St. Maarten Shore Exc: Including Maho Beach And Island Tour?

[wublaze]

Bernard's Tours seems to be the overwhelming choice but when we were there in 2012 we used Noel Tours and had a blast.

 

http://www.noeltours.com/

[vacationers]

Bernard's Tours sounds nice. What are the price ranges PP. Do you need to book ahead of time? Thanks

 

 

I think 45.oo but includes beer, water, soda and rum punch. you still have time when you come back to go to the town. is tour is around 4 to 5 hour. He is never in a hurry. It is the best! We have done it 4 times.

[5kids2dogs]

Just getting back from a Bernard's tour on the 4/4 sailing of the Oasis.

Fantastic! We did tour #2 and it was a complete tour of the island, along w. a 2 hour stop at Orient Bay, some quick shopping downtown and about and hour and a half at Maho. Perfect!

 

We are planning this tour in June. Can you tell me did you hang out in the water/on the beach at Orient Bay? Should we be prepared to be wet at each beach stop or just a walk on the beach?

[abhb]

Another vote for Bernard's. His rum punch is very potent:D

[perkli25]

We did the island tour with Soualiga Destinations and Capt. Bob and absolutely loved it!! Our day sounds almost exactly like what you want to do with great lunch and excellent snorkeling.

 

Have fun!

[Dinkachu]

I'd love some advice here!

 

We are on Independence in June and have St Maarten as a stop. I would LOOOOOVE to stop at Maho Beach for a while to watch the planes coming in (serious aviation geek here ... my partner not so much) ..

 

But rather than spending the whole day sniffing the jet fuel, I would still love to see the island too, as its a first for us.

 

I can't really tell from the RC shore excursions listed for our cruise if there are any like this that will include a stay at Maho.

 

Any ideas of whats a good way to get all this in during our stop there? An outside tour?

 

Thanks folks!

 

There is a boat tour with RCI that does a snorkel, swim and you can see the planes from the boat. Our college aerospace engineer son wants to be closer to the planes this time, so we too are looking for a tour to the actual beach.

[kpee]

Was the nasty seaweed gone from Orient?

 

We will be there in June and I want to be able to get back on the beach.

There was definitely some seaweed there, but it was manageable. I'm really picky about it and was able to get in and have a good time. I've been to beaches where I haven't even attempted to get in. In comparison, this was no problem! Good times! Enjoy!

[F27TW]

Thanks for all the info, folks! Only bummer here is that the Bernards Island Tour leaves at 9:00 AM ... and we don't dock till 10 :(

[bigque]

Thanks for all the info, folks! Only bummer here is that the Bernards Island Tour leaves at 9:00 AM ... and we don't dock till 10 :(

 

Bernard's will setup and adjust tour times based on when the ship comes in! :cool:

[kpee]

Bernard's will setup and adjust tour times based on when the ship comes in! :cool:

Or book a personal tour!

[wondernurse]

We used Bernard's too and had a great time. Philip was are driver and he was great. Mahoe Bay was certainly a highlight.

The van they pick you up in has a cooler full of water, beer and soft drinks. it was a nice little perk.

it was well worth the money. We loved every minute of it!

[Life is Good Cruising]

Thanks for all the info, folks! Only bummer here is that the Bernards Island Tour leaves at 9:00 AM ... and we don't dock till 10 :(

 

 

Bernard's website does indicate the different pick-up times at the bottom of his website. If your ship arrives in at 10 am, your meet up time will be 10:30am. Many times the Explorer of the Seas would arrive at 1pm and our meet up time with Bernard's was 1:30pm.

[Cindy]

I second the recommendation for a private tour with Bernard's. You will have the ability to customize the length of time you stay in each location. We wanted to spend more time in Maho Beach--less time in Marigot shopping. Some of the other "tourist" spots they include in their standard tour (sea urchin and iguana viewing) were quick 5 minute stops for us, because we just said we were ready to move on. Their standard tour would have you there for about a half hour....

 

I would also try to get a group of like-minded people together to set up a private tour. That way you can do exactly what you want to do without worrying about the length of your stops, the number of people, or going to places you're really not interested in.

 

I'm know I'm very much the odd dissenting vote, but we were somewhat disappointed in our Bernard's Tour in November. To start, they didn't have us on a list despite our reservation and deposit being made well in advance. Thankfully I had copies of my communication with me to help prove our case! The day we were there, they combined Tour #1 and Tour #2 on the same van/bus and modified things. It was extremely overcrowded and uncomfortable on the bus, and nobody got the exact tour they paid for. We really enjoyed our guide (Mailman), but I was disappointed in the lack of organization and the combining of two different tours.

[LMaxwell]

We basically did the same tour using St. Maarten busses. About $2pp/per segment. They will let you off anywhere you want, just grab another bus and keep going. Not quite as easy as doing a tour, and the tours seem very reasonably priced, but we liked going on our own timetable. Marigot we spent a lot of time, Maho we only stayed about 30 minutes, etc. I doubt we spent $10pp on bus fare for the whole day. My wife doesn't drink and there are PLENTY of street vendors to get a beer for $1-$2 from so I was fine.

 

Tours do simplify life though.

[davy jones]

Check out Bernard's Tours. Highly recommended.

 

Another recommendation for Bernard's tours.

[bigque]

I would also try to get a group of like-minded people together to set up a private tour. That way you can do exactly what you want to do without worrying about the length of your stops, the number of people, or going to places you're really not interested in.

 

I'm know I'm very much the odd dissenting vote, but we were somewhat disappointed in our Bernard's Tour in November. To start, they didn't have us on a list despite our reservation and deposit being made well in advance. Thankfully I had copies of my communication with me to help prove our case! The day we were there, they combined Tour #1 and Tour #2 on the same van/bus and modified things. It was extremely overcrowded and uncomfortable on the bus, and nobody got the exact tour they paid for. We really enjoyed our guide (Mailman), but I was disappointed in the lack of organization and the combining of two different tours.

 

With the many many reviews and recommendations of them here on CC, that is definitely the exception rather than the rule! But has with all things problems can arise from time to time! :cool:

[fishman620]

The day we were in port @ St. Maarten, there were 4 ships total in port.....which made it very congested where we were supposed to meet Bernard Tours. It was also a bit confusing on where to go to meet Bernard's. Huge lines to wait to check in for our tour (Bernard's is VERY popular). They stick as many people as they can in their vans and getting out was kind of a traffic jam, but once on the tour things went smoothly.

[DaniDanielle]

Can anyone tell me how much a taxi from the ship to Maho Beach will cost??

 

Thanks

[wildcat46]

We also did a Bernard's tour. We had enough people (14) to be able to book a private tour. That meant we had the van to ourselves and could go where we wanted, when we wanted. It worked out great. We also had the Mailman and he was awesome. He really made the day fun and knew of great places to visit.

 

The one thing that surprised me was that Bernard was not able to meet us at the pier personally. Although his email confirmations indicated he accepted VISA and MasterCard, when we met the person they sent to meet us he asked for cash and was a little pushy about it. I held my ground because paying in cash would have eaten up most of the cash we had with us. In the end, he relented but for a while it was a little uncomfortable. Then he could not find a credit card machine and when he did he could not make it work. But he said we would deal with it at the end of the day. Bernard was at the pier when we returned and the machine worked fine for him. All was good and we had a great day.

 

Highly recommended.

[wildcat46]

DaniDannielle, I am sorry but I can not remember what we paid for a cab ride to Maho beach (probably depends on the number of people you have), but if you are concerned about cost there are also buses you can take (actually white vans) that will take you from Front Street to Maho Beach. It only costs like $2 or $3 per person. It is an adventure in itself. If you want to do that, just take the water taxi from the pier to Front Street and flag down a van. they run constantly between Front Street and the beach.

[DaniDanielle]

Thanks

[F27TW]

Can't thank you all enough for the great advice here .. reading all these posts, I have sure learned a lot ... and am now looking forward to St Maarten more than ever!

[lbylore]

We basically did the same tour using St. Maarten busses. About $2pp/per segment. They will let you off anywhere you want, just grab another bus and keep going. Not quite as easy as doing a tour, and the tours seem very reasonably priced, but we liked going on our own timetable. Marigot we spent a lot of time, Maho we only stayed about 30 minutes, etc. I doubt we spent $10pp on bus fare for the whole day. My wife doesn't drink and there are PLENTY of street vendors to get a beer for $1-$2 from so I was fine.

 

Tours do simplify life though.

 

I really like how you were able to see St. Maarten on your own using the bus system. Can you please tell me more how you navigated from the cruise terminal and back. thanks

[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. Off the shores of Maho Beach we witnessed the excitement of a Boeing 747 fly 20 feet over our heads before partaking in an exhilarating speedboat race back to the Marina! With a cooler stocked with bottled water, beer and soft drinks, a delicious hot lunch on Pinel Island, a free ice-cream at the end of the day and a Captain that is friendly, informative, attentive and entertaining, this boating adventure pleased us all!

 

If you like speedboat rides, swimming and snorkelling, then this is an excursion not to miss.

 

For more information and photo's about our excursion, read my review in the Robinson Speed Boat Tours thread (posts #28-#34).

 

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

[YOUTUBE]NToP95VB5mE[/YOUTUBE]

[funbythedozen]

We used Bernard in 2011 when we went to St. Maarten. Slim was our tour guide and he was fantastic. We went through some things faster then others, only because we wanted to spend more time in Maho Beach.