Excursion recommendations

[tsxgray1]

We will be making a cruise stop at St Barts and looking for excursion recommendations- we enjoy snorkeling and the beach.

 

 

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[Ski Mom 2]

We rented a car on our own and drove to several beaches and spent time either on the beach, eating lunch at a restaurant on the beach, or drinking a local cocktail on the beach. We had just enough time to walk through town afterwards before boarding. We didn't hit all the beaches but we had a delightful time!

[debsjc]

Ski Mom, we are renting a car, could you recommend some of the best places you stopped please.... and was the parking okay?

[Ski Mom 2]

We rented a convertible with another couple who had been to St Barts before so they were basically in charge of our day.

 

First stop was my favorite: Flamands Beach. You need to watch for the sign by the side of the road, park and walk down. It was the most incredible beach! I want to go back to St Barts and stay a week on that beach! We met a honeymoon couple who told us about Hotel Baie des anges where they were staying. They said they had a restaurant that was good so we wandered down the beach and up to the restaurant and inquired about lunch. With no reservations, I wasn't sure they would seat us but they found us a table and we had the most delightful lunch on the beach! Really, it was the most wonderful lunch and it turns out this is a hidden gem of a place and other folks from our Wind Star yacht were there (they had made reservations months in advance) and they couldn't believe we had stumbled upon this gem!

 

From there we drove high up and stopped at an overlook that had stunning views (sorry I don't remember what it was called).

 

We drove a bit and stopped at Baie de St Jean Beach and had a cocktail at Eden Rock Hotel. This beach was crowded and very different from Flamands Beach but the hotel bar was fun for a drink. I think we had to pay for parking at the hotel here.

 

Next we drove around and ended up at the Hotel Christopher (I'm still not sure how we found it!) and spent some time talking to the bartender, having a cocktail and enjoying the peace and tranquility of the resort. The pool was so pretty (the resport was beautiful) but there is no beach here. There was a valet who we tipped to leave the car.

 

Our last stop of the day was at Gouverneur Beach. There was a photo shoot going on and the husbands thought that it was fun to watch (a pretty young thing modeling clothes and swimsuits). The guys went swimming and the girls hung out on the beach. There is a parking lot at this beach. By this time, it was so close to 6:00 p.m. when we had to have the car back, we raced back to the airport to drop it off and barely made it back in time! They drove us back to town where we didn't have near enough time for some shopping therapy.

 

We loved St Barts and hope to return again one day. Enjoy!!

[debsjc]

Thanks so much for that great account of your day, the information was really helpful.

[NYR Fan]

On 1/25/2018 at 9:45 AM, Ski Mom 2 said:

We rented a convertible with another couple who had been to St Barts before so they were basically in charge of our day.

 

First stop was my favorite: Flamands Beach. You need to watch for the sign by the side of the road, park and walk down. It was the most incredible beach! I want to go back to St Barts and stay a week on that beach! We met a honeymoon couple who told us about Hotel Baie des anges where they were staying. They said they had a restaurant that was good so we wandered down the beach and up to the restaurant and inquired about lunch. With no reservations, I wasn't sure they would seat us but they found us a table and we had the most delightful lunch on the beach! Really, it was the most wonderful lunch and it turns out this is a hidden gem of a place and other folks from our Wind Star yacht were there (they had made reservations months in advance) and they couldn't believe we had stumbled upon this gem!

 

From there we drove high up and stopped at an overlook that had stunning views (sorry I don't remember what it was called).

 

We drove a bit and stopped at Baie de St Jean Beach and had a cocktail at Eden Rock Hotel. This beach was crowded and very different from Flamands Beach but the hotel bar was fun for a drink. I think we had to pay for parking at the hotel here.

 

Next we drove around and ended up at the Hotel Christopher (I'm still not sure how we found it!) and spent some time talking to the bartender, having a cocktail and enjoying the peace and tranquility of the resort. The pool was so pretty (the resport was beautiful) but there is no beach here. There was a valet who we tipped to leave the car.

 

Our last stop of the day was at Gouverneur Beach. There was a photo shoot going on and the husbands thought that it was fun to watch (a pretty young thing modeling clothes and swimsuits). The guys went swimming and the girls hung out on the beach. There is a parking lot at this beach. By this time, it was so close to 6:00 p.m. when we had to have the car back, we raced back to the airport to drop it off and barely made it back in time! They drove us back to town where we didn't have near enough time for some shopping therapy.

 

We loved St Barts and hope to return again one day. Enjoy!!

Great review, albeit 1 year ago. What car rental agency did you use? Cost? Thanks.

[Ski Mom 2]

Originally we thought we would walk off the ship and find a rental car right close but those places didn’t have any cars available. We did a little wandering into the shops and asked about rental cars and were told to go around the corner to the perfume shop that also housed Thifty car rental. It was basically across from Cheeseberger in Paradise. They had cars available so we lucked out. I’m sorry but I don’t remember the price. 

 

Once the paperwork was complete, they had a van come come pick us up and take us to the airport where we got the car. We were warned not to be late since the car had to be returned to the airport ticket counter and they closed at 6 pm sharp. We barely made it back! They then took us back to town. Hope this helps.