Bus to Valley Church Beach- our experience

[IandY]

We've just returned from our week in the Caribbean on the Summit and the first experience I needed to share was our trip to Valley Church Beach via public transportation. I researched this extensively on this forum and others and by all accounts, using the bus was an easy, economical way to get to Valley Church Beach. This seemed to be the best plan for us, a family of 4, as the tickets were only $1.50 each so a grand total of $12 for a return trip. Can't go wrong with that! According to all accounts, the most notable problem with taking the local bus was to expect a delay while the bus filled. The delay might be as much as 15-20 minutes according to the experience of others. Here's our experience. Yes, it's an easy walk to the station although you do have to battle through hundreds (or so it seemed) of cab drivers to get to the station. A firm "no thanks" does work although some were quite persistent and my 10 year old daughter did find the experience unsettling. Getting on the right bus is easy, there's lots of people that will help. Here's the news though on our wait on the bus before leaving the terminal... we waited 1 hour!!! In the heat with no air conditioning. The driver showed no interest in leaving until absolutely every seat was filled on the bus. We were assured that for the return trip the buses regularly passed on the road, 10-15 minutes would be the longest we would have to wait. My thinking was, how could this happen seeing that the bus we were on left 1 hour after the previous one. How was that gap filled ? We didn't risk the bus for the return and hooked up with 2 other couples at a negotiated $5.00 per person for the return trip. Would we do the bus next time in Antigua? No way! This was our experience only and things may/ may not be different for others but spending 1 hour of vacation time in the Caribbean sitting on a hot bus not our idea of fun, no matter what the $ savings. I'll respond to questions you may have.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the feedback, I agree, one hour wait is crazy. That's one of those where time is more precious then money (too some point anyway).

[Xcitdcruiser]

Thank you for the review - i've crossed that off my list!

Will you be reviewing your other ports?

[IandY]

Thank you for the review - i've crossed that off my list!

Will you be reviewing your other ports?

We had a pretty quiet cruise actually which is what we wanted but I do have a couple of observations for a catamaran excursion we did in St. Thomas and for an experience my son and I had in St. Maarten. I'll post sometime today. Are you cruising soon?

[Xcitdcruiser]

We had a pretty quiet cruise actually which is what we wanted but I do have a couple of observations for a catamaran excursion we did in St. Thomas and for an experience my son and I had in St. Maarten. I'll post sometime today. Are you cruising soon?

 

Soon...mmm.. February 2014.. kind of soon-ish.. :)

I am interested in your info on St Marteen if you have the time. We will already be going on a cat cruise in Barbados.

 

Counting down the days....

[IandY]

Soon...mmm.. February 2014.. kind of soon-ish.. :)

I am interested in your info on St Marteen if you have the time. We will already be going on a cat cruise in Barbados.

 

Counting down the days....

 

We've been a few times and for us, it's always been about beaches. You can find a lot of information on these boards and others on which are best but our first visit, without kids, we went to Orient Beach and it truly is spectacular. Next time we went to Le Gallion which was beautiful and perfect for the kids, very shallow. This time was different, my wife and daughter did not want to leave the ship that day so my son and I went to Maho beach which is known for the low approaches of planes into the airport. This was something that the girls would never have agreed to but seeing that they stayed on the ship we jumped at the chance. I must say, my son and I had the best time! The beach and swimming were great, there's a terrific beach bar there (The Sunset Grill) and experiencing the planes landing and taking off so close was truly a rush, especially for an 11 year old kid and a 50 year old kid at heart. We've never done an excursion in St Maarten so I can't help there. I must say though, one very nice thing you will discover is that the taxi arrangements at the pier are very well organized, you will have no trouble with that if you choose to explore via taxi.

[Xcitdcruiser]

We've been a few times and for us, it's always been about beaches. You can find a lot of information on these boards and others on which are best but our first visit, without kids, we went to Orient Beach and it truly is spectacular. Next time we went to Le Gallion which was beautiful and perfect for the kids, very shallow. This time was different, my wife and daughter did not want to leave the ship that day so my son and I went to Maho beach which is known for the low approaches of planes into the airport. This was something that the girls would never have agreed to but seeing that they stayed on the ship we jumped at the chance. I must say, my son and I had the best time! The beach and swimming were great, there's a terrific beach bar there (The Sunset Grill) and experiencing the planes landing and taking off so close was truly a rush, especially for an 11 year old kid and a 50 year old kid at heart. We've never done an excursion in St Maarten so I can't help there. I must say though, one very nice thing you will discover is that the taxi arrangements at the pier are very well organized, you will have no trouble with that if you choose to explore via taxi.

 

Thank you! We have our heart set on Maho, maybe wonder through the old town first (if thatis what it's called) find a beach close by then head to Maho.. just need ot think of logistics.

[IandY]

That's a busy day! The cab drivers will help you out with that, the town is on the way to Maho and there's plenty of beaches to be sure. I should point out that it seems there's more activity at Maho between 12:30 and 3:00, especially for the larger jets. http://www.sxmairport.com is the website with the arrival, departure times.

[Caribbean Beach Bum]

1 hour wait!! That's brutal. I had to wait there 20-25 min which was frustrating enough. May I ask what time of day did you get to the bus station. I suspect this can greatly affect how long it takes to get a full bus. Was it a weekday or weekend. I assume it wasn't a holiday.

[IandY]

I think it was a Wednesday and it was early. We left the ship shortly after docking so we were probably to the bus station around 9:30-9:45.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

We were just there last week. Thank you OP for your comments. We had planned to use the bus. but, changed our mind. It was $8pp for 6 of us each way.

[IandY]

We were just there last week. Thank you OP for your comments. We had planned to use the bus. but, changed our mind. It was $8pp for 6 of us each way.

 

You're welcome. Taking the bus may or may not have worked out for you, I just wanted to let people know how things went for us.