Just Back - St. Maarten / St. Martin - Review

St. Maarten

This island half owned by the French and half owned by the Dutch. We dock on the southern Dutch side. The northern French side (actually a little more than half) is named St. Martin. We shared a taxi ($6.00 per person when you have at least 3 people) from pier to Orient Beach. Hint: if you only have 2 people, wait a few minutes for someone else to join you.

We got dropped off at Pedro’s Bar which was empty upon our arrival at 9:30 am but standing room only when we left the beach at 2:30 pm. After walking the beach we settled in at The Pirate Beach Bar & Grill. We got two lounge chairs on the waterfront with a 3-inch-thick white chair pad, an umbrella, and two drinks for $14.00. Service by David was great. He’d check on us and reposition our umbrella to allow for more shade or sun as desired.

Orient Beach is a beautiful white sand beach with blue and green waters which appeared clearer than Coki Beach on St. Thomas. This is a clothing-optional beach, and yes, folks exercising this option do walk the length of the beach or sunbathe along the beach. This beach had everything available for a price: jet ski, parasail, windsurfing, and more.

Here are some of the established cab rates from the pier for parties of 3 to 7 people: Philipsburg (Shopping Center) $3.00; Dawn Beach $6.00; Maho Beach $6.00; Cupe Coy Brach $7.00; Orient Bay Beach $6.00; Grand Case Beach $7.00; and Marigot (French Capital) $6.00.

The cab ride from the Dutch side to the French side, past the official border marker monument to Orient Beach, is rather interesting. We saw a large herd of feral goats, a couple of fighting rooster coops, a cockfighting ring, and two bordellos. (We weren’t looking for the later. They were pointed out by our driver). Cockfighting is apparently legal on the French side, while the Dutch side has casinos.

A complete review of our Eastern Caribbean cruise can be found at:

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/easterncaribbean.html

Caribbean Bound: We read that there is a place called Bikini Beach within Orient beach. Supposedly they have a trampoline in the water and many things to rent. Are you familiar with this? Was the snorkeling any good at Orient?

Thanks,

Tom

Caribbean Bound - Thanks for the review. You did exactly what we were planning to do. We were going to stop first at the Belguin Chocolate Shop first and then go to Pedros. Maybe we should just go to the beach first. I printed a coupon for Pedros (a while back) that said the chairs, drinks were $12 with food purchase. Did you have to buy lunch to get the $14 price?

Glad you did this review. Cathy

Tom

I saw the trampoline at Bikini Beach. Seems like it was a $10 per person per day fee. There are activities of all sorts going on up and down the beach. We saw windsurfers, parasurfers, parasailing, jet skis, water trampolines, etc.

Bunkster...

texasgirl is absolutely correct.

There were two water trampolines, available for use at $5/hour or $10/day.

There are a few businesses set up on the beach that rent out the jet skis and such. One is right next to "The Pirate".

CathyG...

We did not rent our chairs from "Pedros". We rented our chairs from "The Pirate", which was maybe two bar establishments down the beach (about 50 yards away). Pedros is the very first (or last, depending on your starting point) bar & grill on Orient Beach. As crowded as the bar was come afternoon, if you are looking to relax on the beach, I would not recommend a beach chair there. However, if you want to be in the thick of the party croud --- Pedros was happening!

Oh, whichever place you decide on, be sure you have free access to a restrooom. Some bars have their own. Others like "The Pirate" give you tickets (for free) as needed so you can use a nearby rental bathroom. Otherwise it costs 50 cents per visit to use the rental bathroom.

Of note, the further away from Pedros you get --- the more expensive the beach chairs become.

Do they have lockers at Orient Beach? We plan to take a morning tour & be dropped off there. I was wondering if there is a place to leave our "stuff". Thanks, Susan

Good question. I did not notice any lockers, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. Maybe you can make it part of the deal... whatever bar you decide to settle down at ask them if they can keep your packages behind the bar or some other place safe. Might be worth a try?

Another thought...

Some stores are willing to transfer your purchases to the ship. If you can trust them to do that, it might be an option.

Do they have lockers at Orient Beach? We plan to take a morning tour & be dropped off there. I was wondering if there is a place to leave our "stuff". Thanks, Susan

The ships are close, so we shopped from 9:00 to 11:00, then went back to the ship for quick lunch, dropped off oour stuff from town and got to Orient beach by 12:00. Worked out perfect and we didn't have to worry about all our stuff. They told us theft was a problem, so we only took what we needed for the beach.

Kevin and Sally

Sounds like a good policy.