St. Marten ziplining excursion Loterie Farm REVIEW

Just got back from a great week on Freedom (Eastern 4/19). Since i've never gone ziplining before, the Loterie Farm TreeTop excursion through the ship looked like a great option, so hubby and I (early 50's) signed up. I am really glad I did it, but have a few tips to offer since the cruise information was pretty scant.

First, you start and end at the same place, so you CAN bring a backpack or other things with you and they will store them safely while you're in the trees. There were about 25 or so obstacles in total, more than half being zip lines and the rest crossing cables, swinging bridges and the like. Since I'm only 5'3", there were a couple of places that were pretty challenging, but overall, we were trained well and the group was really supportive -- and I only exercise occasionally so it was manageable.

We were offered cold water, punch or punch with rum in it when we got back to the main building. Some people had packed snacks... would have been a great idea. There appeared to be a small restaurant there, but the timing didn't allow for people to grab a sandwich. After sweating profusely on the course, sitting in a restaurant wouldn't have been ideal, either.

On the ride back, the bus made one stop downtown for people wanting to shop and brought the rest of us back to the ship. I learned many hours later that there was a beach right near the ship! We were hungry, tired and sweaty by the time we got back, and ate on board and just sat by the pool. Had I known better, I would have brought snacks and my bathing suit and gone straight to the beach after, since we needed to be back on board by 4:30pm.

So proud that I pushed my comfort zone! However, if I were to do it all over again, I would have organized my day differently to get the most out of St. Marten...

What time did you get back was there much time for the beach or to go to orient ?

One more question did you do the extreme or the regular zip line.

We were back at the ship around 12:30pm, which was earlier than what I had thought from the literature. We did the "tree top" which is the regular... not the extreme. The extreme started in a different location on the mountain and their zip lines were much higher and a lot longer. If you're in great shape, that could be great, too. We all finished at about the same time, but their bus wasn't waiting there, so they had longer to hang out at the end point before heading back.

Not being familiar with Orient Beach, I'm not sure whether a trip there would have worked. The farm was on the French side of the island, about a 25 minute drive from the ship.

We just did the same excursion last week! As there were only 14 people and a holiday in St Maarten traffic was not an issue so it cut our travel time to 15 mins each way. We were back by 11:30! For a beginner the regular zipline would probably be enough, but if you have ziplined before the extreme sounds pretty good! I'm nervous with heights, but we were wishing we would have done that one!

We had considered going to Maho beach as my SIL has never been there. but we were afraid we wouldn't be able to get a taxi back as most everything was closed or closing early. Instead we walked to the beach a (20 min. walk), and then watched their carnival parade. Quite interesting!

Was there a weight limit on the zipline? Thanks

My shore excursion paper says 250.

We have a group of 10, I know they don't take reservation, is DIY possible ? I rather take our time to do zipline and hiking, so it will be more fun.

We have a group of 10, I know they don't take reservation, is DIY possible ? I rather take our time to do zipline and hiking, so it will be more fun.

I'm curious if this is possible on our own as well. It isn't offered through our ship. Any help??

Try to go on Trip Advisor and find Loterie (sp?) Farm and see if you can find a website.

Not sure if you can do it on your own but worth checking! i know you can hike up the mountain on your own if you want but last year they were closed on Mondays

Try to go on Trip Advisor and find Loterie (sp?) Farm and see if you can find a website.

Not sure if you can do it on your own but worth checking! i know you can hike up the mountain on your own if you want but last year they were closed on Mondays

Just in case anyone else is interested, I went ahead and contacted them and this was Pierre's response:

The best way to get here is to take a taxi and it usually takes about 30 minutes from the pier to get here. We can call you a taxi when you are ready to leave and it usually takes about 15 minutes for the taxi to arrive here after we call.

We have regular departure times for the Fly Zone Extreme at 10am, 12pm and 2pm Tuesday to Sunday (closed Mondays) and as long as you sign up here at least 15 minutes before the departure times and have no mobility issues, are old enough (18 at least) and wear appropriate apparel, you should have no difficulties signing up. The course is offered first come, first serve so no reservation is possible.

Let me know if you need any further information.

All the best,

Pierre

Last year another couple and DH and I took a taxi out (on Monday to hike) It cost us $10 pp one way. Unfortunately we found out the hard way they were closed so we got a $40 taxi ride for nothing! Though we did get to see a monkey!

We did do this excursion through the ship this time but did the milder zipline. I wish we would have done the extreme!

If you do this I'd be interested if you did it on your own and how it worked for you, also how much they charge versus ship cost.

We have a party of 10, is it difficult to get taxi to the farm from the pier? Should I need to reserve the taxi ahead to make sure we have all transportation before or after the zipline. I don't want to miss the ship.

There are usually plenty of taxis waiting outside of the port so I really doubt you would need to prebook transportation. Just make sure the taxi driver agrees to come pick you up at the time you agree on before getting in. I would suggest you tell the taxi driver before you get in the van you will pay at the end after he picks you up! (I always feel safer that way as I figure they want paid!I didn't see any taxis waiting at Loterie Farm I am not sure if they would call for you or not?