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St. Maarten -- Orient Beach or Cupecoy Beach or Both?

SgpMBL

By SgpMBL,
in LGBTQIA+ Cruisers

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SgpMBL

SgpMBL

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Just wanted to see if folks out there have any recommendation on whether to go to Orient beach or Cupecoy beach when at St. Maarten. Or is there enough time to go to both in the several hours that are available at port?

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Donh44

Donh44

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Just wanted to see if folks out there have any recommendation on whether to go to Orient beach or Cupecoy beach when at St. Maarten. Or is there enough time to go to both in the several hours that are available at port?

Orient Beah is a beautiful beach. I wouldn't think you would have time to do 2 beaches. I spent 2 1/2 hours at Orient. The mountains and the water are beautiful.

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LtDang

LtDang

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Just wanted to see if folks out there have any recommendation on whether to go to Orient beach or Cupecoy beach when at St. Maarten. Or is there enough time to go to both in the several hours that are available at port?

 

 

I have been to Sint Maarten, Saint-Martin, twice on cruises, and also for a week vacation staying at a beachfront condo in Orient Village at Orient Beach.

 

First year on the cruise, docked from 7am to 5pm, we did Orient beach from 8am to 1pm. We took an expensive cab from Orient Beach to Sunset/Maho beach, (airport runway landings - fun) which is about 3 miles from Cupecoy. We were able to spend about 1h30 minutes there before heading back to the ship by taxi. It was cutting close! From the cupecoy area, you need to head over to the ship earlier than 3pm to avoid the rush hour traffic congestion.

 

So I suggest staying only at one. As far as Cupecoy, I really dont get the hype about it. I didnt see too much there...and its quite isolated and more of a nature spot.

 

I much prefer the populated Orient beach. You can enjoy the partying and water sports on the clothing/topless side, or relax and be free on the clothing optional side. All areas of that beach have places to rent chairs, umbrellas , buy food and drink. The cab fare from the port to the beach and back is very reasonable because they are shared vans which come and go all day. (6 dollars a person I think)

 

Snorkeling is pretty good at Orient beach at the rocks between the clothing and non clothing areas.

 

I would just rather be where its happening, instead on "nature" visit a private little sandy beach which what you would get at Cupecoy.

 

We are also returning to St Martin on a cruise in February and perhaps in automn 2011.... so we are getting familiar with it!

 

have fun!

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Schplinky

Schplinky

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We love Orient Beach. We have been to St. Martin 5 times and just keep going back to orient Beach because it's such a good beach with lots of food choices, reasonable prices and a good cab fare. We sit toward the end with the nudie resort (trust me, what you see there is not worth the walk down to see it) and there are very few children, if any. We were intrigued by Cupecoy but had heard it was very hit or miss and that condos are making it sort of generic.

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CruisinMaterial

CruisinMaterial

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I am going to St. Maarten soon myself and had been wondering the same question because I keep reading about Cupecoy being the so-called gay beach of the island but then Orient seems like the place to go. Some questions I had are...

 

1. It was mentioned that there is rush hour traffic getting back to the ship, what time would one leave the beach if they were going on their own to both of these places? (I believe sail time is either 4-5PM).

 

2. Is there anything at Cupecoy for amenities near the beach? (I know Orient Beach has plenty around it.)

 

3. How much is the cab fare over to Orient beach / Cupecoy beach?

 

Thanks so much for your help on this! This may be the only beach stop of the entire 10 day cruise. :eek: I'll blind everyone with my nice white skin. :D

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ikelmay

ikelmay

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My vote too would be for Orient Beach, one of my favourites. I'd also agree with the idea of going to the beach earlier and leaving earlier too, and maybe doing some window shopping and exploring in Philipsburg before walking back to the ship. You can get dropped off downtown by the taxi. That way you avoid any stressing out about potential traffic problems; the only area we have experienced congestion is in Philipsburg itself - the walk back to the ship from the town is only about 20 minutes.

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Schplinky

Schplinky

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I am going to St. Maarten soon myself and had been wondering the same question because I keep reading about Cupecoy being the so-called gay beach of the island but then Orient seems like the place to go. Some questions I had are...

 

1. It was mentioned that there is rush hour traffic getting back to the ship, what time would one leave the beach if they were going on their own to both of these places? (I believe sail time is either 4-5PM).

 

2. Is there anything at Cupecoy for amenities near the beach? (I know Orient Beach has plenty around it.)

 

3. How much is the cab fare over to Orient beach / Cupecoy beach?

 

Thanks so much for your help on this! This may be the only beach stop of the entire 10 day cruise. :eek: I'll blind everyone with my nice white skin. :D

 

Orient Beach is $9 per person if there are two of you and it goes down as low as $6 each if there are 4 or more. The cabs run constantly and it's well organised at the pier and easy to get a cab at the beach end. Most drivers try to get you to agree to be picked up by them when they drop you off but the truth is, any bar likely has 5 cabs waiting behind it so we don't pre-arrange and have never had to wait for a cab. While there might be "rush hour" it's not that slow. I would allow thirty minutes from the beach to the ship. We were just there on Oasis and even on a relatively busy day like that, it did not take us that long.

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geoherb "Live from...." Rare

geoherb

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We met a friend who was staying at Orient Beach last year. He goes for a week around Thanksgiving each year. We had a great morning and afternoon relaxing. The water was perfect. I'd plan on giving yourself at least an hour to get back to the ship, which would mean 90 minutes before the ship is scheduled to sail.

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greg_atlanta

greg_atlanta

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I've been to Orient beach twice, and if I went back to St Maarten 5 times I'd probably go back to Orient beach every time (unless it was raining).

 

If you want to share a cab on the way back (less $$$) you're probably better off leaving the beach around 3 pm (when most others leave). If you wait until 4 or 5 pm you may have a cab to yourself and pay full price.

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CruisinMaterial

CruisinMaterial

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If you want to share a cab on the way back (less $$$) you're probably better off leaving the beach around 3 pm (when most others leave). If you wait until 4 or 5 pm you may have a cab to yourself and pay full price.

 

Thanks for the tip. This will be helpful for me to help split it with others. Hoping more gay folks join me on the January 2nd sailing so I can just split it with them then complete strangers! :)

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Schplinky

Schplinky

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Hi,

 

i will stay next time in a hotel on Orient beach for holiday. Is there a gay area or meeting point ?:p

 

Not really, although those staying there once the ships leave for the day likely find a lot more seclusion.

 

Hey, did we meet you on Solstice in May?

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ftl principal

ftl principal

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We went to Copocoy Beach this past week while on Solstice. To get there we rented a car and drove. I think that a cab would be difficult as the beach is pretty secluded so getting a taxi back might prove to be hard.

 

Copocoy really is a beautiful and secluded beach at the base of some short cliffs. It was all men, all naked... but nothing more. The beach was fairly crowded and the "eye candy" was nice. The water was great, although the drop off from the beach into the water is a little steep. There is a man who rents chairs and umbrellas - we got 2 chairs but no umbrella. He also sells drinks and food from his truck in the parking lot up top. We did not use these services as we brought our own water with us and when ready for lunch we left.

 

After a couple of hours at Copocoy, around 1 pm, we then went to Maho (airport runway beach) for lunch and to watch some planes. That was fun, too, and the food and drink at Sunset Beach Bar and Grill was actually pretty good.

 

We left Maho at around 3 pm and headed back to the ship. We got stuck in some traffic but it took maybe 45 minutes to get back to the ship area.

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WDBGUY

WDBGUY

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We went to Copocoy Beach this past week while on Solstice. To get there we rented a car and drove. I think that a cab would be difficult as the beach is pretty secluded so getting a taxi back might prove to be hard.

 

Copocoy really is a beautiful and secluded beach at the base of some short cliffs. It was all men, all naked... but nothing more. The beach was fairly crowded and the "eye candy" was nice. The water was great, although the drop off from the beach into the water is a little steep. There is a man who rents chairs and umbrellas - we got 2 chairs but no umbrella. He also sells drinks and food from his truck in the parking lot up top. We did not use these services as we brought our own water with us and when ready for lunch we left.

 

After a couple of hours at Copocoy, around 1 pm, we then went to Maho (airport runway beach) for lunch and to watch some planes. That was fun, too, and the food and drink at Sunset Beach Bar and Grill was actually pretty good.

 

We left Maho at around 3 pm and headed back to the ship. We got stuck in some traffic but it took maybe 45 minutes to get back to the ship area.

 

we are going to St Maarten in February on the Ruby Princess,

looking to rent a car and got to Orient Beach and then have

lunch at Sunset Beach and watch the planes come in.

what car rental company did you use? I remember a few of

them at the end of the pier from the ships. cannot find them

online.

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ftl principal

ftl principal

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We used Avis which is actually about a 5 minute walk from the port (head out of the port and turn left on the main street - walk about 500 yards). On the port site, Budget has a kiosk. Realize if you use budget they will shuttle you from the kiosk to their off site location. There are also other, lesser known, kiosk rental car vendors at the port.

 

We did a pre-reservation with Avis and it worked out fine.

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massolteron

massolteron

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ORIENT BEACH!!!!!!! Beautiful, breathtaking, amazing water, freedom, long expanse of beach to forgo.... you can't go wrong. If you'd like me to send you some pics, let me know. They are some of the most gorgeous I've taken to date (with the exception of Jost Van Dyke in BVI) :)

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LtDang

LtDang

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I will be in St. Maarten next month but my ship will be arriving in Marigot not Phillipsburg. Does anyone knows what a cab costs from Marigot to Orient Beach ?

I can't wait. First time on Azamara Cruise Club !

 

I have never taken a cab from Marigot to Orient Beach. But I have taken the public transit bus.

 

From Marigot to Orient Bay, its about 2 dollars for the bus which is a van...about 10 passengers. So its pretty much the same as a cab except you have a few very short stops along the way. It would take pretty much the same amount of time. If you get a nice bus driver, he will even drive you right to the beach. Otherwise, they might drop you off at the edge of Orient Village at the highway and you would need to walk 10 minutes down to the beach.

 

Buses are good, you get the sit with the locals! You can search on cruise critic and other sites for public transit, bus, in St. Maarten, St-Martin for more info.

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