Maho & Orient

[BeachBum1007]

We would like to do some shopping near the ship early in the day. We would then like to go to Orient for a few hours & then head to Maho in the afternoon to watch the planes come in. Is this even possible?

[tw861]

That might be a bit much in my opinion. You might consider a tour with Bernard as we did on our first trip there. He knows how to get you around the island and stops at both Orient and Maho which we really enjoyed. Problem is you dont get a great deal of time at either. Spent just under 2hrs at Orient and about an hour at Maho. If fact we just returned there early this month and opted to take a cab directly to Orient and spend the whole day there. Its really a great beach with plenty to see. We are really hoping to go back one day and spend several days there, St Martin is one of the few islands we have cruised to that we would consider doing that.

[BeachBum1007]

darn. i was really hoping i could. why do u think its not possible? too far away? were u able to see any planes during your time at maho? thanks for your help btw!

[MDSue]

We did this but we spent quite a bit in taxi fares going from place to place. Our original driver promised to come to Orient to pick us up at a designated time and take us to Maho. He didn't show and we ended up with a much better driver who drove us. A lot of the taxi drivers at Orient don't want to drive to Maho. However, we were too late to see the biggest jumbo jet arrive. We saw plenty of planes, but I would have loved to see the biggest one. The driver who took us to Maho arranged to have another driver pick us up and he showed up right on time. There are not taxi drivers waiting around Maho like Orient beach, so I would plan on having one meet you [and hope he shows].

We didn't spend much time shopping though before heading to Maho.

 

So I know it can be done with good planning, but I've read great things about Bernards tour and I know he combines both places [not sure about shopping though].

[Happy Honeymooner]

We want to do something similar - Orient Beach for an hour or so and then Maho from like noon - 2:30 pm. We don't want to do the shopping though. Was it difficult to get a cab from Orient to Maho and from Maho back to port?

[Kikkycat]

OP: I guess part of the equation is how long is your ship in port? If you're in the usual 7-4 or 8-5, you will be pushing your luck to do all of what you want to do, and the reason is traffic. The streets are narrow and clogged with vehicles, and the drawbridge between Maho and the port can really make a mess of things.

 

I would second the recommendation for Bernard. You will do all you want to do, although maybe not for as long as you wanted. But he will get you back to the ship in time.

 

Bernard's tour left some time for shopping in Philipsburg at the end if you wanted. There was about an hour. We opted to go back to the ship instead.

[amyphil]

Hmmmm, we're in the same situation. Or ship docks on 7/22 from 8-5. Looked at Bernard's Tours and Joyce Prince. J.Prince was booked. Bernard's tour looks nice, but we really didn't want to go to Maho. What we want is beach time at Orient and some shopping in Philipsburg. The one thing I did like about BT was that he takes you to Marigot for a bit. I thought that would be nice, but....any suggestions here....this is our first time in SM.

Thanks,

Amy:confused:

[Luckyone2]

We had a great time with Bernard! I highly recommend his tours. We were there two weeks ago, and Saint Martin is beautiful! Bernard does a great tour! We have many beautiful pictures from this great tour!