ATV and Orient Beach Tour

Has anyone taken this tour? Would love feedback. Thanks.

http://www.stmaartencruiseexcursions.com/ATVStMaarten.htm

I found this thread from an older post. Sounds like other folks have used Island Marketing...glad to hear this. I posted the thread below.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1249366

Has anyone taken this tour? Would love feedback. Thanks.

 

 

http://www.stmaartencruiseexcursions.com/ATVStMaarten.htm

Yes, and we loved it!!! You can find my review and pictures beginning at post #29.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1584851&page=2

Yes, and we loved it!!! You can find my review and pictures beginning at post #29.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1584851&page=2

Awesome! Just booked this excursion today for our cruise next week and now I'm looking more forward to it!

We did this tour last week and, in my opinion, it was just OK. We were picked up on time, in a nice clean van, by a representative of Island Marketing and taken directly to the ATV rental lot. The ATV lot is located on a side street a couple of blocks from the downtown area in Philipsburg. Our family of four and another group of four were the only participants on this trip. When we arrived at the lot, our ATV’s were already started and the helmets were on each bike. The guide helped fit our helmet and showed us the brake and the gas. That was the safety orientation. There was no storage under the seat for towels, sunscreen, etc.. Instead, there was a rack on the front of the bike you could strap a bag to. As soon as we put our helmets on and mounted the bikes, we were set to go. You leave the lot directly into traffic on a narrow city side street. It would have been nice to get the “feel” of the gas and brake before proceeding directly into traffic. The only “off road” trail we did was the road leading to Orient beach. We did one stop along the way for photos. We did not do the mountain road up the hillside above the cruise terminal. Our stop at Orient beach was an hour. If anyone has any specific questions, I’ll try and answer.

We did this tour last week and, in my opinion, it was just OK. We were picked up on time, in a nice clean van, by a representative of Island Marketing and taken directly to the ATV rental lot. The ATV lot is located on a side street a couple of blocks from the downtown area in Philipsburg. Our family of four and another group of four were the only participants on this trip. When we arrived at the lot, our ATV’s were already started and the helmets were on each bike. The guide helped fit our helmet and showed us the brake and the gas. That was the safety orientation. There was no storage under the seat for towels, sunscreen, etc.. Instead, there was a rack on the front of the bike you could strap a bag to. As soon as we put our helmets on and mounted the bikes, we were set to go. You leave the lot directly into traffic on a narrow city side street. It would have been nice to get the “feel” of the gas and brake before proceeding directly into traffic. The only “off road” trail we did was the road leading to Orient beach. We did one stop along the way for photos. We did not do the mountain road up the hillside above the cruise terminal. Our stop at Orient beach was an hour. If anyone has any specific questions, I’ll try and answer.

Hmm...sounds like they didn't do a lot of the things as stated on their website. In your opinion do you think it's worth it? If not I may just go ahead and cancel it and cut my losses with the deposit. Would you recommend anything else to do in St. Maarten?

Sandy - If I were you, I'd go ahead and go. Possibily, we had a "lazy" guide. There are beautiful views of the ocean along the ride and the hour at Orient Beach is nice. You will ride through the local "neighborhoods" and see how life really is on the island. We have been to St. Maarten a few times so we thought this would be different than the beach or shopping. I guess the most disappointing part to me was the lack of off roading. Let us know your experience when you get back.

Our tour guide took us off roading. He said he could only take the one route with very small groups and with more experienced drivers. Since there were only the four of us on two ATVs, and the fact that we all have our own ATVs at home, we went a different route. So we were told. We went through 9 inch deep mud puddles and had a blast. We had time to do this extra because we were comfortable riding the roads faster.

We were a small group, 4 single and 2 double ATV’s. My DH was the only one in the group with driving experience on an ATV. The only mud we experienced were the puddles on the road when we got back to town. There was a short rain shower after we left the beach on the way back. I do believe the website is misleading on what is being offered. If only experienced drivers get the off road experience, that should be mentioned as I was looking forward to the offroad portion. Maybe there should be two different excursions offered. The tour you received for experience riders and the tour we received for beginners.

Are you suppose to tip?

Are you suppose to tip?

Most tour operators expect a tip at the end. On the snorkel trip we took, they stopped the boat and boldy suggested we should tip 15-20% of the cost of the trip.

We did this tour in 2010 and had a great time! We did quite a bit of off-roading and enjoyed every minute of it. We also saw both sides of the island, had some awesome views looking down and went to Orient Beach, which we were not impressed with. We were on the "clothed" side and we still saw naked people walking through. I kept looking for some hot chicks for my hubby to look at, but all the naked or half-naked women were old enough to be his grandmother. It was horrible!

Anyway--the tour was great. We plan on doing it again next year when we sail back there, but we want to skip Orient and try a different beach.

Are you suppose to tip?

Did you go on this excursion? If so, what was your experience?