Taxis to Orient Beach

[wiselindag]

In a post on Orient Beach someone said it costs $10-$15 per person one way to Orient Beach from the new pier. That sounds like a lot of money. Is that US Dollars? Is that a mistake? We are three people and $60-90 for just a round-trip taxi ride would be excessive. I've also read that there are regular taxis and shuttles or jitneys to the beach. Are the latter cheaper? Thanks to anyone who can clarify this for me.

[GRCruise]

We were there the last week of October and the driver charged us $5 per person, there were 5 of us. We stayed at the beach for about 2 1/2 hours and he actually hung out and waited for us to make the return trip, another $5 per person.

 

Chris

[Zeno]

In a post on Orient Beach someone said it costs $10-$15 per person one way to Orient Beach from the new pier. That sounds like a lot of money. Is that US Dollars? Is that a mistake? We are three people and $60-90 for just a round-trip taxi ride would be excessive. I've also read that there are regular taxis and shuttles or jitneys to the beach. Are the latter cheaper? Thanks to anyone who can clarify this for me.

There are 'regular taxis" and mini-van taxis. If you share a mini-van it will be a lot cheaper - $5 per person. A regular taxi (for two people) would be $18-20 FOR THE TAXI (not per person). The prices are posted at the taxi stand which is easy to find (to your right facing the land)

[beachchick]

We were there the last week of October and the driver charged us $5 per person, there were 5 of us. We stayed at the beach for about 2 1/2 hours and he actually hung out and waited for us to make the return trip, another $5 per person.

 

Chris

 

To be honest, I'm surprised that he would "wait" for you for 2-1/2 hours for no extra fee. That is kind of unusual in our experieince. He could easily have done several fares during that time and still come back for you at a specified time--that's what we've usually found as the norm.

 

beachchick

[texancruzer]

On 11/26 Serenade of the Seas.....

We rented a car.... island is easy to get around and driving is on the right.

 

Hertz jeep wrangler was 80.00 for the whole day. We had a blast exploring both sides (Dutch and French) and even off roaded for a bit looking for the perfect isolated beach.... also went to Orient for a few hours to snorkle. shopped and lunched in Marigot and drove all over the place. this is good island to do your own thing.... traffic not bad and roads are good.

[Schplinky]

They are stands at the pier where they combine parties to make the fares lower. If you go as others are, you will likely pay about $3-5 each. If there are just two of you in the cab, it will be $18. The drivers don't actually wait for you, they come back and get you. We didn't arrange return transportation and our beech attendant got us a cab. It was all very easy and the signs at the pier, particularly, are really great. I thought St. Martin had the nicest pier of our whole cruise.

[Brianinidaho]

Make sure you take the BUS not the TAXIs!!!

 

There are two sets of mini-white vans driving around this Island. On the license plate or front window some will say bus and some will say taxi. The bus is $2 to the far side of the island, 1.50 per person shorter distances. You will see locals only getting into the bus.

 

Just flag em and ask where they are going. They don't go to the pier, you have to walk into town 5 minutes or less.

 

Save some money and learn from the smart locals. We did the same in St. Thomas and save over $100 with our group.

[Schplinky]

Since the bus is $2 and a one mile walk in hot sun and a cab can be as cheap as $4 each when sharing, I'm sure folks will set their own priorities. We would not shlep beech stuff to town on in order to take a bus and save $2.

[Zeno]

Make sure you take the BUS not the TAXIs!!!

 

There are two sets of mini-white vans driving around this Island. On the license plate or front window some will say bus and some will say taxi. The bus is $2 to the far side of the island, 1.50 per person shorter distances. You will see locals only getting into the bus.

 

Just flag em and ask where they are going. They don't go to the pier, you have to walk into town 5 minutes or less.

 

Save some money and learn from the smart locals. We did the same in St. Thomas and save over $100 with our group.

 

The bus is OK to go to Marigot but the bus does NOT go to Orient Beach. it stops on the highway. You would have about a 15 minute walk from the highway to the beach. Personally I would just take a taxi van directly to Orient beach for $5 pp. It's worth the extra 3 bucks. If you are going to Marigot and don't mind the walk to downtown Philipsburg, taking the bus there is fine.

[chasetf]

To be honest, I'm surprised that he would "wait" for you for 2-1/2 hours for no extra fee. That is kind of unusual in our experieince. He could easily have done several fares during that time and still come back for you at a specified time--that's what we've usually found as the norm.

 

beachchick

I wouldn't be surprised because there were an abundance of taxi's when we were there. We came off the beach and there were 20-30 taxi's in the parking lot hustling fares. :)

 

As we were getting off the ship I asked a crew person about taxi availability. Her response was taxi's are the major business on the island.

 

On Martinique we had a driver wait for us while we spent 2 plus hours at the beach. As he was driving us out I expressed concern about him being there to pick us up because we would be at a remote area possibly without a taxi. He said he would wait for us and we did not have to pay until he took us back to the ship. And he waited.... and we tipped him extra....:D

[wiselindag]

Thanks to all for responding to my question. $5 per person makes much more sense! I'm going next week and will report back on our day in St. Martin.

[beachchick]

Since the bus is $2 and a one mile walk in hot sun and a cab can be as cheap as $4 each when sharing, I'm sure folks will set their own priorities. We would not shlep beech stuff to town on in order to take a bus and save $2.

 

I'm with you on that. In fact, I'd go one step further. We don't want to wait for one of the vans to fill (and often they are going to make several stops). We will pay the fare for a private taxi that will take us directly to where we want to go and arrange pickup to take us back. For us, the convenience and fast travel are worth the extra money because it's just not worth it to waste any part of what is usually our one and only day on an island. This is the kind of thing that we only do during vacation though.

 

beachchick

[Brianinidaho]

I'm with you on that. In fact, I'd go one step further. We don't want to wait for one of the vans to fill (and often they are going to make several stops). We will pay the fare for a private taxi that will take us directly to where we want to go and arrange pickup to take us back. For us, the convenience and fast travel are worth the extra money because it's just not worth it to waste any part of what is usually our one and only day on an island. This is the kind of thing that we only do during vacation though.

 

beachchick

 

That works for some folks. Just keep in mind, depending upon where you go, that the TAXI and the BUS may arrive at the same time and both could be "private" Comming back from Rhino Riders we had a direct ride, save for the stop lights. There was a private taxi behind us and we both got downtown at the same time.

 

To be clear, the BUS is not really a bus, it is the same white vans that they use for the taxis. One set of white vans (the cheap ones) are filled with locals. The other set of white vans (the expensive ones) are filled with tourists who do not know about the other white vans. We had one stop going out to Rhino Riders, took about 15 seconds. So for a large group, the savings adds up and the time is nearly the same (depending upon where you go).

 

Yes, the taxi business is big here! If I lived here I would drive a taxi. Best paying job on the Island. (Just don't tell the tourists about the busses. ) The bus may not be right for everyone, but for some who don't mind the license plate saying bus instead of taxi (again, they look the same.. white mini-vans) you may benefit from this info! Brian

[kal]

... Just keep in mind, depending upon where you go, that the TAXI and the BUS may arrive at the same time ...

 

The key phrase is "depending upon where you go". A taxi will go to your exact destination where a bus maintains a route. If you want to go somewhere off the bus route, you'll have to walk from the the stop to the destination. In the case of Orient Beach, this is a considerable distance especially in the hot sun on a bad road with no sidewalk.

[beachchick]

That works for some folks. Just keep in mind, depending upon where you go, that the TAXI and the BUS may arrive at the same time and both could be "private" Comming back from Rhino Riders we had a direct ride, save for the stop lights. There was a private taxi behind us and we both got downtown at the same time.

 

To be clear, the BUS is not really a bus, it is the same white vans that they use for the taxis. One set of white vans (the cheap ones) are filled with locals. The other set of white vans (the expensive ones) are filled with tourists who do not know about the other white vans. We had one stop going out to Rhino Riders, took about 15 seconds. So for a large group, the savings adds up and the time is nearly the same (depending upon where you go).

 

Yes, the taxi business is big here! If I lived here I would drive a taxi. Best paying job on the Island. (Just don't tell the tourists about the busses. ) The bus may not be right for everyone, but for some who don't mind the license plate saying bus instead of taxi (again, they look the same.. white mini-vans) you may benefit from this info! Brian

 

Yes, I'm sure that the public bus "vans" and the tourist taxi "vans" might often take the same amount of time and arrive at roughly the same time. And I'm sure that if a bus van, taxi van, and private taxi all left somewhere at the same time with the same final destination that they would likely arrive at the same time. But this assumes that the public van and taxi van were making no other stops for other pax. You can't guarantee that except with a private taxi. I don't want to wait around for a bus or wait for a large taxi van to fill up; I don't want to schlep my stuff on public transit at this point; and I don't want to be stuffed into a van with a bunch of other people until it's as full as they make it. (And not taking the "bus" on St. Martin has nothing to do with what the sign says on the front; we're big fans of mass transit, but not when we have only one day and lots of stuff to carry.)

 

I've stated that we are willing to pay the difference for a private taxi for both the convenience and because it is our preference. I really have no reason to "keep in mind" any of the timing issues because you can't guarantee that the bus van and the taxi van won't have four additional stops (or what have you) on the way. Even assuming that they did all arrive at the same time, a private taxi is still our preference on St. Martin. Other places we have used different forms of transit, but unless we have a rental car, we usually take a private taxi when we have a short visit and/or stuff to carry.

 

There is really no comparison between the van modes and grabbing the next in line regular (automobile) taxi. We are the only pax; we go directly to where we want to go; we can ask for interim stops or anything else; we can request specific pickup. That is what works for us. If you prefer hiking to the bus with your stuff and don't mind waiting and having additional stops, great. It's all about choices and preference.

 

beachchick

[kal]

... I don't want to wait around for a bus or wait for a large taxi van to fill up; I don't want to schlep my stuff on public transit at this point; and I don't want to be stuffed into a van with a bunch of other people until it's as full as they make it. ...

 

You're absolutely correct in your assessment of the St. Maarten bus system. To amplify, this is really not a public bus system but rather a group of individuals in privately owned vans who have a "route" which serves the general public. The vans are usually full and make MANY stops along the way. Most often people have to get out just so others can leave then reboard the van. Typical of St. Maarten the driver will often stop and engage in conversations with friends along the way.

 

On one trip the driver pulled into a parking lot and just sat for a while. Then someone brought out a foil covered tray and passed it thru the window. It was his LUNCH! All the while everyone sat quietly waiting.

 

Also, often the driver doesn't speak english so it's a bit difficult in determining the fare and route. But hey, that's the FUN of it all.

[Brianinidaho]

You're absolutely correct in your assessment of the St. Maarten bus system. To amplify, this is really not a public bus system but rather a group of individuals in privately owned vans who have a "route" which serves the general public. The vans are usually full and make MANY stops along the way. Most often people have to get out just so others can leave then reboard the van. Typical of St. Maarten the driver will often stop and engage in conversations with friends along the way.

 

On one trip the driver pulled into a parking lot and just sat for a while. Then someone brought out a foil covered tray and passed it thru the window. It was his LUNCH! All the while everyone sat quietly waiting.

 

Also, often the driver doesn't speak english so it's a bit difficult in determining the fare and route. But hey, that's the FUN of it all.

 

I guess you can't broad brush everything... we found ours made one 20 second stop and had few people on it. We did get stopped in traffic, ( maybe to many taxis?) and he called over a worker from a road side stand and bought a pop for $1. But then we added to the order and bought some ourselves!

 

Although Dutch and French are spoken, I thought most of not all folks around there spoke English. But above folks are right, it is all about choices and everyone wants something different. If you want almost the same travel time, see some local culture, and save a ton on a big group, the bus is much better than the taxis although they look the same. IMHO. Brian