SE Caribbean Beaches Question

[Perry1180]

Hi,

 

I've always gotten a lot of help here, and I have a question to ask.

 

Cruising in five weeks to the Southeastern Caribbean.

 

My favorite destinations were Labadee and Coco Cay, and that is because there was a beach right by the ship.

 

But now for Charlotte Amalie, Basseterre, Bridgetown, Castries and Phillipsburg at least at one beach right off the ship?

 

Or possibly a cab ride away, and what would the charge be to go on the beach?

 

Thank you so much.

[Clarea]

In Barbados, we've gone to Boatyard Beach, which is a short cab ride from the cruise terminal. Might have been $10-$15.

 

In St. Maarten, there is a beach right next to the water taxi pier downtown. You can walk there, but if you would rather take the water taxi, I believe that's still $6 per person, round trip.

[Perry1180]

Thank you very much!

[racerxspeedy]

St Martin beach in town is convenient, but most prefer taking a cab or city van ($2) to Mullet or Maho.

 

The beaches in St Kitt require a taxi ride, but there is nice overlook picture stop along the way.

 

St Lucia - you will need to take a taxi or tour. It is well worth making the effort to see this island.

 

 

There is good advice on the port forums

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

[Perry1180]

Thanks very much!

[checkard]

Perry1180 - we are on the same sailing in Decenber. Did you know that we are no longer going to St Kitts? That was replaced with Dominica several months ago.

 

We have a very active roll call thread for our cruise. Search Royal Caribbean roll call , Grandeur of the Seas and the December 10, 2016 roll call.

[Perry1180]

Oh cool.... thanks so much, and I just found the cruise at the end of October, so I never knew about St. Kitts.

[Fouremco]

Oh cool.... thanks so much, and I just found the cruise at the end of October, so I never knew about St. Kitts.

Actually, Basseterre is the capital of Saint Kitts. Or, more accurately, the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

 

The names of ports and the islands where they are found are often used interchangeably. You'll save yourself a bit of confusion in the long run if you learn the pairings.

[cb at sea]

A guidebook will be a very useful tool...there's more than 1 beach on each island...and each offer different things! A guidebook will also have info on transportation options, food/drink, shopping, points of interest or attractions, and safety! It's always good to know something about where you're going BEFORE you get there..and being able to do things on your own can save you a bundle!

[39august]

If you are going to Dominica there is no beach near the port. Dominica is not known for beaches anyway. You must do some sort of island tour to this paradise island which reminded me of Maui.

[lv2bcruzin]

In Barbados, we've gone to Boatyard Beach, which is a short cab ride from the cruise terminal. Might have been $10-$15.

 

In St. Maarten, there is a beach right next to the water taxi pier downtown. You can walk there, but if you would rather take the water taxi, I believe that's still $6 per person, round trip.

 

+1 on the Boatyard!

 

We go there everytime... Soooo much to do and it's a good deal. It's $15 to get in which gets you a drink, access to all their amenities (lounge chairs, umbrellas, cabanas, rope swing, plank, etc), and free taxi back to the ship. Lot's of fun!

 

Here's some of our photos of Barbados and The Boatyard

 

+1 on St. Maarten as well.

 

We ususally go straight to the beach, specifically Holland House. They have some of the best beach service, prices, and loungers. Here's some of our photos of St. Maarten (you'll have to scroll through for beach photos). We also went to Maho beach, but the beach was covered with boulders in preparation for large storms during hurricane season. And, here is the Holland House Webcam

 

Here are photos we have of St. Kitts and St. Lucia.

Edited November 6, 2016 by lv2bcruzin

[meadowlander]

Hi,

 

I've always gotten a lot of help here, and I have a question to ask.

 

Cruising in five weeks to the Southeastern Caribbean.

 

My favorite destinations were Labadee and Coco Cay, and that is because there was a beach right by the ship.

 

But now for Charlotte Amalie, Basseterre, Bridgetown, Castries and Phillipsburg at least at one beach right off the ship?

 

Or possibly a cab ride away, and what would the charge be to go on the beach?

Thank you so much.

 

I also second the Boatyard in Barbados. Taxi fare to the Boatyard is $5 (US).

Entry fee is now $20 (US). Included in entry fee is lounger, umbrella, use of their water toys, one drink and shuttle ride back to crusie port.

 

There is a public beach in St.Lucia that is a 25-30 minute walk from the cruise port. No facilities at that beach. A search of the St Lucia board would be more helpful.

 

St. Maarten does have a beach very close to the cruise port but there is also Maho beach which is at the end of the airport runway, watching planes land is a must do! Orient beach is on the French side and there are shared vans from the cruise port charging $6 or 7 (US) each way.

[Perry1180]

Thank you all so much..... I appreciate it.

[checkard]

There is now a snorkel with the turtles and over shipwrecks trip included with the $20 admission to the boatyard.

[ColoradoGurl]

There is now a snorkel with the turtles and over shipwrecks trip included with the $20 admission to the boatyard.

 

 

Really? That's nice, they didn't even increase the entry fee (it was $20 when we went and it didn't include the snorkeling).

 

I wonder if it was because there were so many vendors being pushy on the beach to sell their independent tours. Now if the vendors know all the boatyard people have already paid to go, they won't bother them anymore.

 

Good call Boatyard, those guys were annoying. We had one confront us for booking with a different guy because when he asked us earlier in the day we weren't ready to go. When we did want to go, we found a guy, and when the original guy found out about it, he yelled at us.

 

 

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