St. Martin: horse-backriding PLUS beach 9-5 pm - doable?

[anka-morfin]

Hi, we'll be in St. Martin on the day when there are 5 cruise ships in port. We were going to send off kids with grandparents to the Le Gallion beach and go on a horse-back riding tour at 11 am (3 hour total) and then join them for 1-2 hours before coming back. Is it doable at all? Is LeGallion a good idea or any beach will be crowded on a day like this? I hear traffic gets really bad on a day like this and trying to go to Maho beach is probably a horrible idea?. How soon should we plan on leaving the beach to surely make it back to port? It will be 6 of us taking taxis back and forth (2 grandparets and 2 kids to the beach, 2 of us to the beach later and all 6 back) should we book in advance through some company or just catch a cab right there? How much should we expect to pay?

[belmontcrew]

We have been to Le Gallion beach once and it was not crowded at all. I don't think it is very popular with the cruise ship crowd. They have chairs for rent and a place for food and drink. It has been a few years since we were there, so I don't remember the cost of our cab or how long it took to get there. When we were ready to leave they called a cab to come get us. With your horse-back riding set to end at 2:00, it may be difficult to get to the beach before you will need to return to the ship by 4:30. I would think there are too many variables from traffic, where are you riding, and will you have a cab waiting on you once you are finished. I certainly think you can get to LG, I just don't know that you will have much time there. I would not book with anyone as any cab will get you there.

[anka-morfin]

I really appreciate your reply. There's actually a horse riding stable next to Galion beach which is on Tripadvisor

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1606589-d6379932-Reviews-Bayside_Riding_Club_Ranch-Saint_Martin_St_Maarten_St_Martin.html

 

But they don't seem to return calls. Anyone knows if they're still open?

[Karysa]

I really appreciate your reply. There's actually a horse riding stable next to Galion beach which is on Tripadvisor

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1606589-d6379932-Reviews-Bayside_Riding_Club_Ranch-Saint_Martin_St_Maarten_St_Martin.html

 

But they don't seem to return calls. Anyone knows if they're still open?

 

Sept-Oct is slow season on the island so perhaps the people taking the bookings are on vacation. Also look at Online reviews and see if there are recent reviews on this business. If the last ones were in August then go back to next September and October and see if there were reviews in that timeframe.

 

You should give yourself a good hour to get from Le Gallion to the pier. If getting a taxi is difficult you need to leave enough time to walk back to the butterfly farm/horse stable Rd that has the traffic coming and going from Orient beach so you can flag down a taxi and get back to the ship in time.:)

Edited October 22, 2016 by Karysa

[anka-morfin]

You should give yourself a good hour to get from Le Gallion to the pier. If getting a taxi is difficult you need to leave enough time to walk back to the butterfly farm/horse stable Rd that has the traffic coming and going from Orient beach so you can flag down a taxi and get back to the ship in time.:)

 

Thank you that's good to know.

With regards to that horsebackriding farm, it seems like no reviews for at least 6months :(

[tweeks212]

Hi, we'll be in St. Martin on the day when there are 5 cruise ships in port. We were going to send off kids with grandparents to the Le Gallion beach and go on a horse-back riding tour at 11 am (3 hour total) and then join them for 1-2 hours before coming back. Is it doable at all? Is LeGallion a good idea or any beach will be crowded on a day like this? I hear traffic gets really bad on a day like this and trying to go to Maho beach is probably a horrible idea?. How soon should we plan on leaving the beach to surely make it back to port? It will be 6 of us taking taxis back and forth (2 grandparets and 2 kids to the beach, 2 of us to the beach later and all 6 back) should we book in advance through some company or just catch a cab right there? How much should we expect to pay?

 

Hi, can I ask who you are using for horseback riding, that sounds like fun, also is it riding to the beach? Thanks

[anka-morfin]

Hi, can I ask who you are using for horseback riding, that sounds like fun, also is it riding to the beach? Thanks

 

We wanted to use these stables because they're close to Le Galion beach

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1606589-d6379932-Reviews-Bayside_Riding_Club_Ranch-Saint_Martin_St_Maarten_St_Martin.html

 

But they never answered our calls ormessages so we decided not to risk going there. Maybe they're closed? So we booked a horseback riding trip through carnival with These stables

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1606588-d1426130-Reviews-Seaside_Nature_Park-Sint_Maarten_St_Maarten_St_Martin.html

 

It was great we loved it! Although we couldn't go to Le Galion beach since the locations are too far from each other. But we just went to Great Bay beach instead and it was awesome!