Can we do Orient & Maho in one day

[loan_girl]

We will be in St. Martin in April, On a Saturday, Docked from 7-5pm.

The kids and I would like beach it at Orient and my husband is really into planes so he'd like to finish the day at Maho.

Is this plausible in one day? Best to just grab a taxi at the pier or workout with a tour company first?

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Ocean Boy]

One year when we were on St. Maarten we rented a car. We did the Butterfly farm, Orient Beach, Marigot, and Maho Beach. We however, did not spend a lot of time at Orient. We just wanted to see it.

[jcumming]

It's quite easy to do Airplanes & Orient in one day. I always rent a car which I think would be cheaper than a taxi to Orient to Maho and third back to the ship.

 

A lot of people don't spend too much time at Orient, but because it is such a famous beach they want to go there. In truth, I'm sure many just go there to see a few topless or naked people. It's a nice beach and I always spend time there and at Pinel Island up the road, but there are a lot of nice beaches on St Maarten.

 

Airplanes in the afternoon is better because more of the bigger ones are landing then, however traffic can get pretty tied up later in the day over on that section of the island so you don't want to leave it too late.

[BillOh]

Also, Bernard's tours will hit both of those stops and some shopping to for around $45 per person. Lots of good recomendations here, so we decided to go this route on our upcoming visit.

[W5KAP]

Yep, easily done in one day. Sorry to say but I wasn't that impressed with Orient beach. I certainly have seen much nicer ones in the Caribbean. But Maho is astounding. East at Sunset Beach bar and grill and watch the planes land! Food is good and reasonably priced for that area. And if you do go to Orient, it isn't to long a drive from there to Maho.

 

Enjoy!!

 

 

Cheers, Kenn

[jerry2457]

Take a cab and don't bother with a tour company. They have shared van cabs and the cabs come and go from Orient Bay. You should be able to go there in the morning for a few hours then cab to the other beach with plenty of extra time before you have to start to head to your ship.

[hpreece]

Yes, I did both in one day. I was at Maho early in the day and didn't see any planes. So you will want to go there last....later in the day.

[Putterdude]

We did both in a day and visited Marigot in between...no problem, you will love both beaches.

[loan_girl]

Thanks for all the answers!

[lucy6]

We just got back from FOS 3/27-4/3, went to St Maarten and did just that. We were there from 8-5 on a Thursday.

We were one of the first people off the boat because I was nervous about having enough time to do both. We were in a cab, just the four of us, by 8:30, arrived at Orient Beach by approx 9:00. Beautiful beach!! But know that you will see nudity, and I mean full nudity, early on. If this concerns you, we did not see any past 10:00. I will just say that my 11 y/o daughter no longer snickers when she sees a Speedo.

We rented chairs for $7 which came with a drink and use of the bathroom. We stayed until approx 11:30, then cabbed it to Maho until approx 2:30. According to my kids, the highlight of the trip. This beach does have a steep drop off, but the water is beautiful.

We did not make any prior arrangements, just grabbed the first cab which happened to be a large van. The driver asked us upon arrival to Orient if we wanted him to come back for us for Maho, he then also met us for pick up to go back to port from Maho. It was just us in the van, and it was so easy. It cost $7 to Orient, $10 from Orient to Maho, then $9 from Maho to port, so $26 pp and completely easy. He was always waiting for us ahead of our scheduled time, we gave him a nice tip! Have fun!!

[dancersp119]

We just got back from FOS 3/27-4/3, went to St Maarten and did just that. We were there from 8-5 on a Thursday.

We were one of the first people off the boat because I was nervous about having enough time to do both. We were in a cab, just the four of us, by 8:30, arrived at Orient Beach by approx 9:00. Beautiful beach!! But know that you will see nudity, and I mean full nudity, early on. If this concerns you, we did not see any past 10:00. I will just say that my 11 y/o daughter no longer snickers when she sees a Speedo.

We rented chairs for $7 which came with a drink and use of the bathroom. We stayed until approx 11:30, then cabbed it to Maho until approx 2:30. According to my kids, the highlight of the trip. This beach does have a steep drop off, but the water is beautiful.

We did not make any prior arrangements, just grabbed the first cab which happened to be a large van. The driver asked us upon arrival to Orient if we wanted him to come back for us for Maho, he then also met us for pick up to go back to port from Maho. It was just us in the van, and it was so easy. It cost $7 to Orient, $10 from Orient to Maho, then $9 from Maho to port, so $26 pp and completely easy. He was always waiting for us ahead of our scheduled time, we gave him a nice tip! Have fun!!

 

which place on orient beach did you get the chair from ..there are so may to pick from..I was just seeing what others liked...

[lucy6]

We actually rented from a place right by where our taxi driver dropped us off. I think it was called Orange Fever...Orange something...anyway, the chair pads were orange. It is run by a lovely French woman, she was very nice, and they make a decent rum punch. We walked the beach, then ended up returning to this place, turned out to be a good location to meet up with our taxi driver when it was time to leave. He actually came out onto the beach to get us.