Tortolla or St. Maarten?????

[princesstiffany]

Quick question- would you choose Tortolla or St. Maarten? We have been to St. Maarten a few times and absolutely love it. We have never been to Tortolla, but don't want to miss out on a cool new port (new for us).

[princesstiffany]

Sorry- Tortola with one "L" :-)

[golfadj]

Tortola and go to the Baths.

[DaytonCruiser]

I would always opt for a new port that interests you.

Going over to see the Baths is truly a great experience.

 

Im actually going to both next year :D

[princesstiffany]

Tortola and go to the Baths.

 

 

Gosh Stu- you are like the cruising guru :-) Dumb question for both posters (and thank you for the answers) but what are the baths?

[golfadj]

Gosh Stu- you are like the cruising guru :-) Dumb question for both posters (and thank you for the answers) but what are the baths?

 

After a few cruises learned a little but lots of people here know more than me. But thank you

 

Go to port of call pages for more info but the Baths are on an island called Virgin Gorda reached by ferry from Tortola and a very fascinating and beautiful beach.

 

I believe it is called the Baths as ships holding slaves would stop here and have their cargo off the ship into the water for their first contact with water in some time.

 

Can do this with ships tour but found it more interesting by walking over to the ferry terminal and doing it with them. Much cheaper too.

[cruiseonthebrain]

I haven't been to Tortola, but it looks absolutely beautiful. I have been to St. Marten and would go back in a heartbeat. Flip a coin?

[tartisst]

The Baths is a rock formation in Tortola. Huge boulders everywhere and cavelike in some spots with a beautiful beach. Unique and nice to look at but I've only sailed in Tortola (and stopped for a trip to the beach and to check out the boulders) when we chartered through the Moorings and sailed the BVIs. I just booked our cruise on the Liberty and it had come down to a decision between going on a 7 day Eastern on Liberty or an 8 day Eastern on Valor (which stopped in Tortola).

 

Been to St. Maarten many, many times, but only once via a cruise. It is beautiful, but honestly, on a cruise you will be steered by the cab drivers to go to Orient Beach, the nude beach, which is very touristy. There is not much time usually to see the island, even though it is small.

 

It has become very commercialized over the years and my family was there almost 3 years ago on the Glory. We were fortunate to meet a driver that said he would take us to our favorite beach in the World (so far) Baie Longue, which is the beach where La Sammana resort is located. We were the only ones on the beach for probably 4 or 5 hours until Roy showed up to get us. He was wonderful and drove us all over the island to show us how much it had changed.

 

I'd still go to St. Maarten because I have the best memories of how much we used to love it and actually spent a week out of 2 weeks of our honeymoon there and that was almost 25 years ago.

 

Personally, you will see more if you go to St. Maarten, but know that it will be very brief and you may not get to fully appreciate all that the island has to offer -- probably the only downfall to cruising and all the ports that we visit.

 

Hope this helps. I'll be glad to answer any questions about St. Maarten if you have any. If you'd like Roy's number to take you around, just let me know. ;)

[Dolfinsfan]

Gosh Stu- you are like the cruising guru :-) Dumb question for both posters (and thank you for the answers) but what are the baths?

 

 

Duh? It's what my wife makes me take every Saturday, whether I need it or not!!! :D