Best beaches

[Beachmartini55]

Anyone know a nice relaxing beach in st Thomas that's not too far from ship, yet off the beaten track from mega tourists. Also in st Maarten ?

[Lsimon]

The problem with these two ports is that there are some cruise days when the volume of ships is very light (you might be the only ship there) and sometimes when there are 4 or 5 ships, including some of the really big megaships, and there can be 15,000 to 20,000 cruisers on the island that day. On the busy days virtually all the beaches will be a busy.

 

Your best bet for specific recommendations and discussion would be the port of call forums here on Cruise Critic for these specific islands where there are always lots of threads discussing different beaches. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

[Bobocasey]

We like emerald beach but it is by the airport and not within walking distance but it is free not crowded but didn't have facilities the last month.

[vickykay]

We also went to Emerald Beach on our recent Eclispe cruise and really enjoyed it. Short cab ride from pier (5 minutes), able to rent chairs, restrooms at hotel as well as lovely beach restaurant, not crowed at all. I would recommend going early as limited number of chairs. Megan's Bay is beautiful but a much longer cab ride.

 

Our favorite beach in st? Maarten is Orient beach. Nice facilities at Orange Fever or La sting

 

Enjoy.

[Hlitner]

We are beach lovers and are always looking for quieter more perfect settings around the world. On St Thomas, we vary our beaches depending on the docking area of our ship. If docked out in the Crown Bay area (the old sub base) we usually go to Emerald Beach (Lindbergh Bay) which is a very short taxi ride or a somewhat difficult walk (there are no sidewalks along much of the road). There are a couple of hotels on this beach, chair rentals, rest rooms, etc. If docked at the more popular Havensight area then we often just go to Morningstar Beach which is located nest to Frenchman's Reef Hotel. This beach also has chair rentals, a restaurant, and a small convenience store. If we feel like going further from Havensight we sometimes will go all the way out to Sapphire Beach which has a beautiful view and offers a half-decent snorkeling area (not great, but OK for St Thomas).

 

As to St Maarten, having spent some significant time staying on the island we have managed to explore nearly every beach! The problem for cruisers is location...and facilities. We vary our beaches depending on how far we want to go, whether we have a rental car or not, and most importantly the sea and wind conditions. Although it is over developed and very touristy, Orient Bay/Beach is actually one of the best (physically) beaches on the island. But if the seas are high and the wind is up (common on St Maarten) Orient is not a great choice. On a very rough day we think that Le Galion is the best choice (on the east side of the island). Le Galion is very sheltered, has a very gradual slope in the water, is the best beach on the island for small children, and does have a small friendly French beach bar/restaurant with decent food and chair rentals. For those with a rental car who want to really get away from it all there is Friars Beach and the nearby very isolated Happy Beach.....but this is a long way from the port and best visited by only those with a car. We should also mention a couple of beaches on the SW side of the island which are often sheltered from the high winds. One is the famous Maho Beach which is at the end of the airport runway. Maho does have two large beach bars/restaurants, is fun for watching the planes, but is not a particularly great beach because of its somewhat steep slope. Near this beach there is another much nicer beach called Mullet Beach which also has some facilities and chair rentals. We primarily go to Mullet when there is a strong wind out of the Southeast (the norm) which makes places like Orient a bad choice (you can get sandblasted).

 

As to snorkeling on St Maarten, we are tempted to say "forget it." The best snorkeling is from boats. As to beaches, Dawn Beach does have a decent reef, but is often not practical due to the winds and rough seas (which cloud the water). In fact, on our last 2 week vacation on the island we could not use Dawn Beach on a any day due to sea conditions.

 

Hank

Edited March 5, 2014 by Hlitner

[Miss JAD]

We like emerald beach but it is by the airport and not within walking distance but it is free not crowded but didn't have facilities the last month.

 

We went to Emerald beach two weeks ago. There is a Best Western hotel there that rents beach chairs. There is also a beach bar with food and bathrooms. The Cab ride did take awhile. You don't notice the airlines.

[CruiseGirlKS]

We went to Emerald beach two weeks ago. There is a Best Western hotel there that rents beach chairs. There is also a beach bar with food and bathrooms. The Cab ride did take awhile. You don't notice the airlines.

 

We rented chairs from the Best Western also. The cab ride was lengthy, but we really enjoyed the beach.