Transport: St. Maarten-St. Barth's

[vcdarty]

Tried to post this earlier--no luck. But here goes: has ANYONE on this board done a day trip from St. Maarten to St. Barth's? I've been googling schedules and carriers, etc., and am confused. We get into Philipsburg at 8am Dec 7, leave at 5pm. Is it at all possible? Help!

[kitty9]

Tried to do this on two cruises, and it's not possible. The ferry schedules are very strange and they do not jive with with the arrival or departure of the ship, on Tuesdays. On other days of the week they have a departure at 9:15, but the departure back from St Bart's doesn't leave the island until 4 and won't get you back on time to make the ship.

[eandj]

We stopped at St.Barts on an Oceania cruise and it is wonderful. :D However the island is very exclusive and the "super rich folks" made it pretty clear they don't WANT slews of cruiseship passenger invading their island. I think that's why the ferry scedules don't jive well with cruise port days in St. Martin. Most people that visit are those that are spending days in St Martin..another of my favorites.

 

You can go to tripadvisor.com and use their FORUM boards to get all kinds of info that might help you.

[Oceangoer2]

We stopped at St.Barts on an Oceania cruise and it is wonderful. :D However the island is very exclusive and the "super rich folks" made it pretty clear they don't WANT slews of cruiseship passenger invading their island. I think that's why the ferry scedules don't jive well with cruise port days in St. Martin. Most people that visit are those that are spending days in St Martin..another of my favorites.

 

You can go to tripadvisor.com and use their FORUM boards to get all kinds of info that might help you.

We used a hydrofoil to get to St Barths, which had a very good schedule from St Martin and back. Can't tell you the company but a little research on the internet might help. Caution....there are airsick bags in every seat and I was very close to using one. For the trip back I purchased some gravol at the local (French) pharmacy. Hard trying to tell them what I wanted and why, so ended up using gestures! Just imagine.

[bellybutton530]

I can remember back in the 80s when the Vistafjord and Sagafjord stopped there. We would tender in. And those ships only held around 700 passengers. The folks on the island didn't like it a bit. Some of the shops would close, rather than deal with us. I made a promise to myself to NEVER return there.

 

And so far I've kept that promise.

[jagoffee]

It was one of our favorite ports, although expensive. We renting a car and drove all around the island. Amazing to watch the planes land at the airport. They look like they are going into the ocean. It is a small port, but I think things must have changed since the 80s. They seemed to be very welcoming to our cruise ship. (Oceania)