St. Thomas/St. Maarten advice

[bj3247]

can you take your own snorkel equipment on st. thomas and trunk bay or do you get that with the beach access payment?

[lephysteria]

I believe the surcharge to get into the Trunk Bay beach area is just to get into the beach area. If you'd like to rent snorkeing equipment, it would be an additional charge.

 

You could bring your own. I saw many people doing that. You can also just rent vests there. I believe I read where that was $25 extra.

 

Hope this helps :)

[MikeNJ1109]

The two beaches we'd recommend on Sint Maarten are Orient Beach (mentioned by a previous poster) and Maho Beach...Orient Beach is positively gorgeous, and we'd go back there in a minute. Maho Beach is a smaller beach in comparison, but it's clean, has all the requisite amenities, but the attraction is that it is at the very end of the runway for the international airport...if you're a plane spotter (we are), it gives you an excellent opportunity to see many of the European, South American and Carribean airlines as they approach and land.

 

Mike & Silke

[luvjftffc]

We did Coki Beach in October 04 and it was excellent snorkeling. the water is just like the pictures and the beach is beautiful and somewhat private. we took our own masks but rented fins for 5.00 each. there is also an excellent tropical drink there that was to die for.

[lephysteria]

I also recommend Maho Beach if you're in to watching airplanes (like I am). That was so awesome! They looked like they were going to land right on top of you! It was so very cool.

 

Jet blast hurts.

 

When the sand mixes with your skin where you've applied sunscreen, you get a nice exfoliant when trying to remove the sand later on that day :D

[MikeNJ1109]

I also recommend Maho Beach if you're in to watching airplanes (like I am). That was so awesome! They looked like they were going to land right on top of you! It was so very cool.

 

Jet blast hurts.

 

When the sand mixes with your skin where you've applied sunscreen, you get a nice exfoliant when trying to remove the sand later on that day :D

 

Glad to meet another plane-spotter lephysteria. Maho sort of adds a whole new meaning to "sand-blasting" yourself clean, right?

[Dem920]

We will also be on AOS 8/14/05 and wondering what ideas people have for Barbados, St. Lucia and Antigua. I would echo the sentiments that Orient Beach is the place to go in Saint Maarten. And we might try St. John's. Any idea if the ferry is rough to St. John's. My DH doesn't have the greatest time on smaller boats. Cruiseships he is usually fine, but I could never get him on a catammaran, but hoping the ferry isn't too bad.

 

In Barbados we are thinking of chartering boat to swim and snorkle with the giant turtles. Has anyone done that?:D

 

-DEM920

[lephysteria]

Glad to meet another plane-spotter lephysteria. Maho sort of adds a whole new meaning to "sand-blasting" yourself clean, right?

 

 

LOL, yeah, I'm still getting sand out of places I didn't know I had! :eek:

BTW, our camcorder is sand-proof, apparently :)

[lephysteria]

And we might try St. John's. Any idea if the ferry is rough to St. John's. My DH doesn't have the greatest time on smaller boats. Cruiseships he is usually fine, but I could never get him on a catammaran, but hoping the ferry isn't too bad.

 

In my opinion it was bad, but it really depends on the water conditions. We took the ferry from Red Hook. This involves a shorter ferry ride than the ferry that leaves from Charlotte Amalie.

The ferry driver knows what he's doing, but really, the ferry ride wouldn't be "bad" for more than 5 minutes. The roughest part of the water, the deep water, only takes about 5 minutes to get through.

 

St. John is worth it! :D