Robinson Speed Boat Tour?

[piratebobby09]

I found Robinson Speed Boat Tours through Trip Advisor and I booked them based on the solid reviews. It was a painless process and I was thoroughly impressed with Captain Mike's fast and quick responses...he even replied in the middle of the day while out on a tour with another group.

 

I had concerns booking the tour only because my parents were worried about getting on and off the boat - they are 71. I addressed these concerns with Mike and he assured me that they would have a great time. Then, 2 weeks before the trip, my sister in law broke her leg - again I emailed him and he replied right away, saying that he would take care of her.

 

On the day of the excursion (Tues. August 5, 2014), Mike was amazing. As soon as we boarded his boat he told my mom to sit next to him as that was the best seat. He was very patient with my sister in law helping her in and out of the boat. At Pinel Island where he sets the anchor to park, he had his friend come and pick up my sister in law with his smaller john boat so that her broken leg wouldn't get wet.

 

We had a little rain throughout the tour, but also had beautiful blue skies. Everything from the narration of the tour by Mike, to the snorkel spots, to the lunch on Pinel Island (which was better than some of the meals served on our cruise ship), to the airport, to the boat race on the way back to the dock was amazing. My suggestion at Pinel Island is to get their fresh catch of the day and the ratatouille.

 

This was by far the best excursion of the cruise, although we didn't get to see a Sea Turtle.

 

I would definitely do this again if I'm ever back in the area.

[DENNICH]

So you think the tours are basically (or exactly) the same? I'm wondering which to book with, too. Does anyone know what time Robinson's tour leaves?

 

I booked with Robinson's tours for my past trip in March of this year and ended up on a Captain Bob boat. The tours are the same. You need to check in at 9:30 in the morning. Two boats went out the day that I went and my boat only had 4 passengers. I highly recommend this trip. Everything about it was fantastic. I saw several turtles, Pinel Island was fun, the snorkeling at Creole Rock was wonderful, and the Maho planes landing from the water was breathtaking. The lunch was delicious. I have Captain Travis and he was so much fun and has great stories to tell. One of the best shore excursions that I have been on.

[dz63]

Back in April, we reserved a speed boat tour with Captain Mike from Robinson's Speed Boat Tours. We were very impressed with his customer service, wit and speed in answering emails and we looked forward to an exciting adventure exploring St. Maarten by sea with Robinson’s.

 

Four months later, the day of our tour was finally here! We arrived in St. Maarten on August 14 off Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas. Once we exited the cruise port, it was a short walk through the cruise terminal and port shops to get to the street.

 

 

This way to the Marina! Heading towards the direction of Philipsburg, it is approx. a 5-minute walk from the port exit to Chesterfield’s.

 

When you see this sign, you know you have arrived at Chesterfield Marina!

 

The meeting place is infront of the Chesterfield Restaurant. Check in was 9:30 am. with a departure time of 10:00. However since everyone checked in on time, our adventure on the seas with Captain Mike could begin right away!

 

Here is a picture of Captain Mike’s boat, the DayDreamer 7 docked at the Marina, just before we boarded at 9:30 am.

 

His speed boat is equipped with three, 275 Mercury engines.

 

Everyone is required to remove their shoes before boarding. All shoes were put in a mesh scuba bag and stored in a cubby compartment located on the floor of the boat. Captain Mike joked that tomorrow we could find our shoes on Ebay!

 

continues...

[dz63]

Captain Mike’s boat was equipped with an audio system for music. Whenever Captain Mike provided narration, he turned the music off, put the boat into slow speed and stood to the side of the boat and spoke.

 

We passed under the Simpson Bay Bridge on the Dutch side of the island and entered Simpson’s Bay Lagoon.

 

Soon after were on the French side of the island and passed under Sandy Ground Bridge.

(click on photo to view video)

 

Here we are cruising by Marigot, the capital of French St. Maarten.

 

Soon after, we approached the open seas and Captain Mike prepared us for our first big adventure. Reaching speeds up to 45 miles per hour (which felt like 65 miles/hour to us) and bouncing over 3-4 foot waves (which looked like 8-10 foot waves to us), and with the bow of the boat rising up and crashing down, we sped off to our first snorkelling stop--Tintamarre Island.

 

continues...

[dz63]

Once anchored at Tintamarre Island, we put on our snorkel gear or could use the gear provided, grabbed a float if we wanted one and jumped into the water for snorkelling. Tintamarre is well known as a spot where turtles hang out and many have had the opportunity to swim with the turtles...however they must have been hiding the day we were there as we did not see any! However, my youngest DS did find a conch shell!

 

The DayDreamer 7 anchored off the shores of Tintamarre Island.

 

Any sign of a turtle?

 

We had between 1 - 1½ hours here before it was time to climb back onboard.

 

continues...

[dz63]

From Tintamarre we were off to our second stop-- Pinel Island and lunch.

 

Anchoring off the shallow waters of this tropical island we waded to shore—carrying anything we didn’t want to get wet over our heads!

 

Lunch and water at the Yellow Beach Restaurant were included in the price of this tour. Any other drinks could be purchased.

 

Waiting for our lunch at the Yellow Beach Restaurant

 

…but we weren’t the only ones wanting lunch!

 

Lunch is served!

Ribs and Ratatouille. Doesn't that look yummy?

 

or maybe you like chicken better?

(The catch of the day was another option).

 

continues...

[dz63]

After lunch the boys couldn't resist making a splash into the water.

 

While DH and I walked down to the far end of the beach.

 

DayDreamer 7 at Pinel Island.

 

Approx. 1 hour and 45 minutes later, it was time to wade back through the water and climb back on-board the DayDreamer 7 to get to our next snorkelling stop--Creole Rock.

 

Arrival at Creole Rock

 

We spent 20 minutes here!

 

Then with a honk of the boat’s horn, it was time to climb back onto the speedboat--our next adventure awaits!

 

continues...

[dz63]

After passing by Donald Trump’s mansion we were soon at the La Samanna Resort.

 

Here we stopped for a quick dip in the sea. This is a very expensive, luxury Caribbean resort-- famous celebrities such as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have stayed here.

 

After all that swimming, you can rinse off the salt water on one of the fresh water showers located right on Captain Mike's speedboat. Pretty cool!

 

From here we stopped off the shores of Maho Beach just in time to see a Boeing 747 come in for a landing.

It flew 20 feet above our heads!

 

The end of our 6-hour speedboat excursion is fast approaching but not until we had the chance to experience an exhilarating speed boat race back to the Marina. That was alot of fun!

(click on photo to view video)

(that’s Captain Bob from Soualiga Destinations in the blue speedboat!)

 

..and there's our ship!

 

By 4:00 pm. we were back at Chesterfield Marina...and here we all are with Captain Mike of Robinson Speed Boat Tours!

 

continues...

Edited September 4, 2014 by dz63

[dz63]

Just before we made our way back to the ship, Captain Mike gave us a coupon to redeem for a free ice-cream from the Amsterdam Cheese & Liquor Store located right at the Marina.

 

Picking from a variety of flavours such as vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, pistachio or rum raisin, this was a nice treat!

 

My strawberry ice-cream treat!

 

Overall we had an awesome day with Captain Mike. For $109/person, we experienced a thrilling boating adventure from riding the waves in the open sea to enjoying exotic getaways to remote places and islands for swimming and snorkelling. With a cooler stocked with bottled water, beer and soft drinks, a delicious hot lunch on Pinel Island, and a Captain that is friendly, informative, attentive and entertaining, this boating adventure pleased us all!

 

Captain Mike

 

I highly recommend Robinson's Speed Boat Tours. If you have any questions, I will try my best to answer them.

[mullinbc]

Hi,

 

We're pretty sure we're going to book with Robinson's. But have a question about getting back in the boat?

 

How easy was it to climb back in from the water? Does the ladder hang far down into the water?

 

I'm not in the best of shape & have a few extra pounds, so not sure how hard it is to pull yourself out of the water.

 

Thanks for the info & great reviews.

 

Carolyn from Canada

[dz63]

Hi,

 

We're pretty sure we're going to book with Robinson's. But have a question about getting back in the boat?

 

How easy was it to climb back in from the water? Does the ladder hang far down into the water?

 

I'm not in the best of shape & have a few extra pounds, so not sure how hard it is to pull yourself out of the water.

 

Thanks for the info & great reviews.

 

Carolyn from Canada

 

Yes, the ladder at the back of the boat does hang down into the water. If you look at the last picture in post #30, you will see my DS climbing back onboard from the ladder. Hopefully this will give you an idea of the position of the ladder. Of course, Captain Mike is there to assist you too!

[russandcheryl]

Bathroom on board ? Or only on stops?

[dz63]

Bathroom on board ? Or only on stops?

 

No, there are no bathroom facilities onboard. The only bathroom facilities were on Pinel Island.

[mrobinson]

We just returned from a 14 day Caribbean cruise and did this excursion. It was one of the highlights of our trip.

 

We were a group of 7 (ages 52 to 72). I've been to the Caribbean multiple times and planned lots of private (non ship) excursions. This rates as one of the best.

 

We walked the 10 minutes to the marina to get on the boat. There were a total of 15 guests plus Capt. Mike. The boat is fantastic - a high speed boat (like used by DEA to chase drug runners).

 

We had a tour of St. Maarten by water, going past the expensive yachts, large homes etc.

 

The fun part was going very fast in the boat. Some of us sat and others stood with the wind blowing in our hair, listening to the music and enjoying the fast ride.

 

We stopped at a couple of snorkel stops and saw turtles, stingray and fish. Snorkeling was so so- nice but not lots of fish but we didn't care because what we enjoyed was the tour of the island by a fast boat.

 

We stopped at Pinel Island for lunch at the Yellow Bird restaurant. You have to wade in the water from the boat to the shore (which was loved doing). The island is beautiful and the water lovely.

 

Afterwards we made another stop for swimming in the most beautiful water near the most expensive hotel on the island.

 

Then we headed to Maho beach to see the planes fly above our head. We had to race the boat to get there before the plane came in - it was great. We are racing in the boat and the plane is in the sky right above us. The boat stops and the plane is right over us and lands at the airport.

 

Everyone in my group loved this excursion. One of the people said that it was the high point of the cruise.

 

I can't say enough about how much fun this was. It is worth more than we paid - and next time we are in St. Maarten - I would book this again.

 

If you have any questions let me know.

[deladane]

We just returned from a 14 day Caribbean cruise and did this excursion. It was one of the highlights of our trip.

 

We were a group of 7 (ages 52 to 72). I've been to the Caribbean multiple times and planned lots of private (non ship) excursions. This rates as one of the best.

 

We walked the 10 minutes to the marina to get on the boat. There were a total of 15 guests plus Capt. Mike. The boat is fantastic - a high speed boat (like used by DEA to chase drug runners).

 

We had a tour of St. Maarten by water, going past the expensive yachts, large homes etc.

 

The fun part was going very fast in the boat. Some of us sat and others stood with the wind blowing in our hair, listening to the music and enjoying the fast ride.

 

We stopped at a couple of snorkel stops and saw turtles, stingray and fish. Snorkeling was so so- nice but not lots of fish but we didn't care because what we enjoyed was the tour of the island by a fast boat.

 

We stopped at Pinel Island for lunch at the Yellow Bird restaurant. You have to wade in the water from the boat to the shore (which was loved doing). The island is beautiful and the water lovely.

 

Afterwards we made another stop for swimming in the most beautiful water near the most expensive hotel on the island.

 

Then we headed to Maho beach to see the planes fly above our head. We had to race the boat to get there before the plane came in - it was great. We are racing in the boat and the plane is in the sky right above us. The boat stops and the plane is right over us and lands at the airport.

 

Everyone in my group loved this excursion. One of the people said that it was the high point of the cruise.

 

I can't say enough about how much fun this was. It is worth more than we paid - and next time we are in St. Maarten - I would book this again.

 

If you have any questions let me know.

 

Thank you for posting your review. I am booked for the same excursion on my birthday so I'm really looking forward to a great day!! Do you remember what Mike offered to drink on his boat during the day? And at what time did you return back from the excursion? All aboard is 4:30pm for us so I am a little nervous about getting back in time!

 

Also, when you walked from the cruise ship to meet him in the morning, did you leave the port area and go out to the main road? Or was there a sidewalk to walk along next to the water? Mike sent me an email with directions but it wasn't very clear.

 

Thanks for your help!

[Musclengrace]

We just returned from a 14 day Caribbean cruise and did this excursion. It was one of the highlights of our trip.

 

We were a group of 7 (ages 52 to 72). I've been to the Caribbean multiple times and planned lots of private (non ship) excursions. This rates as one of the best.

 

We walked the 10 minutes to the marina to get on the boat. There were a total of 15 guests plus Capt. Mike. The boat is fantastic - a high speed boat (like used by DEA to chase drug runners).

 

We had a tour of St. Maarten by water, going past the expensive yachts, large homes etc.

 

The fun part was going very fast in the boat. Some of us sat and others stood with the wind blowing in our hair, listening to the music and enjoying the fast ride.

 

We stopped at a couple of snorkel stops and saw turtles, stingray and fish. Snorkeling was so so- nice but not lots of fish but we didn't care because what we enjoyed was the tour of the island by a fast boat.

 

We stopped at Pinel Island for lunch at the Yellow Bird restaurant. You have to wade in the water from the boat to the shore (which was loved doing). The island is beautiful and the water lovely.

 

Afterwards we made another stop for swimming in the most beautiful water near the most expensive hotel on the island.

 

Then we headed to Maho beach to see the planes fly above our head. We had to race the boat to get there before the plane came in - it was great. We are racing in the boat and the plane is in the sky right above us. The boat stops and the plane is right over us and lands at the airport.

 

Everyone in my group loved this excursion. One of the people said that it was the high point of the cruise.

 

I can't say enough about how much fun this was. It is worth more than we paid - and next time we are in St. Maarten - I would book this again.

 

If you have any questions let me know.

sounds absolutely fabulous, our problem is 1 of ppl in our group of 3 is heavy (300 lbs). the pics shown on this thread appears as if it would be quite difficult getting back in boat...any feedback would be appreciated

thanks

ellen

[iambumbo]

Another very favorable review here. Just used Robinson on 2/21 off the Valor. Itinerary is as described. Cooler was stocked throughout, lunch on Pinel Island was good, and incredible scenery everywhere.

 

As for last poster concerned about a heavier person, shouldn't be too much of an issue. The ladder off the back of the boat has a few steps, and the captain will grab you by a hand and help leverage you back onboard. Don't let that be a reason not to book. Possibly the best excursion of the week and we had several.

[belmontcrew]

If this works, here is a link to a youtube video of our day with Captain Mike...although we did have captain Matt for the day. This was march of last year.

https://youtu.be/ftrL8qAaMG0

[Texasgalsa]

Belmontcrew-- we went on Robinson Speed Boat Tours on March 14th and we had captain Matt as well! He was awesome and I loved the tour!

 

Your video is awesome... I made one as well... Not nearly as good but it was fun! :)

 

[belmontcrew]

Texasgalsa,

 

Great video as well. Next time we are in St Maarten we will certainly do the same trip with Captain Mike's group. It was truly a great day and lots of fun!

[Texasgalsa]

Thanks! We can't wait to go back to St. Maarten and we too would love to do this tour again! 😊

[Kelsey D]

Thanks! We can't wait to go back to St. Maarten and we too would love to do this tour again! [emoji4]

 

 

Was that your group jumping off of Creole Rock? DH is intrigued!

[Texasgalsa]

Yes it was... Captain Matt took us there. I wasn't sure if that was a regular stop or if that was just something Matt liked to do when he gives the tours.

[dz63]

We toured with Robinson Speed Boat Tours during our cruise stop on St. Maarten. With Captain Mike at the helm of the DayDreamer 7 (powered by Triple Mercury Verado engines), we experienced a thrilling boating adventure from riding the waves in the open sea to enjoying exotic getaways to remote places and islands for swimming and snorkelling--and to top things off we even partook in an exhilarating speedboat race back to the Marina!

 

I posted my review with photo's in this thread, (see posts #28-#34), and have now completed our video of our adventures with Captain Mike from Robinson Speed Boat Tours.

 

Watch our 6-hour excursion in 6 minutes and 51 seconds!

[YOUTUBE]NToP95VB5mE[/YOUTUBE]

[Keksie]

Just back from our cruise. We did the excursion with Robinson's and had a wonderful day. Turtles, Pinel Island, a great lunch, Creole Rock, Maho all made for a spectacular day.