St. Maarten vs st. Thomas

[tluvspluto]

Hello all,

 

I think I am suffering from perfect trip syndrome. Something I am afflicted with every time we travel somewhere new. Well it's a double dose this trip. First time RCL-allure and 1st time visitors to st. Maarten and st. Thomas (yes, we're on the eastern Caribbean itinerary).

 

We are seeking some expert advise to help finalise our excursion plans. we'd like some relaxing beach time, opportunity for some jaw dropping photographs and for some of our group a chance to experience snorkelling to see some amazing marine life.

 

So from your trips and shore excursions, what would you recommend. Relaxing st. Thomas and snorkelling adventure in st. Maarten, or visa-Versa. I need help narrowing the field of choices.

 

If you have any particular recommendation we'd love to hear those too. There are so many choices it's a little overwhelming trying to strike the balance for our two family group of 9.

 

Thank you for any and all insights to help relieve my symptoms.

 

Kindest regards, t X

[Clarea]

Since you mention photography, Maho Beach in St. Maarten come to mind for some shots of the airplanes landing right over the beach.

[Nado44]

Hello all,

We are seeking some expert advise to help finalise our excursion plans. we'd like some relaxing beach time, opportunity for some jaw dropping photographs and for some of our group a chance to experience snorkelling to see some amazing marine life.

 

So from your trips and shore excursions, what would you recommend. Relaxing st. Thomas and snorkelling adventure in st. Maarten, or visa-Versa. I need help narrowing the field of choices

 

I'd do the beach and snorkeling in St Thomas (STT), specifically St John via ferry. Snorkeling in St Maarten is ok and not as good as STT.

 

Grand Case in St Martin (French side) is beautiful. Gorgeous, idyllic surrounds, parks and Creole architecture all make for great and varied photographic opportunities, imo. Day pass can be purchased at the Grand Case Beach Resort. It's about a 40-45 minute ride from the port.

[Thoie]

I did the Kontiki Tour through the ship on St Thomas a few years ago and enjoyed it (though it may not be to everyone's taste).

 

https://www.tripadvisor.ie/Attraction_Review-g147405-d2422961-Reviews-Cruise_Ship_Excursions_The_Legendary_Kon_Tiki-Charlotte_Amalie_St_Thomas_U_S_Virg.html

 

The boat was very close to where the ship was docked. There was a tour of the harbour with some history information, and live music playing. They passed over a reef and lowered glass boxes into the water, but we didn't see much there. The island we stopped at was beautiful - very postcard pretty. Had some time to swim and lounge there, and have a bit of lunch. I don't think there was any snorkelling on that trip (it's a few years ago, I get confused).

[schevel]

We did the powercat snorkel tour/beach break in St. Thomas last spring when we on the Allure. We really enjoyed it, the beach stop at Honeymoon beach was great as well. St. Maarten, we booked a private shuttle van for the day. The van took us all over the island and we had a 3 hour beach stop. We didn't snorkel in St. Maarten, but enjoyed the snorkel tour in St. Thomas.

[epcopres]

i also agree about St John (Trunk bay) for a beautiful beach and some snorkeling. If you dont want to ride ferry to St John, Meagans bay in St Thomas is not bad either. St Maarten is a Maho beach must. The beach is kinda small but the scenery is nice with the planes landing directly over you. Sunset Beach bar is right there with food, drinks and wifi.

[Keith1010]

At St Marteen I would go to the beach but also save time to walk the town. I love the shopping there and I am not a big shopper

 

At St. Thomas you can relax but I would also check out the beach.

 

Keith

[Thoie]

We did the powercat snorkel tour/beach break in St. Thomas last spring when we on the Allure. We really enjoyed it, the beach stop at Honeymoon beach was great as well. St. Maarten, we booked a private shuttle van for the day. The van took us all over the island and we had a 3 hour beach stop. We didn't snorkel in St. Maarten, but enjoyed the snorkel tour in St. Thomas.

 

Oh, if the powercat goes to honeymoon beach as well, that sounds good.

[George C]

Love St Marten beach's , but St John Trunk bay ( already mentioned) has a snorkel trail, only problem is its not easy to get to St John but really great beach's

[Gopherpharm]

It's not that hard to get to St. John - just takes some advance planning. Cinnamon Bay is terrific for snorkeling off the beach and less crowded than Trunk.

 

 

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[brunello22]

We always rent a car in St. Maarten and drive around the island at our leisure. We love French St. Martin, walking around Marigot, having fresh fish at a locals restaurant along the water in Gran Case, and simply enjoying the views and spectacular beaches around the northeast part of the island. There are some fantastic inlets full of windsurfers and the beaches are far less crowded than in Dutch St. Maarten, such as Maho Beach. If you rent a car, I suggest starting along the east side towards Maho and come back to St. Maarten along the east side of the island, otherwise getting stuck in the downtown traffic of Philipsburg is not fun.

[sammydh82]

When we went to St. Thomas we did a Intro to Scuba excursion and saw a lot of cool stuff! We would definitely consider diving there again now that we are certified.

 

I also didn't see any suggestions on here to go up to Paradise Point. I went back through our pictures and I had it listed as "the best view in St. Thomas". I'll attach one of the many pics we took while up there. We took a sky ride thing up, I think it was approx. $20-25 per person...so it would get pretty pricey going up that way with 9 people!

 

Also, we did a Catamaran Snorkel/Sail excursion in St. Maarten with the Mirabella and snorkeling was awesome! We stopped at a place with a sunken helicopter and saw tons of fish!

They also took us to Mullet Bay which was Gorgeous!

 

Whatever you decide, I hope you have a wonderful cruise and enjoy every second! :D

[signora]

We did a snorkeling trip in St. Thomas with the schooner Silent Lady to two snorkel sites, including a stop with amazing turtles, then on to Honeymoon Beach for two hours of BBQ and sheer beach bliss--it was an excursion through Celebrity but I'm sure you can find and book them separately. One of the best snorkel boat excursions I've ever done: no comparison to the cattle boats. We'll definitely try to book with them the next time we're in St. Thomas.

 

On St. Maarten we've sunned and relaxed on Dawn Beach--nice but crowded the day we were there.

[tluvspluto]

Thanks everyone. Some great insights and recommendations. Off to do more research on your suggestions. Thanks again. X

[tunisbridal]

Sunny Liston tours in stt. St maartin we just did JOYCE prince private tour! She was awesome. We went to Friars beach , marigot, maho

[rodenboy]

Since you mention photography, Maho Beach in St. Maarten come to mind for some shots of the airplanes landing right over the beach.

 

 

Perfect response once again :)

[OCruisers]

Of the two we MUCH prefer St. Thomas for snorkeling.

If you take an excursion from St. Thomas to St. John and go to Trunk Bay you could get some totally awesome pictures and enjoy snorkeling as well. :)

[Beachdude]

We like the day sails in St. Thomas and the beach in St. Maartin.

 

There are a few sail boats in St. Thomas that take only 6 to 10 passengers, so the experience is more intimate and personal. The lunches are always very good and they typically stop at least two very nice snorkeling spots.

 

Burt

[AZ Ocean Lover]

I was totally disappointed in the snorkeling on St. Maarten and so mad at myself that I didn't get a chance to explore this most interesting island. We are going back in 5 weeks and opted to tour the island/shop and have a beach break and I can't wait.

 

Snorkeling on St. Thomas was better so I would definitely chose to snorkel there.

 

Have fun planning.

[KKB]

I recommend Paradise Beach on the other side of the island. About 30 min. cab ride.

Gorgeous, peaceful but full amenities.

Its where we go every time...

[jackalope12]

Orient Beach on the French Side is the highlight of every cruise. Of course, we're nudists!:cool:

[whataboutport]

Yes, I think it should be mentioned, as it is above that Orient Beach is nude on the right side (looking out to the ocean) and topless on the left side. I assume there are children in this two family group, so I would take that into consideration. I did not enjoy Orient beach at all. I did not think the French style beach would bother me as much as it did, but it really did. Also worth noting is there are many vendors that roam the beach and try to sell you stuff. They are pretty pushy, and many of them muttered something in their dialect and shot us dirty looks when we politely declined.

 

I would also recommend going to see Marigot on the French side which is a very cute town with lots of restaurants. See the sugar cane guy and get a sugar cane drink. There is also a fort you can hike up to but we couldn't because we didn't have time on our tour. I would not recommend Bernard's tour. Many on here loved his tour but we had a big mix up with the time of everything and we got put in a tour that already started so we missed two attractions. I was very disappointed.

 

For St Thomas, I also vote for St John's Trunk Bay for snorkeling, though the day we went the visibility wasn't very good. The beach is very pretty and surrounding area very clean, since it is a state park (not sure "state park" but it is some type of park where you pay admission). We did an excursion through Allure which you take a small boat from where Allure docks and they drop you off and you are on your own for a few hours. You can also take a taxi yourself to Red Hook and take a much shorter ferry, but really the "longer" ferry wasn't long at all, and there is plenty of beautiful scenery along the way.

[cruiseapril]

As to Orient Beach- the surf can be high there and rough- and there were many vendors- it wasn't very relaxing.