How easy is it to get around the island?

[jama7]

We have a group of ten and are wondering if we would be better off going the tour route or getting a taxi? We want to go to Maho Beach, Mullet Bay and Marigot. We are traveling with children...just want to make sure we are safe and that we don't get ourselves stranded somewhere! Thanks for any advice!

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[dcikon2]

I recommend hiring a driver, such as Tony's Taxi Service. He took us to Maho and Mullet Bay. We didn't go to Marigot. However, you won't get much time at either place if you visit Marigot.

[jama7]

I recommend hiring a driver, such as Tony's Taxi Service. He took us to Maho and Mullet Bay. We didn't go to Marigot. However, you won't get much time at either place if you visit Marigot.

Thanks!

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Karysa]

We have a group of ten and are wondering if we would be better off going the tour route or getting a taxi? We want to go to Maho Beach, Mullet Bay and Marigot. We are traveling with children...just want to make sure we are safe and that we don't get ourselves stranded somewhere! Thanks for any advice!

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

What are you hoping to do in Marigot? If its shopping then plan this stop in the morning as the stores close in the early afternoon for 2-3 hrs. Plan on being at Maho from 11-1 and then Mullet. I would check the prices of taxis compared to tours and make your decision then. Keep in mind that at Marigot and Maho taxis will be very easy to find. You can always walk from Mullet to the Maho entertainment area in about 7 minutes if your taxi does not return for you at Mullet because there are taxis available by the resorts in this area.

[Karysa]

I recommend hiring a driver, such as Tony's Taxi Service. He took us to Maho and Mullet Bay. We didn't go to Marigot. However, you won't get much time at either place if you visit Marigot.

 

If you get in to port at 8, in a taxi by 8:30 you will be in Marigot by 9. If you stay for 1 hr and 30 minutes you should get to Maho around 11. An hour and a half is plenty at Maho and then a walk or taxi to Mullet gets you there around 12:45. Two hours makes it 2:45. Even if you have to walk back to The Maho entertainment area and taxi to port from there you should make it back by 4.

 

If you would have taxied to Mullet for about $9 and walked 15 to Maho and taxied back to the pier for another $9 pp I bet you would have saved a lot of money. Obviously for people with any kind of mobility issues this would not be a good plan.

[jama7]

What are you hoping to do in Marigot? If its shopping then plan this stop in the morning as the stores close in the early afternoon for 2-3 hrs. Plan on being at Maho from 11-1 and then Mullet. I would check the prices of taxis compared to tours and make your decision then. Keep in mind that at Marigot and Maho taxis will be very easy to find. You can always walk from Mullet to the Maho entertainment area in about 7 minutes if your taxi does not return for you at Mullet because there are taxis available by the resorts in this area.

Great! Thanks for the info! I didn't realize the shops in Marigot closed in the afternoon. We wanted to go there to shop and to go to Sarafina's.

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[OCruisers]

It's rather fun to hire a taxi for the day in St. Maarten so you can go exactly where you please and the taxi is good to go when you are. :D

LuLu

[jama7]

It's rather fun to hire a taxi for the day in St. Maarten so you can go exactly where you please and the taxi is good to go when you are. :D

LuLu

What about renting a car....or do you think it would be too hard to find your way around? We rented a car in Costa Rica and it was a lot of fun.

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Karysa]

It's rather fun to hire a taxi for the day in St. Maarten so you can go exactly where you please and the taxi is good to go when you are. :D

LuLu

 

I looked up the price yesterday for another poster and it cost $300 for a taxi and driver for the day. If there are 2 people and it costs say less than a $100 to do this Marigot, mullet, Maho route by taxi I just can't see why anyone would spend an extra $200 for a car and driver to wait for you unless you had major health issues perhaps.

 

After reading this do you think that the price difference is worth it?

Edited June 14, 2014 by Karysa

[Karysa]

What about renting a car....or do you think it would be too hard to find your way around? We rented a car in Costa Rica and it was a lot of fun.

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

Your route would be very easy via car. Depending on the price though if you add insurance and gas and perhaps GPS to the price for 2 people I don't think that you would be saving a lot if anything. Also on the French side especially the drinking and driving laws are stricter than in the US and Canada so that would need to be considered as well. We always rent. We love the freedom and I have a built in DD.

[jama7]

Your route would be very easy via car. Depending on the price though if you add insurance and gas and perhaps GPS to the price for 2 people I don't think that you would be saving a lot if anything. Also on the French side especially the drinking and driving laws are stricter than in the US and Canada so that would need to be considered as well. We always rent. We love the freedom and I have a built in DD.

Thanks for all the good info! Now we have lots of options...just need to decide which one is best for us!

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[skipsaur]

We had very similar plans in St Maarten, we wanted to do Marigot->Mullet->Maho. Marigot was very fun and very french. It was amazing how much of a culture change there was.

 

We lingered too long in Marigot to visit Mullet, and we traveled by bus, so there wasn't a straight shot from Marigot to Mullet/Maho. We skipped Mullet and went directly to Maho, which we didn't regret. Definitely try to be at Maho around noonish...I think we were there 1-2pm and you get the biggest planes around then. You can google the biggest flights for the day though, and plan accordingly. I think they said the big trans-Atlantics, Air France, etc. are usually around 1pm. Don't plan on having beach time at Maho though, we found the beach drop-off to be pretty steep, the waves were pretty strong and the beach was much too skinny and crowded to even lay down a towel. VERY easy to get back to Philipsburg from Maho though, buses/taxis were non-stop.

 

Also, try to leave some time for Philipsburg!! Our next trip to St Maarten (August!) we're planning on just doing Mullet/Maho and then Philipsburg. They had some of the cheapest drinks we've seen (even though we're relative lightweights) and just walking along the front strip/beach in Philipsburg was lovely. No need for a car in Philipsburg either, it's a very easy walk along town and back to the ship.

 

Word of warning: BRING MOSQUITO REPELLENT!! I'm sure you'll hear all about it, but having been there a few months ago at the end of January, don't ignore all the warnings you'll see of Dengue fever and Chikunguya. They're mosquito-spread viral diseases and you'll see signs for them all over St Maarten, so don't realize too late that you should've brought bug spray. Pack it! I stupidly decided to save room and left it at home, I'm not making that mistake again! I read all the warnings and ignored them because I'm young and stupid and invincible haha. I REALLY realized my error when we did a "back-stage" tour on our ship the last day of the cruise and we saw little stations in crew areas with bottles of mosquito sprays and signs warning of the disease for the crew. It MUST be serious if they're giving the crew free mosquito repellent! I got bitten a few times in St Maarten and did feel a little under the weather for the last couple days of my cruise and the following week, but I count myself lucky. From what I read, it could've been much worse. Please take the warnings seriously! Don't let it keep you from enjoying St Maarten, just be smart and bring bug spray!

[jama7]

We had very similar plans in St Maarten, we wanted to do Marigot->Mullet->Maho. Marigot was very fun and very french. It was amazing how much of a culture change there was.

 

We lingered too long in Marigot to visit Mullet, and we traveled by bus, so there wasn't a straight shot from Marigot to Mullet/Maho. We skipped Mullet and went directly to Maho, which we didn't regret. Definitely try to be at Maho around noonish...I think we were there 1-2pm and you get the biggest planes around then. You can google the biggest flights for the day though, and plan accordingly. I think they said the big trans-Atlantics, Air France, etc. are usually around 1pm. Don't plan on having beach time at Maho though, we found the beach drop-off to be pretty steep, the waves were pretty strong and the beach was much too skinny and crowded to even lay down a towel. VERY easy to get back to Philipsburg from Maho though, buses/taxis were non-stop.

 

Also, try to leave some time for Philipsburg!! Our next trip to St Maarten (August!) we're planning on just doing Mullet/Maho and then Philipsburg. They had some of the cheapest drinks we've seen (even though we're relative lightweights) and just walking along the front strip/beach in Philipsburg was lovely. No need for a car in Philipsburg either, it's a very easy walk along town and back to the ship.

 

Word of warning: BRING MOSQUITO REPELLENT!! I'm sure you'll hear all about it, but having been there a few months ago at the end of January, don't ignore all the warnings you'll see of Dengue fever and Chikunguya. They're mosquito-spread viral diseases and you'll see signs for them all over St Maarten, so don't realize too late that you should've brought bug spray. Pack it! I stupidly decided to save room and left it at home, I'm not making that mistake again! I read all the warnings and ignored them because I'm young and stupid and invincible haha. I REALLY realized my error when we did a "back-stage" tour on our ship the last day of the cruise and we saw little stations in crew areas with bottles of mosquito sprays and signs warning of the disease for the crew. It MUST be serious if they're giving the crew free mosquito repellent! I got bitten a few times in St Maarten and did feel a little under the weather for the last couple days of my cruise and the following week, but I count myself lucky. From what I read, it could've been much worse. Please take the warnings seriously! Don't let it keep you from enjoying St Maarten, just be smart and bring bug spray!

Thanks for all the good advice. I will definitely bring bug spray! Several years ago I went to Great Stirrup Cay....and the sand fleas ate me alive! So I don't usually forget the bug repellent anymore! [emoji6]

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk