Orient Bay Beach post-Irma

[MasonK]

We are planning on going to Orient Beach on the 27th. It is a little concerning that there are not a bunch of taxis waiting to take you back. You never know what can happen but that is the chances you take. The nude beach does not concern us and I personally think people should do their own research before going down and causing problems for them.

 

I was just at Orient this week and had no issues with a return taxi. The biggest holdup in the Taxi situation is waiting for enough capacity that it will leave.

[BillOh]

Yes to US dollars. Never snorkeled their but heard that for St Maarten off-beach snorkeling it's decent. I have not heard that any rentals are up and running yet but September is a long way away still.

 

 

Agreed, saw photos of a jetski rental going up today. They may not take credit cards yet, but that is speculation on my part.

[Rneighh]

We just returned from a stop in St. Maarten. Orient beach still looks like a war zone. It has no power, all the destroyed buildings are still in heaps on the beach, debris everywhere. Not the beautiful beach I remember. The whole island is still a mess and will be for months to come. It was sad to see. The cruise lines need to be more transparent about what you will getting into. I know they need the tourist money, but they really need huge amounts of disaster relief funds.

[captain bob]

We just returned from a stop in St. Maarten. Orient beach still looks like a war zone. It has no power, all the destroyed buildings are still in heaps on the beach, debris everywhere. Not the beautiful beach I remember. The whole island is still a mess and will be for months to come. It was sad to see. The cruise lines need to be more transparent about what you will getting into. I know they need the tourist money, but they really need huge amounts of disaster relief funds.

 

 

 

Did you see beach chairs on the beach there?

 

 

 

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[Rneighh]

Yes some beach chairs, umbrellas, and make shift shack for beer sales and a shack for massages.

[rdsxgrl28]

Agreed, saw photos of a jetski rental going up today. They may not take credit cards yet, but that is speculation on my part.

 

Awesome!! This is the one thing we were hoping for. We figured that like PR we are bringing more cash than usual to the islands. Seems most report sketchy connections so cash may be king on this cruise.

[Summer35]

We just returned from a stop in St. Maarten. Orient beach still looks like a war zone. It has no power, all the destroyed buildings are still in heaps on the beach, debris everywhere. Not the beautiful beach I remember. The whole island is still a mess and will be for months to come. It was sad to see. The cruise lines need to be more transparent about what you will getting into. I know they need the tourist money, but they really need huge amounts of disaster relief funds.

 

Very sad to hear. We have been there a year ago and it was the most beautiful beach on our 14 days cruise....... we are going there in April again.

[Husky1987]

Very sad to hear. We have been there a year ago and it was the most beautiful beach on our 14 days cruise....... we are going there in April again.

 

What we were told a couple weeks ago is that the French side of the island will lag behind in recovery efforts because the insurance system will not be paying out anything for 6-8 months after Irma (so probably not starting for a couple months yet).

 

We were also told that there may be some more delay because a lot of folks are too keen on building back up just in time for the upcoming hurricane season to come around.