philipsburg beach for swimming? or mullet and maho?

Reading about taking the water taxi to philipsburg 5beach for an easy day. Good for swimming? Sounds great being close to the ship and shopping. Will have our 3yo with us... so being able to go to the ship for lunch/nap could be good.

Or would a taxi to Maho (for planes) and walk to Mullet (to swim)be a better day? Still easy? How much/how long is the taxi ride?

Reading about taking the water taxi to philipsburg 5beach for an easy day. Good for swimming? Sounds great being close to the ship and shopping. Will have our 3yo with us... so being able to go to the ship for lunch/nap could be good.

 

Or would a taxi to Maho (for planes) and walk to Mullet (to swim)be a better day? Still easy? How much/how long is the taxi ride?

LeGalion beach hands down. Nick named baby beach for the calm, clear, shallow water. You can also walk to the butterfly farm from there. Shouldn't take more than 20-25 minutes. Little Bay at 10 minutes away from the port would be my second choice for you. A distant 2 nd though.:)

Thank you for the idea... we may do the beach. But my 3.5yo has done buterflies in the states so unless this is really something special I think she would like the planes more.

So if going to Maho is Mullet a good beach for swimming? Hear Maho is too crowded/rocky.

Or is Philipsburg clean/clear water for swimming?

Thank you for the idea... we may do the beach. But my 3.5yo has done buterflies in the states so unless this is really something special I think she would like the planes more.

 

So if going to Maho is Mullet a good beach for swimming? Hear Maho is too crowded/rocky.

 

Or is Philipsburg clean/clear water for swimming?

Mullet is a great beach for swimming but has more of a drop and more waves than LeGalion but so does every other beach that I have ever swam at. Beach wise Mullet over Maho. In 60-90 minutes I have had my fill of Maho. I absolutely love it but for me now I enjoy it more in short doses. In my opinion Great Bay is on the right track but not where I would feel comfortable swimming in it. There has never been a sign at Great Bay stating that it was too polluted to swim at. Newspaper articles sighting the pollution concerns and levels and warnings and pictures of the brown sludgy water was enough to keep me out since 2006 and then I saw it for myself bck in the summer of 2011 I believe. From what I have read things are improving now though thanks to the work of the Nature Foundation. With that said its not much of a family beach IMO at least not for a young child. LeGalion or Little Bay are not far from the port and family beaches. LeGalion is a great beach and along with Mullet is a popular choice with the islands residents and quite popular for family get togethers on the weekends.

Regarding the Butterfly Farm. It's a butterfly farm and a nice one at that and it makes a nice break from the beach but it's not a must. I do love the Carousel Icecream parlor and with its authentic carousel and bar and gift shop on top of the gelato well this place is just a treat for the senses. It's beautiful and unlike any Icecream shop that I have ever been to. Another thing that you may want to check out is the Playstation which is an old catamaran turned into a floating playground. It's in the Simpson Bay area which is between the port and Maho Beach.

The carosel icecream sounds neat! So maybe a combo of Maho for a plane, icecream place, and Little Gallion? How would one do that based on there locations?

Mullet is a great beach for swimming but has more of a drop and more waves than LeGalion but so does every other beach that I have ever swam at. Beach wise Mullet over Maho. In 60-90 minutes I have had my fill of Maho. I absolutely love it but for me now I enjoy it more in short doses. In my opinion Great Bay is on the right track but not where I would feel comfortable swimming in it. There has never been a sign at Great Bay stating that it was too polluted to swim at. Newspaper articles sighting the pollution concerns and levels and warnings and pictures of the brown sludgy water was enough to keep me out since 2006 and then I saw it for myself bck in the summer of 2011 I believe. From what I have read things are improving now though thanks to the work of the Nature Foundation. With that said its not much of a family beach IMO at least not for a young child. LeGalion or Little Bay are not far from the port and family beaches. LeGalion is a great beach and along with Mullet is a popular choice with the islands residents and quite popular for family get togethers on the weekends.

 

Regarding the Butterfly Farm. It's a butterfly farm and a nice one at that and it makes a nice break from the beach but it's not a must. I do love the Carousel Icecream parlor and with its authentic carousel and bar and gift shop on top of the gelato well this place is just a treat for the senses. It's beautiful and unlike any Icecream shop that I have ever been to. Another thing that you may want to check out is the Playstation which is an old catamaran turned into a floating playground. It's in the Simpson Bay area which is between the port and Maho Beach.

The carosel icecream sounds neat! So maybe a combo of Maho for a plane, icecream place, and Little Gallion? How would one do that based on there locations?

Let me try to clear things up for you. Le Galion and the Butterfly Farm are on the east side of the island just before Orient beach roughly 25 minutes from port with little variation in this time.

The Carousel is at the near end of the Simpson Bay area before the bridge about 1/2 way between the port and Mullet bay beach going west from the port. Maho beach is the beach just before Mullet and at the most a 5 minute drive and 15 minute walk away. From the pier to Mullet is about 30 minutes but going back can take longer unless things have changed with the new Simpson Bay bridge opening times and the addition of the new Causeway bridge which weren't in operation last July when I last visited the island.

Little Bay is often referred to as Divi Beach because the resort Divi Little Bay is at one end of the beach. This beach is close to town but too far to walk in my opinion and about a 10 minute drive from the port.

To me the combos would be Le Galion and the butterfly farm or Maho and Mullet with a stop at the Carousel on the way home but Le Galion, Butterfly farm and the Carousel or either of the two would make for a good day as well. Many folks travel between the Orient end and Maho but that's a fair distance and would likely be a good 45 minute drive.