Harmony of the seas excursion help

[Asher511]

Hi all

   My husband and I along with our daughters, their husbands and children ( ages 1-11) will be sailing on 4/22 for 7 days. We would like to just do a beach excursion for both St Martin and St Thomas. I was hoping to go to Magens Bay but that excursion seems to be sold out. Also, any recommendations on beach excursion for St Martin’s?  Thanks in advance for the input

[Norwich Cruiser]

We got a taxi to Magens Bay.

 

Sapphire Beach is also very good.

 

We’ve also visited

 

Coki Point Beach and Sapphire Beach which are good also.

 

St Martin recommend

 

Theres also

 

Bale Rouge Beach

 

Happy Bay Beach

 

Anise Marcel Beach

[BirdTravels]

38 minutes ago, Asher511 said:

Hi all

   My husband and I along with our daughters, their husbands and children ( ages 1-11) will be sailing on 4/22 for 7 days. We would like to just do a beach excursion for both St Martin and St Thomas. I was hoping to go to Magens Bay but that excursion seems to be sold out. Also, any recommendations on beach excursion for St Martin’s?  Thanks in advance for the input

Megan's Bay is easy by "taxi" (which is a shared open safari truck).

 

April 2022 prices

[baldilocks]

Royal calls it 'Secret Beach', but it is Lindquist Beach. It is a territorial park with limited access (number of people). The beach is a post card picture. They have beach lounges which sit under the palms. There is one seller of refreshments. You go to him, not the other way around. No one pesters you on the beach....just calm waters and a beautiful view.

[firefly333]

3 hours ago, Asher511 said:

Hi all

   My husband and I along with our daughters, their husbands and children ( ages 1-11) will be sailing on 4/22 for 7 days. We would like to just do a beach excursion for both St Martin and St Thomas. I was hoping to go to Magens Bay but that excursion seems to be sold out. Also, any recommendations on beach excursion for St Martin’s?  Thanks in advance for the input

Megan's bay is very local unless its changed. Probably been 10 years but there was a gang related shooting out by the street and people used to be scared to go. People now dont remember any more.

 

I enjoyed the local flavor. 

[LeeW]

St Maarten Mullet Beach is nice sand, calm and Royal does a fairly cheap excursion there (our next one is booked for $25pp).  Most snorkeling trips stop there after snorkeling and then pause again for a while off the airport to watch planes.

[Katems75]

Has anyone had experience with the beach on St.. Maarten with the planes flying right overhead?  Is that one worth it?

[Biker19]

9 hours ago, Katems75 said:

 Is that one worth it?

Sure, if you do it yourself, no need for an RCI excursion for that.

[TwinMamainMN]

9 hours ago, Katems75 said:

Has anyone had experience with the beach on St.. Maarten with the planes flying right overhead?  Is that one worth it?

That's Maho Beach. Really fun experience IMO and the water is gorgeous, but it will be crowded and busy. If you want calm and serene, that's not the place to go.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 1/20/2023 at 4:46 PM, Asher511 said:

My husband and I along with our daughters, their husbands and children ( ages 1-11) will be sailing on 4/22 for 7 days. We would like to just do a beach excursion for both St Martin and St Thomas. I was hoping to go to Magens Bay but that excursion seems to be sold out.

just take a taxi instead.

 

But I would avoid Magens Bay - very crowded and we didn't like it. We much prefer Sapphire beach with our kid.

 

Someone mentioned Secret Sands beach (Lindquist) above - I think Sapphire and Secret beaches are almost identical in beauty, but there are amenities on Sapphire that you may find useful with kids, whereas there were none at the Secret beach. I still think Sapphire is more beautiful.

I don't really know if Secret Sands is the same as Secret Harbor or Lindquist. We HAD to purchase this excursion in Nov 2021 because we had an unvaxxed kid with us.

 

Secret Sands in Nov 2021

 

 

In St Thomas you can all be on an open air bus which is equally unsafe for everyone, but you won't have to bring a car seat....

 

 

Sapphire beach in St Thomas: no entrance fees, lots of natural shade (we need it as we have a blonde and a redhead), $9 per chaise or you could find abandoned ones

 

 

 

This is not the beach area per se, but we love to walk to the right of the beach (facing the water) for some photo opportunities:

 

 

There are some resort grounds behind the beach where you can see lots of iguanas and chickens:

 

 

 

 

By the way, taxi prices have increased dramatically since April 2022. This is November 2022.

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by Itchy&Scratchy

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Last time in St Maarten we went to Divi Little Bay hotel beach because it was the closest and I didn't do my research. While the water was fine, and the amenities as well, chaises and umbrellas were available cheap, we hated the water entrance - full of small broken shells, super sharp and impossible to avoid. This time we'll go somewhere else.

 

Red is where our chaises were and green arrow points to the only water entrance that wasn't full of shell pieces.