pinel island on your own

[cruzobsessed]

o.k. guys....will be in st martaan for the first time....NEXT WEEK!!! was pklanning to go to divi but heard that pinel island was awesome. what's your opinion? and.....do i need to do the excursion or can i do it on my own?

[ckrobyn]

o.k. guys....will be in st martaan for the first time....NEXT WEEK!!! was pklanning to go to divi but heard that pinel island was awesome. what's your opinion? and.....do i need to do the excursion or can i do it on my own?

 

We love St.Maarteen - have spent a bit of time there in the past. I have never heard of pinel island? We usually rent a jeep and head to Mullet Bay or Orient Beach - easy island to navigate by car. You will love it!

 

Have fun :)

[*erika*]

some information from http://www.orientbeach.com/pinel/

 

Pinel Island lies in Orient Bay, access is via boats that run from Cul de Sac or some of the watersport concessions on Orient Beach also will drop off and return at a set time to pick you up. There are some beautiful sandy beaches on the island and it is also worth to take some hiking shoes and hike to the 2 deserted beaches on the opposite side. There is a restaurant, snack bar and gift shop (island style) on the island. Pinel is often called St Martins best kept secret and has always been popular with locals. The main beach is not clothes optional. Although it is a different story if you hike over to one of the deserted beaches. So, don't forget to take along some sneakers and snorkeling gear.

 

there are also some additional pictures on the website if you wanna check those out too. I've never been, but if you do it on your own, keep track of time, and make sure you can make it back to the ship before it leaves!

[dougp26364]

We did a snorkel tour on Pinel Island. The main beach was clothing optional when we were there in 2003. At least there were some ladies with their tops off. The beach was very nice but the snorkeling wasn't very good. If you're looking for a beach day, it would be a good place to go IMO.

[Beach Hunter]

Pinel has the best snorkeling in St Martin. Try to share a taxi from the ship to cut down on the cost. Make sure that you make arrangements for a taxi to pick you up. The open boats go over and back about every hours. Just remember you are on island time. You can do it on a ship excursion. We did that once and they made us wear life vests when snorkeling.

 

Pinel is on the French side of St Martin, so topless is normal for women at all beaches. The main beach area is not clothing optional. A lot of locals go there on the weekends or holidays. Two nice beach bars/restaurants. You will enjoy it.

[dougp26364]

Pinel has the best snorkeling in St Martin. Try to share a taxi from the ship to cut down on the cost. Make sure that you make arrangements for a taxi to pick you up. The open boats go over and back about every hours. Just remember you are on island time. You can do it on a ship excursion. We did that once and they made us wear life vests when snorkeling.

 

Pinel is on the French side of St Martin, so topless is normal for women at all beaches. The main beach area is not clothing optional. A lot of locals go there on the weekends or holidays. Two nice beach bars/restaurants. You will enjoy it.

 

I wish someone would have told the ladies that it wasn't a topless beach. There were some who would have been better served having the support. We were only on the main beech. Perhaps it's changed in the last couple of years or perhaps some people just ignored the rules.

 

If Pinel is the best snorkeling in St. Maartin, then I'd leave the snorkel gear on the ship. They had to toss food in the water to even get the few fish we saw to come in. It was very poor snorkeling IMO.

 

As for the life vests, they told us they had to make us wear them but they didn't have to make us put air in them. I just left mine deflated.

[beachchick]

doug26364: The reason no one "told the ladies that it wasn't a topless beach" is because it IS a topless beach. All beaches on the French side of the island allow topless female sunbathing. As Beach Hunter noted, it's normal for women to sunbathe topless on French beaches.

 

As for your opinion on whether they should have had "support," you are certainly entitled to it, but the fact is that topless sunbathing is not predicated on having a perfect body.

 

beachchick

[zalusky]

We did Pinel in October on Celebrity and I wasnt all that impressed. The snorkeling was poor. The facilities in general were all extra charges. I would rather than have done the catamaran sail.

[dougp26364]

doug26364: As for your opinion on whether they should have had "support," you are certainly entitled to it, but the fact is that topless sunbathing is not predicated on having a perfect body.

 

beachchick

 

True enough. But my opinion is also what keeps me from wearing a speedo to the beach. Trust me, women everywhere thank me for that. ;)

[Beach Hunter]

I did not say the snorkeling at Pinel was great, just that it is the best place on St Martin. St Martin is not known for snorkeling. I have seen a lot of fish at Pinel at times and not a lot at other times. You have to go out near the bouys to see the most fish.

[sherry7]

Anyone know the approximate cost of an one way taxi ride to Pinel Island (for two people)?