Any Beach(es) Within Walking Distance of Dock?

Hello!

We're heading to St. Maarten in early Dec via Celebrity Reflection. Can someone please tell me if there is a decent beach that's within walking distance of where our ship will be docked? We have a little one with us who still naps in the afternoons, so we'd prefer walking somewhere nearby in the morning and be able to walk back to our ship after lunch.

Thanks!

20 minutes to Great Bay Beach, you can see the beach from the ship.

Can take a ferry from the pier to a great beach and the town for shopping. It is about 6 dollars per person roundtrip and is a short 5 minute trip. Ferry runs back and forth all day. You can see the ferry, beach and town from the pier where the ships dock.

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Oh, awesome! Trying to stick closer to the ship b/c we've a little guy who still naps in the afternoon.

Thank you!!

As others have said ... Great Bay Beach!

You sound like wonderful parents. Wishing your family a great morning at Great Bay Beach! :D

Awww .. thank you so very much! The truth of the matter is when he naps, we all nap, and everyone is happy. :D

Awww .. thank you so very much! The truth of the matter is when he naps, we all nap, and everyone is happy. :D

Little Bay beach is about a 10 minute taxi ride from the pier. It has a couple of family friendly resorts on it and I read about, but have never seen the resident parrot. It is a clean beach, has a very good record when it comes to water testing and it has fresh water showers and clean bathrooms. There are chair and umbrella rentals and food and drinks for purchase as well.

It's a very good choice of a beach for a family if you want to stay near to the port. It would take you longer to walk to Great Bay then it would to taxi to Little Bay.

LeGalion is my faviorite beach for children. It is nick named baby beach. It takes about 25 minutes via taxi to get to Le Galion Beach.

Ah. Perfect! Great to have choices .. will check with DH tonight. Can't wait! Thank you!!

Ah. Perfect! Great to have choices .. will check with DH tonight. Can't wait! Thank you!!

You are very welcome. I hope that you enjoy your day on the island.:)

Curious what you ended up doing and how you got there?

Thanks!

We went to the Great Bay Beach and had a great time. We were able to rent beach loungers, water trampoline and a jet ski right on the beach. There's a ferry that goes from the ship directly to the beach. It runs every 10-15 minutes. It was perfect. We had a fantastic time.

Was the beach clean, especially the water? I've read that the water not good due to the ships so close by. I would love to go to this beach as well because we have our 6 year old granddaughter and would like to go back to the ship and clean up, then return for some shopping.

Was the beach clean, especially the water? I've read that the water not good due to the ships so close by. I would love to go to this beach as well because we have our 6 year old granddaughter and would like to go back to the ship and clean up, then return for some shopping.

The problem with the pollution issues at Great Bay beach stem from overflow into the bay and not from the ships. When I saw the brown sludgy water seeping into the bay it was in August which is a time when very few ships visit St. Maarten.

We had no problem with the water. It was fairly clear. In fact, we rented a jet ski, a paddle board and a water trampoline, and we didn't see anything that looked sludgy. For most part, we can see all the way to the bottom.

Btw - our son is 7, so it was super easy to do exactly what you're saying .. hop back to the ship, get cleaned up and go right back for the shopping. Have fun!

Can you tell me if Great Bay beach had chairs to rent, a place to get food and any snorkel rentals? Thanks you

Can you tell me if Great Bay beach had chairs to rent, a place to get food and any snorkel rentals? Thanks you

Plenty of chairs and umbrella's to rent along with food and drink to purchase. You may be able to rent snorkel gear but very poor snorkeling in the bay for a lack of of coral.

Can you tell me if Great Bay beach had chairs to rent, a place to get food and any snorkel rentals? Thanks you

No snorkelling at Great Bay beach which is a blessing really as folks that don't know about the pollution issues would be snorkelling. That is frightening to me. Don't care if the one's in the know do it at all.

Try Little Bay. Other than shopping it has all that you are looking for and it always passing the water safety tests. You can ask the cabbie to drop you in town for shopping post beach.

Oh wow! That is VERY good info to know, I think we will skip Great Bay then. Thank you.

No snorkelling at Great Bay beach which is a blessing really as folks that don't know about the pollution issues would be snorkelling. That is frightening to me. Don't care if the one's in the know do it at all.

 

Try Little Bay. Other than shopping it has all that you are looking for and it always passing the water safety tests. You can ask the cabbie to drop you in town for shopping post beach.

Do you have any documentation that confirms people getting sick from swimming in Great Bay. I have searched but come up empty.

I'm thinking on the few days per year that the contaminates reach the bay the sheer volume of clean ocean water would greatly dissipate the contamination to parts per billion. One would have to swallow copious amounts of sea water to get sick. IMHO I say enjoy Great Bay unless there are posted signage not to swim.

Do you have any documentation that confirms people getting sick from swimming in Great Bay. I have searched but come up empty.

I'm thinking on the few days per year that the contaminates reach the bay the sheer volume of clean ocean water would greatly dissipate the contamination to parts per billion. One would have to swallow copious amounts of sea water to get sick. IMHO I say enjoy Great Bay unless there are posted signage not to swim.

If the locals chose to swim in Great Bay then there would be records to trace illnesses but as we all know this is a cruisers beach and cruisers would blame something they ate if they got sick or perhaps picking something up on board and not equate it back to swimming in Great Bay Beach.

IMHO you know about the issues and choose to swim there anyway so enjoy.:)

There are 7 ships in port the day we will be there... Please give opinions on choosing either Great Bay or Little Bay for chair/umbrella rental (and cheap beer for the ones in my party) - Thanks

Do you have any documentation that confirms people getting sick from swimming in Great Bay. I have searched but come up empty.

I'm thinking on the few days per year that the contaminates reach the bay the sheer volume of clean ocean water would greatly dissipate the contamination to parts per billion. One would have to swallow copious amounts of sea water to get sick. IMHO I say enjoy Great Bay unless there are posted signage not to swim.

You won't see any signs posted not to swim. This beach is mostly used by tourists and not where the locals go to swim with their families.

http://www.thedailyherald.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51418:great-bay-not-safe-to-swim-kim-sha-okay-&catid=1:islands-news&Itemid=54