Day on the water versus day touring the island- St. Thomas or St. Marteen/Martin????

Cruising in early August, would love insight.

Port days in St. Thomas and St. Marteen/Martin. Trying to decide on which port to do water tour and which port to do "taxi/beach" tour.

Options include day of sailing and snorkeling in St. Thomas or day of speed boat and snorkeling in St. Marteen/Martin. Whichever port we chose to do water tour, the other port we would have a more modest cost day and either hire a taxi and see the local sights or just walk around. Cost is similar for both water days, equally rated for fun and reliability and both include food and drinks.

We are a group of 12. Six adults and six kids ranging 11-19. Some of group are slightly prone to motion sickness but plan to take Bovine.

General thoughts and anyone who has experienced either greatly appreciated!

Will also post under St. Thomas and St. Marteen/Martin threads

thanks

we did joe's island tour in st .Thomas.great price ($30 p.p.).around 6 hrs. also a beach break for those that wanted it.2 hrs. at secret harbour.in st.martin we did the great bay beach and orient beach on 2 trips.another time we took a taxi to the French side.i think st.maarten on the east side has great powerboat rides to some small islands off shore.

We've stayed on both SXM and STT multiple times and have also cruised to both islands and we have favorite day sails and beaches in both destinations. Our choice would be a day sail in SXM with the Golden Eagle (Eagle Tours, http://www.sailingsxm.com), and a nice beach day at Sapphire Beach on STT and then some shopping in Charlotte Amalie or at Havensight if you are docked there.

We're not fans of the "cookie cutter" island/beach tours but there are some great independent tour guides on both islands who offer private tours for just a little more $$. If considering a beach on SXM Friar's is just 7 minutes past Orient and is a beautiful beach without the busy vibe.

If you're focused on one water day and one shopping/sightseeing day, both are great daysail destinations, STT the better walking/sightseeing port IMHO.

For me it would be on the water in St Thomas and a private island tour in St Maarten.

For a day on the water we also prefer SXM, for a day in the water it's definitely STT.

As far as touring either island, the traffic is terrible around Charlotte Amalie on STT and around Cole and Simpson Bays on SXM, but I prefer driving SXM and going to the nicer beaches like Friar's and Happy Bays. But they are very similar as far as touring...