Bernards Tours/trips

Hi

We are arriving In PHILIPSBURG, ST. MAARTEN on 05/05/16, never been to the island before, so looking at the tours on this forum I have noticed Bernard's tours mentioned a few times, it looks like a good way to see the island and have some time on the beaches, I am considering:

SXM Island Tour II - Beach Sightseeing and Shopping - $45/pp | $5/pp Deposit

There are 4 adults and one 9 year old, would you recommend this tour? we are in port 07:00 to 17:00, I have also seen the private tour for $360 for 5 guests (our party size), also gives a choice of beaches rather than just Orient:

•Choose your beach; Pinel Island (additional $7 ferry fee applies), Baie Rogue, Orient, Dawns, Nettle Bay

Has anyone done this trip, is it worth the extra $135 for a private tour? if so, which beach would be best?

If anyone knows of a better trip, please feel free to comment, looking for all the advice I can get :)

Thanks for any advice.

A friend recommended Bernard's. They did the group tour for $45. They really enjoyed it.

I booked with them but as a private tour. We have four in our group. I wanted a little control as to where we go. My husband is a slow walker so we didn't want to feel rushed with his disability.

I paid a deposit on the 4th but have not heard back from them. I understand this is common.

Thanks for the response.

I am considering booking a private tour myself, there are 5 of us, 2 abit older, so I like the idea of going on our own route and staying some places longer than others. Most of the bad reviews I have read have been because other people on the tour have been a problem, returning late, noisy etc.

Out of interest, which beach did you book? seems on the private tour you have a choice on the beach to visit, if you book the group tour its the Orient beach.

I did email Bernard from his website and got a fast response, he said its $5 deposit and balance payable on tour in cash or CC.

Thanks for the response.

 

I am considering booking a private tour myself, there are 5 of us, 2 abit older, so I like the idea of going on our own route and staying some places longer than others. Most of the bad reviews I have read have been because other people on the tour have been a problem, returning late, noisy etc.

 

Out of interest, which beach did you book? seems on the private tour you have a choice on the beach to visit, if you book the group tour its the Orient beach.

 

I did email Bernard from his website and got a fast response, he said its $5 deposit and balance payable on tour in cash or CC.

I like private tours myself. We travel a lot and always book them.

I mentioned that we wanted a beautiful beach with white sand. I thought maybe they could give me a suggestion. I've been reading about all the different ones. We do want to go to Maho after our regular beach stop to see the planes land. We have our teenage granddaughter and her BFF with us. I know they will love it.

We also want to go to Marigot to eat at the French bakery and shop.

Thanks for the email suggestion, I'll try it.

I like private tours myself. We travel a lot and always book them.

 

I mentioned that we wanted a beautiful beach with white sand. I thought maybe they could give me a suggestion. I've been reading about all the different ones. We do want to go to Maho after our regular beach stop to see the planes land. We have our teenage granddaughter and her BFF with us. I know they will love it.

 

We also want to go to Marigot to eat at the French bakery and shop.

 

Thanks for the email suggestion, I'll try it.

We have a 9 year old boy in our party, so Maho is a must, but wouldn't want to stay too long as it looks very crowded and noisy on videos, I just hope the visit coincides with a landing, I guess the tour driver would know the arrival times.

That's also why I like the private tour idea, you can stay more/less time where you fancy, I have emailed Bernard asking when the tour can start, as we arrive in Philipsburg at 07:00, so would like to do the tour then spend the rest of the day in Philipsburg before we have to board the ship at 17:00. I have also asked for a nice quiet sandy beach.

I heard Marigot was a market, bakery sounds interesting, the Iguana farm is shut at the moment, but Bernard said there is another place we can go to visit and feed the Iguanas, so the 9 year old is very excited by that !!!

We have a 9 year old boy in our party, so Maho is a must, but wouldn't want to stay too long as it looks very crowded and noisy on videos, I just hope the visit coincides with a landing, I guess the tour driver would know the arrival times.

 

That's also why I like the private tour idea, you can stay more/less time where you fancy, I have emailed Bernard asking when the tour can start, as we arrive in Philipsburg at 07:00, so would like to do the tour then spend the rest of the day in Philipsburg before we have to board the ship at 17:00. I have also asked for a nice quiet sandy beach.

 

I heard Marigot was a market, bakery sounds interesting, the Iguana farm is shut at the moment, but Bernard said there is another place we can go to visit and feed the Iguanas, so the 9 year old is very excited by that !!!

I just got an email back from Bernard. He said our tour will meet at 8:30.

We only want to stop at Maho for a short time. I think they have a sign posted about flights. From what I have read they are mostly in the afternoon.

I think my girls would like to see iguanas too....me, eeek!

We have a 9 year old boy in our party, so Maho is a must, but wouldn't want to stay too long as it looks very crowded and noisy on videos, I just hope the visit coincides with a landing, I guess the tour driver would know the arrival times.

 

That's also why I like the private tour idea, you can stay more/less time where you fancy, I have emailed Bernard asking when the tour can start, as we arrive in Philipsburg at 07:00, so would like to do the tour then spend the rest of the day in Philipsburg before we have to board the ship at 17:00. I have also asked for a nice quiet sandy beach.

 

I heard Marigot was a market, bakery sounds interesting, the Iguana farm is shut at the moment, but Bernard said there is another place we can go to visit and feed the Iguanas, so the 9 year old is very excited by that !!!

We visited St. Maarten in February, our first time there, and took Bernard's Tour Number II (not the shopping tour). We had a very enjoyable day.

A couple of comments, though. The iguana stop was literally on the side of the road; a kid had a mat down and there were a few iguanas on it. It was a truly made for tourists thing. I wouldn't call it a "visit."

As for Sarafina's bakery in Marigot -- what a mixed bag. The almond croissants were great, but the other pastries we bought (macarons and a chocolate napoleon) were totally stale. A real disappointment. (I've read similar comments by others, as well as total raves. I hope the pastries are fresh when you visit.)

Again, we enjoyed our day (which included 90 minutes at Orient Beach, and the obligatory stop at Maho to see planes land). I hope you have a wonderful trip!

(photo by turtles06)

We visited St. Maarten in February, our first time there, and took Bernard's Tour Number II (not the shopping tour). We had a very enjoyable day.

 

A couple of comments, though. The iguana stop was literally on the side of the road; a kid had a mat down and there were a few iguanas on it. It was a truly made for tourists thing. I wouldn't call it a "visit."

 

As for Sarafina's bakery in Marigot -- what a mixed bag. The almond croissants were great, but the other pastries we bought (macarons and a chocolate napoleon) were totally stale. A real disappointment. (I've read similar comments by others, as well as total raves. I hope the pastries are fresh when you visit.)

 

Again, we enjoyed our day (which included 90 minutes at Orient Beach, and the obligatory stop at Maho to see planes land). I hope you have a wonderful trip!

Thanks for the info on Marigot and the Iguanas! I have another French bakery closer to the port we may have to check out.

Your pictures are really nice!

Thanks for the info on Marigot and the Iguanas! I have another French bakery closer to the port we may have to check out.

 

Your pictures are really nice!

Thanks for the kind words. I just went back to see if I have any photos of the iguanas. Here is one of them, sitting on that mat. Perhaps the OP's 9-year-old will enjoy the "visit," but I wouldn't build it up too much. :)

(photo by turtles06)

Thanks for the kind words. I just went back to see if I have any photos of the iguanas. Here is one of them, sitting on that mat. Perhaps the OP's 9-year-old will enjoy the "visit," but I wouldn't build it up too much. :)

Great Picture! We saw iguanas last month out in the wild, we went to Grand Cayman . I think that will have to do.:)

Thanks for the responses, I booked the private tour for 5 of us, I prefer the flexibility the private tour gives us, Bernard said there are 37 beaches in his email, so they will recommend one for us.

We return middle of May, so I will return and let you know which beach we did.

Great pics, the Iguana looks well fed :)

Thanks for the responses, I booked the private tour for 5 of us, I prefer the flexibility the private tour gives us, Bernard said there are 37 beaches in his email, so they will recommend one for us.

 

We return middle of May, so I will return and let you know which beach we did.

 

Great pics, the Iguana looks well fed :)

Please let me know what you think. We go after you. I really am curious about the beach. We went to the one right across from the cruise port last time. We liked it but it was crowded.

My name is Fee and I am living with my family on St. Maarten / St. Martin. We moved here from Germany and enjoy life on a caribbean island. If you are on the island just let me know - we offer island trips and have a lot of tipps for you.

Sooooo....

I've read so many great things about B's tours and we were so excited.

And it was NOT something I would do again. The public one, at least. We're a family of 3 so we're not going to book a private tour.

It was a VERY long day.

The iguanas were good, but ONLY because it had rained and they were in the trees (more like low bushes), not on the mat.

There was a stop at an overlook with a guy who shoved sea urchins into peoples' hands (not caring that the urchins' spines were breaking off every time he touched them).

Orient Beach was fine, but relaxation had just started when it was done (1.5 hours for the whole thing).

The bakery, bleah. Sweet and goopy. Huge long line. It's literally all we had time to do before going back to the bus.

Our driver wasn't personable IMO. His info about the island felt like an angry lecture.

Maho....I was just DONE by the time we hit Maho. We did NOT get there in time for the BIG jets, and because he said that, I wasn't relaly paying attention. My son and I were sort of hiding in the shade there, and I just couldn't get into it. We nearly caught a taxi to just get back.

Because of the lateness of the end of the tour (at the port) I didn't feel comfy going back into Philipsburg, which meant I didn't do the small amount of shopping I had wanted to do.

Hopefully our tour was a "one off". There were some major partiers in our van, and they seemed to be having fun, but that wasn't our scene that day, so it was kind of offputting.

I hope your private tour is way better.

We'll be in SM again this year, and I think this time we'll just head to Orient by taxi for a few hours, eat in Philipsburg and buy some chocolates, and call it good.

We did Bernard's tour in 2009 and went to the Iguana Farm. I am glad they removed it because it was so gross. It was basically a nasty pond with iguana's and chickens in and out of the water.

We enjoyed the rest of his tour though especially the free rum punch ;)

I took Bernards tour a few years ago. Got very frustrated with other people on our tour who didn't return to the van on time which caused us to only have about 30 minutes at Maho. I was very upset as this was one of the things I REALLY wanted to see and in that time, no planes landed or took off. I know Bernard has to keep people happy but I would book a private tour if you have a lot of people and can split the cost; that way others are not interfering with what you want to do and how long you stay at each point of interest.

Is the lunch stop at the bakery? Is it recommended that we bring some of our own food to combat the ling line ups or is there somewhere else we can get something to eat?

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We are doing Bernard's private tour in August for just the two of us. Know its a little pricey for 2 but want the flexibility and control of when and where we go. Not keen on waiting on a hot bus and crawling over people. (don't mean to sound awful). Maybe after your June tour you might be able to pass along some tips. Thanks . Gerry

I like private tours myself. We travel a lot and always book them.

 

I mentioned that we wanted a beautiful beach with white sand. I thought maybe they could give me a suggestion. I've been reading about all the different ones. We do want to go to Maho after our regular beach stop to see the planes land. We have our teenage granddaughter and her BFF with us. I know they will love it.

 

We also want to go to Marigot to eat at the French bakery and shop.

 

Thanks for the email suggestion, I'll try it.

We are doing Bernard's private tour in August for just the two of us. Know its a little pricey for 2 but want the flexibility and control of when and where we go. Not keen on waiting on a hot bus and crawling over people. (don't mean to sound awful). Maybe after your June tour you might be able to pass along some tips. Thanks . Gerry

We go in June, I'll report back.

Thanks. Gerry.

I also, have booked a private tour with Bernard; not until November. I will be very interested in hearing about which beach would be enjoyable, other than Orient. Enjoy your trip. TIA for your info.

We'll be there next week...will let you know.

Just returned from this tour and had a great time! We had the "Mailman" as we had requested and he was a great tour guide/driver. The time at Orient was nice, got to relax and have a couple of free drinks in nice comfy loungers w/umbrella for $10 for 2 of us. Got to eat lunch at Sarafina's and have some pastries, which all were fresh and very tasty. Walked through the market area for a short period of time and picked up a couple of souvenirs (haggled on prices because they vary greatly). This was probably the most rushed part of the day. Then we headed to Maho Beach to see planes and saw several actually land and take-off while we were there. Very crowded at the Sunset Beach Bar area around lunch time and very small beach area. Basically just stopped to see the planes. This is probably the one place I won't return again (been there twice now). No tour is going to be 100% for everyone that takes it, everyone has there own likes and dislikes, however I think they provide a very efficient and fun tour that is exactly as described.

Just returned from this tour and had a great time! We had the "Mailman" as we had requested and he was a great tour guide/driver. The time at Orient was nice, got to relax and have a couple of free drinks in nice comfy loungers w/umbrella for $10 for 2 of us. Got to eat lunch at Sarafina's and have some pastries, which all were fresh and very tasty. Walked through the market area for a short period of time and picked up a couple of souvenirs (haggled on prices because they vary greatly). This was probably the most rushed part of the day. Then we headed to Maho Beach to see planes and saw several actually land and take-off while we were there. Very crowded at the Sunset Beach Bar area around lunch time and very small beach area. Basically just stopped to see the planes. This is probably the one place I won't return again (been there twice now). No tour is going to be 100% for everyone that takes it, everyone has there own likes and dislikes, however I think they provide a very efficient and fun tour that is exactly as described.

Thanks for the info! Very helpful. Which one did you take (or was it a private tour)?

I am still debating on the one with Orient and the one without. We will have 2 teens with us - topless is fine, full on nudity not so much. I just want to make sure we will have time to enjoy Maho. I tried booking on his site but didn't pay the deposit part, just asked questions on the form page. Haven't heart anything. Do I need to pay the deposit to get a response?