. There is a beach across the street from some restaurants.

We did that on our last cruise. The downtown was OK, some nice shops. After walking the beach, we took the water taxi back to the ship.

For St. Thomas, we booked a beach tour from the ship.

As everyone stated above, St Marten is very easy as there are some decent beaches within walking distance. On St. Thomas you can take a ferry over to water island which has a really nice beach. The round trip ferry ride costs $10pp for adults and $5.00pp for children which would make your total cost $40.00 round trip and you don't have to tip the ferry captain (I don't think so anyway).

The only problem is that it leaves from the Crown Bay Marina near the Crown Bay cruise terminal (walking distance from there). You would either have to take the public bus over to Crown Bay or a taxi which would probably run another $4.00pp. There is a 10:30AM ferry going over which would give you enough time to take the bus and save some money if you get off the ship early enough.

The chair lift in St Thomas is a complete waste of money do not think about it.

So all the good stuff is in St Martin, it sounds like? Lol. That's where I keep hearing about Bernard's tours, too. If I can mange to do an excursion, that seems like the one to do. St. Thomas is evidently a little tougher. I'll figure something out, I'm sure. Again, thank you!

IMO riding around St Thomas is overall much prettier than riding around St. Martin and there are tours like Bernard's tours that will take you to see the sights and to the beach as well for a single price.

The nice thing about downtown St. Martin (aside from the fact that you can easily walk there) is that with kids you can pick one of the set ups that has an inflated giant water toy/dock or whatever they are called) for the kids. With more than one adult, one person can explore the shopping street while the other watches the kids. In case it's an issue, you don't have to worry about the nudity on Orient Beach.

The chair lift in St Thomas is a complete waste of money do not think about it.

We thought it was interesting do do once. Very nice views.

On st. Marten you can take the water taxi to downtown for very little money. There is a beach across the street from some restaurants.

Since they seem to be a young capable family, you can save the money on even that water taxi, its a 1/2 mile easy walk in both directions.

In St Maartin we took a taxi $10 per taxi each way [not pp] to Divi resort [no admission]. It was a good beach. We rented chairs, but you would not need to. We were able to explore the old Fort Amsterdam adjacent to the site. We found a tree and did not need an umbrella.

Here is the text of a posting I did on this about a year ago:

*******************************

I emailed Divi to ask about using their beach. Here is the reply:

Thank you for your email.

There is no charge for day use at Divi Little Bay Beach Resort. The beach is open to public access as well as the restaurants and water sports department. The beach chairs and umbrellas are available for rent daily at the activities hut. The cost is $5.00 for each item. Only guests staying at the resort are allowed to use the pools and hot tubs.

Please be sure to “check-in” with the Front Desk upon arrival at the resort. [but, when I did this they just waved me on]

Kind Regards,

Guest Relations Divi Resorts

OP - if you do make it to the beach, be aware that for most beaches, it will cost to use a chair. I am not sure if you can just use the beach and sit on a towel.

The islands are generally very pretty with some interesting sights. It would be a shame to have to stay on the ship. Perhaps a post on the ports of call board boards can offer some suggestions.

I hope you find an excursion that fits your budget.

M

In St. Maarten we walked into town (about a 10-15 minute walk) and went to Back Street and got a bus. The busses look exactly like the Taxi, you have to look at the license plate to see the difference. The busses run you everywhere for $2 or $3 per person, they aren't even allowed to accept a tip. Goes to all the same places as Taxi's do. We toured half the island for under $10 including Marigot and Maho Beach. There is never a long wait for a bus.

If you dock at Crown Bay you can walk to Emerald Beach or take a taxi. There is a Best Western Hotel located at the beach.

For St Maartin, you can walk 15 min. from the pier to Back St. which runs parallel to Front St. and catch a $2 bus that will take you to Maho Beach. All buses are minivans and their license plate will indicate either *TAXI or BUS* and a sign in their window indicating Mullet/Maho. You can get off the bus and go to Mullet Bay first, a beautiful beach and then walk over, about 15 mins. to Maho beach. If you decide on Maho beach only you can watch the planes land or take off. When getting off at Maho, ask the driver exactly where to stand to catch the bus back to Philipsburg. The large planes come in between 12-2. Many people take the bus to Maho and still have plenty of time to make it back to Philipsburg and walk around the town for a while before walking back to the pier, which is a 15 min. walk.

The flight schedule below is only for a 24 hour period. When it gets closer to your sail date, a week before, check the schedule below on the *day* you will arrive in St Maarten. So if you arrive on a Wednesday, check the Wednesday prior to arrival and you'll see all the arrivals and departures times for each airline.

http://sunsetsxm.com/index.php/about-us/flight-schedules

Bernard/s tours are great and you'll get to see the island, but won't work on a tight budget as their tours are $40 & $45 pp.

In St. Thomas, you can walk along the waterfront into the town and I'm guessing it may be about a mile walk into town. A nice sightseeing tour of St. Thomas would be better but don't recall the exact taxi price pp. There will be a taxi stand that you can ask when you get off the ship in St. Thomas.

Whatever you decide to do, I agree it would be a shame to stay on the ship for both islands.

You and your family will have a wonderful time on the islands. Just do a little research. Search the web for "free things to do in St. Martin" or wherever your destination is. You can also find a colorful map online; when you search for St. Martin and get the results, look above the first listing and you should be able to click on "images" instead of web search.

Here's a website for you, too.

http://www.stmartinisland.org/even-more-st-martin-island.html

If you take the bus for 2 bucks to maho beach in st Maarten there is a much nicer beach within walking distance - Mullet bay. We took the bus to Mullet and walked to maho after a few hours. Maho has no beach right now - mostly rocks

Mullet to maho is less than a mile and totally flat. You can find it on google maps and threads here. Best 2 dollars I ever ever spent.

First thing, there is Sint Maarten (the Dutch side, where the cruise ships dock, not far from Philipsburg), and there's St. Martin (the French side).

The big name beaches there are, it seems, on the French side. But you're on a budget, so that's impossible. Give up the idea.

If you just want a beach, there's a beach right there in Philipsburg! Get off the ship and find the road and walk (others mention it's half a mile) into town. Or get off the ship and find the water taxi area, pay a few dollars per person and get to town that way.

If you take the water taxi, get off the boat, walk to the sidewalk end of the pier, and look left and right. Beaches. :) Sit on the sand for free. Or rent some chairs and maybe an umbrella. If you go to sit on a chair, someone will let you know who owns it and what it costs to rent. :) There are tons of restaurants and bars along the way, so if you get hungry you can go there.

While the St Martin beaches might be awesome, I don't know. I was perfectly happy wandering in the shopping district of Philipsburg and then of visiting the lovely beach for a very short period of time.

I know nothing of St Thomas. But if I were going there I would start by looking at the tourist websites, I would look at the ports of call section of these boards, I would google it, etc. Just like we did last year for Sint Maarten and St Martin.

We have a simple formula to save money on every cruise (and we cruise over 70 days a year). We avoid cruise line excursions! Just that simple. As to the Caribbean, there is seldom a reason to pay the inflated cruise line excursion cost. On St Maarten (we have spent weeks on this island) you have lots of lower cost options. It is possible to walk from the port into Phillispburg or you can use the water taxis. Phillipsburg is the best shopping area on the island, and it also has an OK beach (Great Bay) where you can try to bargain for lower price chair rentals. If you want to go to a more popular beach such as Orient, you just go over to the taxi queue and tell them where you want to go. The taxi "starters" will put you into a van taxi where you will pay a lot less then an excursion and you will soon be at the beach. On Orient, chair prices are somewhat negotiable. Before renting chairs walk the beach talking to the various chair vendors and you will find all kinds of pricing. On a slow day some will even give you chairs for free as long as you buy lunch...or you might be able to get a significant discount (especially for 4 chairs).

Another option (especially for 4) is to rent a car. On St Maarten you can usually get a rental car for no more then $70 a day (less then $20 per person) and with a car you can explore the entire island...stopping at various beaches. If I offered an all day tour of the entire island for less then $25 per person folks would say I am nutz....but that is what a rental car can do for you.

It is the same on St Thomas. Taxis are often large seating areas built onto the back of pick up trucks...and they can carry over 20 folks. They have set prices (controlled by law) to the various beaches or town. I do not recommend rental cars on St Thomas since they drive on the left side...and many fellow Americans have trouble adapting.

Hank

I've tried searching for this answer with no luck, but are there things to do at St Martin and St Thomas within walking distance? We are stretching our dollars to take our 4 kids on this cruise before the oldest leaves the nest and don't have a lot extra for excursions, so I'm trying to figure out what we can do while there. I'm happy just heading to a nice beach, but from what I'm reading, it will cost $10pp each way for even that. I hate to spend $120 plus tip just for a ride to the beach and back. My husband says we should just stay on the ship, but we've never been to either place before, so that doesn't sound fun. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Ok, I am going out on a limb here. We have cruised many times with our kids. We don't buy souvenirs(we bring back memories, not clutter) and we don't drink soooo we save $$ there.

Being the oldest sometimes is very difficult. What if one of you took the one leaving the nest Horseback riding with the horses on the beach?They even go swimming with you on their backs! Talk about cool. I took my daughter and neither of us ride horses. Felt safe the entire time. She still talks about it being the highlight of ALL trips. Lucky Stables I believe was the name. They pick you pick and drop you off.

My husband did something else with the other kids, for less $.You have other islands to do things as a family. Just something to think about. Going again in Jan 2015!

You are all so helpful and have given me some great ideas, thanks so much! My husband and I have been on several cruises (in fact we were on Oasis in May for our 20 year anniversary) and usually have a great time doing various excursions and such. But with having to pay for 6 of us for this one, we are a lot more limited in what we can do. I know we'll have a blast no matter what we do, though. Thanks again!

A guidebook from your library is what you want....it will tell you EVERYTHING there is...price estimates, transportation options, food, shopping, safety, etc... a library book is free to use!

This!:)

Frommer's Caribbean Ports of Call has a wealth of information about all of the Caribbean ports, including ST and SM. Both are beautiful islands with tons of history -- please don't go all that way and then not see them! Heck, we love just walking around in the picturesque downtowns of Charlotte Amalie and Philipsburg.

Have a great cruise!