St. Martin, help!

[ksavitz1]

I'm going there next week and am looking for a nice beach close to the port.

 

The St. Martin board doesn't get many posts so if you could suggest some beaches that have restrooms, are in walking distance, or fairly cheap that would be wonderful!

 

Thanks:)

[cruisegirl29]

Cab it over to orient beach- french side of the island.... Beautiful beach.

[Chigirlcruzin]

I've been to Orient, Dawn, and Maho beaches. All are great beaches. However, my most enjoyable day was the day I just had. We took the water taxi downtown and set up camp on the beach there. We got two chairs, an umbrella, and 6 beers for $20. We went across the street to the restaurant to order food. By ordering food from them, they allowed us to use their restroom. We were in walking distance to the shops, so we took turns going shopping and holding down the fort. It was a fantastic day!

[Bluewake]

While there may be better or more fun beaches on St. Martin (i.e. Simpson Bay, Orient or Maho Bay), if you are looking for one that is close to the port, the beach on the Great Bay alongside downtown Phillipsburg is really quite decent. Most people take a water taxi from the pier across the bay to downtown Phillipsburg or a regular cab, but you can easily walk it if you aren't carrying a lot of stuff. We did it in August and it took about 10-15 minutes at a fairly casual pace. There is an adjacent boardwalk with vendors and several beachside bars and restaurants (we liked upstairs at "The Blue Bitch"). The main shopping area of Phillipsburg is on the first street from the beach if you tire of the sun. The beach is free and there are restrooms. I think you can rent chairs or loungers but we didn't check out the costs. Here is a website that offers a lot of info:

 

http://www.discover-stmaarten.com/great-bay-beach.html

[grandmacani]

I'm going there next week and am looking for a nice beach close to the port.

 

The St. Martin board doesn't get many posts so if you could suggest some beaches that have restrooms, are in walking distance, or fairly cheap that would be wonderful!

 

Thanks:)

Just got back from a land vacation there. We have also been there 3 times for a cruise day. Orient beach is a beautiful beach. Has restrooms and changing room at the bar/resturant. Also went to pinel island. Very quiet and calm beach. Great for kids as its pretty shallow for a good piece. Have also swam at philipsburg just off water taxi. Only warning swim down the beach from a water break, I got caught in an undertow. Beach is nice

[Tampa Bay Irish]

Take a cab, go to Orient Beach on the French side. I find Great Bay Beach on the Dutch side to be too "developed."

[DJ56]

I was there last May and took a cab to Maho Beach. Rented chairs that had pads and an umbrella and thoroughly enjoyed watching the airplanes land. Quite a spectacular sight!! I was on the Victory 05-27 to 06-03-2012 and wrote a review with pix...look it up here on cc and you can see Maho Beach. No matter what you choose to do you will have a GREAT time there!!

[Karysa]

I'm going there next week and am looking for a nice beach close to the port.

 

The St. Martin board doesn't get many posts so if you could suggest some beaches that have restrooms, are in walking distance, or fairly cheap that would be wonderful!

 

Thanks:)

 

The closest beach that I would swim is Little Bay. For 2 it is a short less than 10 minute $5 pp each way taxi ride. I come too far from home to swim in Great Bay Beach AKA the town beach. There has been documented pollution issues at this beach for years now. A quick search on this board will bring up threads with published newspaper articles and first hand reports on this subject.

[Spurs Fans]

Karysa is right about the pollution in Great Bay. If you do a quick search here on "Great Bay pollution" you will find several articles over the years about the pollution in Great Bay. The locals will not swim there. It is pretty and developed but the water is not safe. If you want to just hang on the beach, it is ok, but not for swimming. Take a taxi to Orient, it is pollution free, beautiful and developed so that food and restrooms will not be a problem.