Port question

[Corinnescruisin]

Sailing voyager end of April. First time Bermuda and st. Maarten. Question about ports. Can I get off ship and walk to beach or shopping?

[DonnaK]

In St. Maarten, there is a pedestrian walkway (no vehicles) that leads right into the town of Phillipsburg. It's about a 15 minute walk. Alternatively, you can take the water taxi - an all day pass is $6 pp. There is a lovely beach right there, which faces the ship. We usually rent two chairs and an umbrella (with two beverages) for $12, and then stay in the water almost all day. The main shopping street runs right behind the beach. It's a great and inexpensive way to spend the day. (if you are looking for a great tour of St. Maarten, which takes you to Orient Beach and Maho Beach, and then drops you off at either the ship or in Phillipsburg, then look at www.bernardstours.com For $40pp, it's a real bargain for all you get. You might want to look up Maho beach on YouTube to see what the main attraction is there).

 

In Bermuda, there is a small manmade beach right off the ship called Snorkle Park. There are definitely more beautiful beaches on Bermuda than this one, namely Horseshoe Beach which is only an easy bus ride away. As well, there is a small shopping area right at the pier, but again, it's nit the biggest or the nicest on this gorgeous island.