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Bernard's Tour: Differences between two island tours


JIA2000
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I read rave reviews of Bernard's Tours on Trip Advisor and on here. Is anyone familiar with the difference between Island Tour 1 and Island Tour 2? The descriptions on the Web site are similar. Island Tour 1 is 4 1/2 hours. Island Tour 2 is 5 hours. I sent them my question on Facebook. I got a very brief reply saying that on tour 1, there is no swimming. On tour 2, you swim two hours at Grand Case Beach.

 

 

 

That tells me that on tour 1 there is 4 1/2 hours of non beach sightseeing and on tour 2 there is 3 hours of non beach sightseeing. What sights will I be missing out on if I take tour 2? I've called their number in Florida several times but cannot get an answer and the voice mail I left was not returned.

 

 

Thanks.

 

 

Justin

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Tour 1 you stop at the iguana farm (aka the bus beside the river).

Tour 2 you go to the beach.

 

I wouldn't fret over them not returning calls, the phones may still be out there due to the hurricanes. Bernard's is wonderful!!

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Tour 1 you stop at the iguana farm (aka the bus beside the river).

Tour 2 you go to the beach.

 

I wouldn't fret over them not returning calls, the phones may still be out there due to the hurricanes. Bernard's is wonderful!!

 

We have not had issues reaching folks via phone in St. Maarten in all of 2018.

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Tour 1 you stop at the iguana farm (aka the bus beside the river).

Tour 2 you go to the beach.

 

I wouldn't fret over them not returning calls, the phones may still be out there due to the hurricanes. Bernard's is wonderful!!

 

 

It actually says in the description of tour 2 that you do stop at the iguana farm also. The only difference I found (we are also looking to book this) on Tour 2 it states that there will be 45 min at Moho beach and tour 1 it doesn't give a time limit there. Not sure though, because I was wondering the same thing.

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I would avoid Bernards Tours.

 

We booked them the last time we went to St. Martin. First, we had to wait almost 1 and 1/2 hours on line to pay them once we got there. Then we went in a van and the driver pointed out fascinating things like; 'thats Mcdonalds', 'thats the sewage plant', 'thats our supermarket',etc.

 

The stops consisted of the iguana farm, some guy trying to sell stuff by the ocean, orient beach, the french capital, and Maho beach.

 

Because of the number of stops and the very late start due to waiting on line, the stops at orient beach and the french capital were much shorter than expected. No really enought time to enjoy either. Certainly no time to grab a meal at either.

 

We all thought it was a big waste of time and money. But I would say the same for most 'island tours'.

 

Enjoy your trip.

 

Joe

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I would avoid Bernards Tours.

 

We booked them the last time we went to St. Martin. First, we had to wait almost 1 and 1/2 hours on line to pay them once we got there. Then we went in a van and the driver pointed out fascinating things like; 'thats Mcdonalds', 'thats the sewage plant', 'thats our supermarket',etc.

 

The stops consisted of the iguana farm, some guy trying to sell stuff by the ocean, orient beach, the french capital, and Maho beach.

 

Because of the number of stops and the very late start due to waiting on line, the stops at orient beach and the french capital were much shorter than expected. No really enought time to enjoy either. Certainly no time to grab a meal at either.

 

We all thought it was a big waste of time and money. But I would say the same for most 'island tours'.

 

Enjoy your trip.

 

Joe

 

I won't totally disagree with this post. Bernard's did a good job for us on our first visit to the island in 2011. I did agree with the ocean side stop was a guy looking for tips and probably showing stuff he pulled out of his aquarium. They didn't have the iguana farm when I was there, and I suspect it maybe the same. When they added the iguana farm they shortened the stop at Orient Beach. We loved our 2.5 hours on that beach. We also had time to shop/browse in the French Capitol and that was nice. We also arrived at Maho when the biggest planes arrived. We had a good time , but are now comfortable with the island and go on our own.

 

In 2013 our roll call had enough people to have their own private tour and go where and when they wanted. It was no more expensive that the established tours and they had a great time.

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Ditto Bill O's comments. We LOVED Bernard's tours! We used them prior to the hurricanes. We chose tour #1, because we did not want to spend time at Orient Beach. If I remember correctly, that was the difference. There were two other people who had booked tour #2. We all talked and customized a hybrid of the two tours that suited all six of us. None of us cared to see the planes at Moho, so we totally skipped that stop entirely. We DID stop at Orient Beach, but didn't spend a whole lot of time there. We visited the iguana guy and the other sea-creature guy (old man who showed us star fish and other sea creatures). It was a GREAT tour and gave me a new appreciation for an island I was kind of lukewarm about on previous visits. The six on our tour ranged in age from 21 to 57 and we ALL loved the tour. I often recommend it to others.

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My husband and I went in 2015 and chose tour 2, I wanted the extra time at the beach. We LOVED Benards’s Tours, it was one of the most engaging and fun island tours we have been on. We plan on booking the same tour next year when we return. I do, however, agree with the poster who mentioned having to wait to start the tour. We waited for quite some time while they filled vans...that part was frustrating .

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I will throw another recommendation for Bernard's. On our excursion in 2016 prior to the hurricanes, my wife and I made a mistake onboard the Anthem of the Seas. We couldn't find one another and our other friends who were also part of the tour were already off the ship and at the meetup.

 

Because of our 20 minute delay on trying to find one another, we ended up being 30 minutes late to our excursion. I fully expected for us to lose our money and it was our fault.

 

Instead, they gave us a private tour of the island for the same price. Our guide gave us some latitude in deciding where we wanted to go and it ended up being a very awesome tour.

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