Going to the beach in St. Martin

When you go to the beach on your own (as opposed to with a ship's tour), how does it work, exactly? We know there are taxis to take you but what about other arrangements? Are there always taxis willing to take you back? Is it likey we would get stranded, trying to come back to the boat at 4 p.m.? We will likely go to Orient Beach. Can you just arrive and rent a chair, etc, or are they reserved for those on tours? How about lunch? What would a reasonable lunch (two burgers, two drinks) cost? How much is it to snorkel? To parasail, etc?

There is no problem getting to or back from Orient Beach. I think we paid $5 pp each way. We have never been stranded by our Taxis driver there. They have always been on time. In addition, there are plenty of other taxis around the beach waiting to pick you up if by chance you are stranded. Sometimes, traffic can be pretty thick, you may want to leave a little earlier than 4 from the beach is you sail at 5:00.

The whole beach is lined with bars/restaurants (except the naturalist area), so there is no problem getting a chair/umbrella. Prices vary from $5-10 per chair. We like to go to the Kon Tiki Bar. It's a nice central location on the beach with nice chairs, umbrellas, and cold beer. Next to it is a water sports place if you want to rent jetskis, windsurfers, or go parasailing. Windsurfing was $26 for an hour. I think the parasailing was $50, but I'm not sure on that one. Jet ski was $45 per half hour.

In almost every port, there are many, many cabs and people to give you tours for very reasonable prices. At the most popular beaches there are always cabs waiting to bring you back to the ship any time you want. If you are going to a more secluded beach, you would want to make sure you have your cab pick you up at a specified time.

I agree with all the above. No problems with taxis. Watch your chair rentals though, you may be quoted a price then taken to a different section and charged more since you are now in the "1st class" section. But we are only talking about a buck or two.

For a somewhat less crowded, very pretty beach-Dawn Beach is great. It is about 15 minutes from the cruise terminal. There are plenty of taxi's going both ways. There is a small concession area called Ms. Busby's. For $10 pp, you get a chairs and an umbrella, and a free rum punch. The food at the concession is very good. If you get there early-you can order the seafood entree to be cooked later on. Fresh fish, grilled right on the beach. It is excellant. Have fun!

Our fear in going to a "smaller" beach is that we might not get a cab back or we might not have as many activities available to us like snorkelling or the like. Is that a reasonable fear?

Several years ago we took a ship's tour to Orient Beach and we loved it. We went to a place that was adjacent to Club Orient and it was really nice. Great beach, nice chairs with cushions, and a great lunch in a beautiful setting. We are going again in a few weeks and noticed that this same tour is still available. It is $49pp. I know we can do it cheaper than that on our own. My question is this....Where, exactly, do we tell the taxi driver to take us? I don't know the name of the place that we went before. Or can someone recommend another place for the taxi driver to take us?

When we went to Dawn Beach there was wonderful snorkeling. We rented 2 chairs and an umbrella. The beach bar had food, but we had packed our own sandwiches and fruit. We were also concerned re. taxis, but our driver said he'd be back. We didn't see him at the exact appointed time, but grabbed another taxi that was taking people back to our ship. There was a man there who was getting the taxis for people. I don't know if I'd be concerned or not, re. this. Check it out with others. We had given ourselves lots of extra time so we wouldn't be freaking out!

Michelle

We spent a day at Dawn Beach. It was the most beautiful beach; even prettier than Magen's Bay Beach at St. Thomas (designated as one of the Top 10 beaches). The sand at Dawn Beach is white and so fine it is like talcum powder. You do not even feel it touching your skin. I am an art teacher and I was running out of names of all the colors I saw in the ocean that day.

Where' date=' [i']exactly, [/i]do we tell the taxi driver to take us? I don't know the name of the place that we went before. Or can someone recommend another place for the taxi driver to take us?

Your exact drop off spot will not really matter. The spot adjacent to the "bad" :) (I still have a few mental scars) part of the beach is Pedros. But, the entire beach is not so huge that you can't walk a little until you find YOUR spot. We chose the Kon Tiki, had great service and we had a really nice lunch there. We grabbed a cab home at Pedros.

One website that might be helpful to those choosing between Orient Beach and a more secluded beach is the one that tells you how many ships are in St. Martin the day you are there. Here it is:

http://www.cruisecal.com/dnn/default.aspx

There were only TWO ships in port when we were there and Orient Beach was perfect. If there are going to be 4 or more, you might want to make a different choice or at least make sure you get there early!

Good Luck! :D

Several years ago we took a ship's tour to Orient Beach and we loved it. We went to a place that was adjacent to Club Orient and it was really nice. Great beach' date=' nice chairs with cushions, and a great lunch in a beautiful setting. We are going again in a few weeks and noticed that this same tour is still available. It is $49pp. I know we can do it cheaper than that on our own. My question is this....Where, [i']exactly, [/i]do we tell the taxi driver to take us? I don't know the name of the place that we went before. Or can someone recommend another place for the taxi driver to take us?

The place next to Club Orient is Pedro's. You can have the taxi driver drop you off there and then walk down the beach until you find a place to your liking. We stayed at Pedro's the entire time when we were there back in December (due to severe time limitations), but I think next time, I think we'll get there earlier and venture farther down. I would like to try either KonTiki or Bikini.

For more info on Orient Beach, check out these sites:

http://www.sxm-restaurants.com/orient/index.html

http://home.carolina.rr.com/edsandra/OrientPanorama.htm

Lynne

Thanks, everyone!

I really liked Pedro's when we were there. They had a great place to eat on the beach and the food was good. Our problem is that my husband has a bad foot and can't walk far, so we would have to stay there. So we really need to look for the van type taxis right? They are the ones that are like $5 to $6 pp?

 

One website that might be helpful to those choosing between Orient Beach and a more secluded beach is the one that tells you how many ships are in St. Martin the day you are there. Here it is:

 

http://www.cruisecal.com/dnn/default.aspx

What a great site!!! Thanks so much for posting the link! In May, on Grandeur, we will be the only ship in St Maarten, in Sep on CP, there will be 5 ships in port!

In order to get a beach lounger, do you eat in one of these places or just rent them from beach-side vendors?

It depends I guess. When we were in Cozumel, there was a whole bunch of taxi cabs at the pier to take us to a beach. But when we went to the beach you had to let the people know when you were leaving and they would call for a taxi. So if your ship departs at 4 you might want to have the guy call at 3. Just make sure what the situation is when you get to the beach.

In order to get a beach lounger, do you eat in one of these places or just rent them from beach-side vendors?

We found chairs / umbrella at the Kon Tiki and started setting up shop. Chairs are all padded as they are at most spots on Orient so they are a little nicer. Chair guy walked over, welcomed us collected our $8 per person and told us that he was only the "chair guy" but pointed out the food & drink guys. :) You could order food to your spot on the beach but we chose to sit outside at their deck as to not battle the sand & wind.

Not exactly beach side vendors like other beaches, but I know exactly what you are talking about.

 

We found chairs / umbrella at the Kon Tiki and started setting up shop. Chairs are all padded as they are at most spots on Orient so they are a little nicer. Chair guy walked over, welcomed us collected our $8 per person and told us that he was only the "chair guy" but pointed out the food & drink guys. :) You could order food to your spot on the beach but we chose to sit outside at their deck as to not battle the sand & wind.

Thanks so much. I've been very unclear on whether you could get a chair if you were not part of an excursion.

We have been to KonTiki twice before and have enjoyed their food/chairs/cold beer etc...

Here's a link:

http://www.kontikibeachsxm.com/