sccoast

I looked on the website but couldn`t find anything about a day pass. Is this what you had? I am looking for somewhere like the Coconut Beach Resort in Antigua, where the facilities, beach, pool, lunch and drinks are included in a day price. Is this the same thing?

no day pass they told me, you can pay for loungers, drinks and food and within walking distance to port

I've read what I could about beaches and I hesitate to ask another beach question but i really just want to go to a beautiful non crowded beach that I can snorkle at. I dont care about beach chairs, or drinks, or food. I just want to enjoy the beach with out paying $40 pp to be thrown on a crowded beach. I was ready to book the RCCL excursion but after reading a review of it, it seems more of a tour than beach. I dont care to see the island just swim and relax and maybe see a fish or two.

I don't like Baby Beach since its Man Made and further out. We just took the bus with a $10 day pass to Malmok which is where most go to snorkel, you can see the excursions just off shore with the snorkelers there. there is nothing there so plan to lay a towel down when done snorkeling. the only issue we had two weeks ago was that after the bus dropped us off (30min from port) and we walked the 10min up the beach, no bus ever came back to the spot they told us to wait at - we had to walk nearly an hour back to Moomba and then bus it back. so we wasted much time on bus, waiting for bus, walking to find a bus. the wind surfer beach just past the high rise Palm beach is nice also.

next time i think we will forget snorkeling and just enjoy eagle beach closer to port - when you don't arrive until 1 or 2pm it really cuts your sunshine time down.

After researching this beach, I have put all the information together. Will someone that has recently done this please comment?

It seems that you can get a taxi to Bayahibe Beach for about $60 round trip. That's for the taxi and not per person. If I'm understanding this right, the taxi can take up to 14 people, so if there is just 2 of us, we can share with others and split the cost. This is a beautiful, calm public beach. There are shops, places to eat and drink and restrooms (although I understand they're not the nicest)

The taxi will wait for you to come back. It's about a 20-25 minute ride.

We don't want to do an organized tour and we also don't want to spend a lot of money on this port. Any information will be helpful.

for $74 i'm doing Bayahibe beach excursion which includes transport and open bar..... if taxi is 60, then the cruise excursion is a good deal for open bar too

I will be visiting Aruba on a Princess Cruise in a few months and based on CC research have decided to cab from the cruise port to Palm Beach. I would like to spend the afternoon walking the beach and stopping at a few beach bars along the way. Any recommendations for laid back bars directly on the beach? I am not interested in large resort type bars--my preference would be for unique and funky!

 

Thanks for your help!

js

Moomba even though its in the high rise section but you could walk down to the pier and into the low rise section, haven't seen many local beach bars along the way like at other islands

Has anyone recently been and found out which resorts offer a day-pass?? Really want to go to a nice beach and not have to worry about a thing! Thanks in advance!

just got to Moomba beach between the Marriott and the Holiday inn and you can rent loungers and the bar and restaurant are there...

What is the best beach for a 3 year old in Aruba? We need clean restrooms, easy access to get into the water, clean sand and some food. We don't want to spend too much on taxi or have to travel too far. Thanks!

baby beach but a longer drive, otherwise palm beach near high rise area and moomba beach - marriott area

What beach? Availability and costs for chairs, restrooms, etc?

best beach is Palm beach near the high rise motels, you can go to Moomba bar and restaurant and rent chairs. also beach areas near low rise hotels and further east of high rise in what is called wind surfer beach where snorkeling off shore is good. no lack of beaches. although baby beach is not a favorite of mine since its man made.

you can hop the bus for like $2.30 cash and go all the way to the lighthouse and windsurfer beach to snorkel and back to high rise area and moomba and then to low rise area with mall and shops and back to port. its easy to get around in aruba by bus or taxi.

While not strictly _liquor_ this has my attention: what brands of beer are available generally on Grand Turk? And where could they by purchased by the 6-pack, if possible. And, equally important, where can we get a reasonable price?

we usually walk past M'ville and to the first or second bar and get a bucket of beer and conch fritters. its Turks Head but they have numerous kinds. $20-24

I have been to Grand Turk twice so I know the set up at the pier...we always booked a snorkeling excursions but this time we thought we would walk down to Jack's Shack or stay by the terminal. My question ...is the shoreline as rocky as some describe the whole way down towards Jack's Shack? We are strong swimmers so I was wondering if we walked down to the farthest point of the Carnival Beach, to enter the water , and leave our towels etc. is it still as rocky? We would then swim back towards the ship and snorkel as some have said it is pretty decent.

TIA for any input. :) Polly

not rocky, some random rocks but very manageable. snorkel either down near Jacks or to the right of the dock is what i've read. you can rent a chair at jacks if you want.

Hi,

 

With Bonaire being an entirely new port for us. We are hoping to get some info on their AI Resorts. Has anyone recently been to Plaza or Spice Beach resorts?

Are cruise pax welcomed?

I'm basically looking for info on cost, amenities,(pool) cost of cab ride and how long it takes from the pier?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

Thank You

Liz:)

Spice is within walking distance (20min) from port, even though some lines offer an excursion there he still will take walk ins. no cost to use the beach, $10 for loungers, good bar and restaurant he says. its about a $10 cab ride even though its less than 2mile. its a stairway into the water but decent snorkel and can rent snorkel gear. remind me of tortola beaches with stairway in, some rock and then beautiful water.

Plaza is a sand beach, but i do not know cost of cab, he takes walk ins also, snorkeling not as good i've read......

We'll be in Aruba on 10/7 from 1-10pm with our teenagers. We plan to go to a beach or 2 in the afternoon, but wondered what to do after 6:30 or so when it gets dark.

Is it a fun and safe place to walk around? Any different or really good street vendor food, casual restaurants, or things to see? We're not looking for clubs, big-time shopping or fancy restaurants.

ever since they built the mall adjacent to the shops and restaurants between the high rise and low rise motels its a great night time area to visit - lots of street people, entertainment and Very safe. worth the taxi or bus.

Irie will leave you very close to the pontoon bridge, so it's very easy to cross the bridge and you'll be in Punda (better shopping center).

Most shops will close at 6 pm, but the shops in the immediate pier area (Riffort Village) will stay open a while longer when there are cruise ships in port.

 

The entire area is small and walkable, so you should be fine going across the bridge after your tour.

The floating market starts cleaning up rather early (a little before 6), so I would head over there for a photo op and then do your downtown shopping.

thanks for the info. just got an email from them and the tour is 3-6 Local time so we will just have to see how it goes, at the very least we can still walk around port area and we will have maybe 40 or so minutes before the tour leaves.

All cruise operators adhere to ship time. So if you dock at 1 pm, they will start the tour at your 2 pm.

i just got an email and she said 3 local time since we dock at 2 local time but she was clear to state that ship time is 1 DST.

We are the type that we don't ever leave the confines of the cruise port terminal when we cruise.. So was wondering how this port compares with others in the Caribbean? I would say the one we've been do that had the "least" in port was Freeport, Bahamas.. but at least there were a few touristy type shops or kiosks.. Does this port have the same setup?

Riffort Mall is the port area - shops, high end, you can google it and see. right next to Renaissance casino, mall and hotel. but all you have to do is walk across the queen bridge and there are markets and more. very safe in the southern ABC islands. at curacao dot com there is a walking tour of art craft and cuisine. you can also bus or taxi if you don't want to walk.

there are several threads on here about this which got me on google to find out more

i found a walking tour of art craft and cuisine on curacao dot come and i'm wondering what time the shops across the bridge from port close at night? we don't dock until 1, have a 3hr Irie tour, and we don't cruise until after Daylight Saving Time but i'm not sure if tour goes by ship time or their time which will be different in Nov. i saw you mentioned in another thread that the shops near port close at 7pm. if we get back from Irie at 4 or 5 i would at least like to walk over and see floating market and a few of the craft shops on the tour, then head back around sunset to the port area. what do you think?

I got a response from them and we arrive at 1pm. We were told that the tour started at 2pm. They said to proceed down the pier to the white tent and representative would be there waiting for us. They said to try and get there 15 minutes early to start the tour at 2pm. We are looking forward to it in 4 weeks:)

thanks!! i will be going after DST so i wonder if they do ship time or their time.. something else i'll need to find out. if you can respond back after cruising that would be great, how was the tour, did the shops across the bridge close early, anything you can share.

I have not gotten an email response but wanted to know what time the 3hr east side tour would leave if we do not dock until 1pm. does anyone know? trying to plan to have time for shopping also, near port 7pm but across the bridge is probably earlier...?

ok cant decide carnival cruise ship.

Go to Balamaral island for a beach day OR atlantis for discover and beach, or just discovery. 9 to 5 are dock times.

 

read so many bad reviews about atlantis and the beach peddlers that its making me not wanna go, Not to sound snobby but I hate being bothered just wanna relax and seems like its a constant hassle?

 

But then balamaral seems kinda boring

 

Did blue lagoon last time and loved it but wanna try somthing new this time

 

what would you do or what have you done and why

i've been to balmoral 3x and they keep expanding but the pool is very nice and the water lovely after you get about 2ft out past some rock in some areas. 4 loungers for each umbrella provided in cost. its about a 40min boat ride. several bathrooms, covered couch tv area, music, starbucks, food and drink and you use your S&S card.

have not been to atlantis but i would think if there were peddlers it would be on the free beach next to atlantis and not AT atlantis, for what they charge i can't imagine that.

I believe the van taxi is $4 per person to Atlantis. The water taxi is $3 per person. There is a bit of a walk from where the water taxi drops you. Both types tend to wait until they fill up before they go.

is it best to get a taxi at the desk inside Festival Place or go outside where the horse and buggy rides and such are and grab a taxi there?

Does anyone know about what time you should get to Maho beach before all the chairs and umbrellas are sold out?

i did not see any chairs or umbrellas at Maho in Dec but there were 8 ships in port and we were lucky to spend 15min there on our Bernards tour and got to see 3 planes land and 1 take off. the beach is so narrow and steep i don't know how a chair would sit there - must have been to the far right or perhaps left near the bar. the planes mostly arrive around the 2 o'clock hour and are pretty regular every few minutes coming and going.

Can't decide which tour to book - would like a recent review of each if anyone has used Roosevelt Taylor Island Paradise tours or Sugarland Tours. He was very quick to call me when i sent an email asking a question about which beach he would be stopping at on the sightseeing and beach tour. Both are very close in price, stops along the way, beach time and length of tour.

Anyone do one of these recently?

There were 6 ships in port when you arrived on 4/24/14 which explains why there was a delay checking in with Bernards Tours.

there were 8 ships in port in Dec when we went with Bernards and the tour did not go around the whole island, about 2/3 of the way and then he turned around and headed in the direction we had already been saying the roads were blocked with all the traffic as so many ships were in port. it took us an extra hour and luckily we were back in time. thinking of doing twin island this next time since they start in the area we did not get to see last time.

We are looking at these two tours. Can anyone give me feedback on their experiences with either company. thanks

we did Bernards in Dec and because there were 8 ships in port the roads were horribly crowded with traffic and Bernards got us about 2/3-3/4 away around the island and then he said he could not go the rest of the way because of blocked roads so instead we turned and traveled the whole way back in the direction we had already traveled, missing the end of the tour and taking nearly an hour longer than it should have to get back. the tour guide did not speak the whole way back and it was super boring. i am considering Twin Island this next time in St Maarten since it starts in the direction we missed last time... But i have heard fantastic things about Bernards and i think if there had been less ships in port it would have been fine.

Is it any good other than the planes? Is there an admission fee or any water activities? Is the water clean/nice? Any snorkeling from it? We would like to see it but I want to make sure it's a nice day apart from just seeing the planes land.

 

What's best way to get there and cost?

 

Thanks

we were there in Dec and there was barely a space to stand on the beach which is on an incline and very narrow. water looked great but no place to leave our bags - it was pretty crazy. get there by noon as flights seem to come in around 2 from what i've heard - we were on a tour and got there at 2 so it was just to crowded.

sccoast - We've used Bernard's twice on St. Maarten. They have a couple of different island tours that go to the French side with stops at Orient Beach, Maho Beach, etc. They also offer a private tour. We thought they did a good job and the price was quite reasonable.

we did Bernards in Dec and didn't get the whole tour, we were in Marigot and suddenly the driver said traffic was too bad to go to phillipsburg and instead we spent the next two hours circling the island in the direction we had come from, we got back to port more than an hour later than we should have and didn't even get to see about 1/4 of the tour. i won't do Bernards again unless there are less than 5 ships in port - there were 8 and it was nuts. not really his fault but it stunk just the same. looking at Twin Island this time ...

still no response from Nathans so just going to walk to Govenors Beach i guess.