Coral World question

[Sky616]

Looking at doing a tour with Godfrey. Me, wife and 2 kids ages 13 and 5. I've been emailing him back and forth and it sounds like we will have 2 hours at Coral World or I was even thinking of doing an hour at the beach there (Coki I believe) and an hour at Coral World. But if this Coral World has a lot to see and do we may just stay the 2 hours there. For those who have been to Coral World is there a lot to see and do? Would you recommend just doing the 2 hours there. We will be at Orient Beach for a time and Maho Beach with Bernard's in St. Maarten so it's not necessary to go to another beach. Thanks.

[CoralReef]

We visited Coral World twice, most recently March 2014, and you could easily spend two hours there -- particularly with kids. It's not an amusement park by any means, but they have some fun exhibits and shows. Our group particularly enjoyed hand-feeding the stingrays, and seeing the highly educated sea lion Omar do his tricks. The underwater observatory is pretty unique, a great way to see lots of coral and fish. I say go for it, especially since you have other beach days planned.

[Rapsmac]

We have done Coral World and Coki Beach. Not Sure what else you want to do on the island that day but you can spend the whole day there. Coral World has things going on all day. One event at a time and its spread out over the day. There are also other attractions that you can add once you pay to get in.(Look for the Coupon for Coral World) We did Swim with the Sea Lion and loved it. There is also snuba. You can leave Coral world and Coki is right there. There is a place to eat inside and the prices if I remember correctly were not that bad. We always take the $1 jittney might be $2. When you get dropped off you have to walk some. A lot if your 5yrs old.(Couple hundered yards some of it up hill) Or you can grab a taxi $10 per/per. As far as Coki goes great snorkeling and there is a dive shop there if you are a diver. They have a Discover scuba class that we did and the kids loved it. Some class room time and then a shallow dive about 30 ft. Hope this helps.

Edited May 11, 2014 by Rapsmac

[blue_water]

You will need more time at Coki to enjoy Coki Beach. The problem with organized tours is you can't be flexible. Coki is also a much nicer beach than Orient and Maho, and when you get there I think you will want to stay. So we would suggest taking a taxi on your own to Coral World, and then enjoying Coki Beach for the rest of the day. Coki is a busier beach, especially with the recent changes at Sapphire. But no busier than Orient and Maho and Coki is just so much nicer.

For St Martin you may want to consider going to a nicer beach like Baie Rouge or Friar's Bay as Orient and Maho are very busy and you'll feel like you're on the ship with chairs crammed together. Or better yet consider the Golden Eagle daysail if there are a lot of ships in port. An excellent family daysail and wonderful crew. You don't even have to snorkel to enjoy this day.

 

Just some alternate ideas to make the most of enjoyable beach time.

I would not recommend the $2 bus if you decide to go to Coki/CW on your own with kids, just grab a taxi at the dock for $8pp each way.