Best way to do this?

[karid08]

Hi, we'll be in St. Maarten at the end of March for the first time and would like to a bunch of things.

 

The Bernard's tour seems to be alot of fun, but we really want to skip Orient beach (in fact, any beach since there seems to be so much to do) and also skip the planes at Maho Beach. That's like half of his tour, so it doesn't make sense for us.

 

We would like to spend a little more time in Marigot (not the 30-45 mins allowed by tours), have lunch at Grand Case (we're BIG foodies and I've read the best restaurants are in this area) and we'd like to also do some of the typical sightseeing the tours do. We'd also like to have some time at the end of the day to do some shopping in Phillisburg before going back to the ship.

 

 

So in a nutshell, Bernard's tour with no beach or planes and more Marigot plus Grand Case for lunch. Here are the options I think we have:

1. Private tour with Bernard, but it's really pricey
   
2. Rent a car. Since it's our first time on the island, is it really doable? Also, we'll be travelling with an almost 3 yr old, so would we need a carseat?
   
3. Hire a taxi for the day (would we need a carseat for this too?). Pricey too.
   
4. Just take cab rides from one place to the next, but then we won't really be able to do the sightseeing, would we?
   

Sorry, I know it sounds like we want to do it all, but we want to be able to do as much as we can, and in the least expensive way.

 

Thank you very much for help!

[Karysa]

There is a Family Cruising board on cc. If you post over there I am sure the folks over there will have answers to your questions about taxis and if they have car seats available or if you will need to arrange this ahead of time.

 

I think for first time visitors with a small child taxis over a rental would work better. You will not have issues getting taxis to and from where you want to go.