Best beach to spend the day at?

[cathi007]

Here are some photos of Bikini Beach. I wish I took one of the bar/restaurant 

Edited February 8, 2019 by cathi007
add pics

[turquoisesea]

Thank you for the great pictures, cathi007!

[GetToLivin]

The pics look great - we are just wanting a simple beach day with a bar so this looks suitable. For anyone that has been there recently, was there an issue getting a taxi back to the ship? 

[adonisr]

On 2/7/2019 at 8:43 PM, cathi007 said:

Were there any other new beach bars open yet?  Or was Bikini the only one?

 

 

 

Here are some photos of Bikini Beach. I wish I took one of the bar/restaurant 

 

[cathi007]

2 hours ago, adonisr said:

 

That was the only one I saw, but it was great.

[cementhands]

Maho Beach is back to its former glory!

Beautiful gentle waves. Buckets of red stripe beer for $20. 

2 chairs and umbrella $20.

Cab $25 ppfor 2. 

Group of 4 $9 pp. 6 $8 pp.

Amazing place to experience. Check cruise port tt for info on ships in port.

[cementhands]

On 1/16/2019 at 8:15 PM, Cruising Divers said:

Hello, we are cruising to St. Maarten on April 1, 2019 with Celebrity. This will be our only "beach day" opportunity as we will be scuba diving the rest of our itinerary and we are looking for a "sugar sand" beach/day full of fun (we love the sand in Gulf Shores, AL for example). White sand, not overcrowded, good drinks, beautiful water and some fun tourist/souvenir junk shopping would be perfect for us. From what I've read Orient beach was the best but was destroyed during hurricane Maria... 

 

Anyone here recent SM visitors with insights? Are there any "Celebrity-sponsored excursions" that include something else "not to be missed" and also some wonderful beach-time? We'd love to hear all of your experiences and suggestions - Thank you very much in advance! 

Maho Beach is back to its former glory! February 2019 and a very enjoyable experience. Nice gentle waves. Real bathrooms. Very important for the ladies. Sunset bar has buckets of beer including red stripe 6 for $20. Chairs and umbrellas $20 for 2.

Resteraunt on site. 

We love this place and couldn’t get to it last year as it was being rebuilt from storm. It’s worth a trip once. Cruise port tt for info on how many ships are in port. We were lucky had it to ourselves until Costa came in at noonish! Then smoke city!

[smurf1635]

On 1/30/2019 at 8:30 AM, cementhands said:

Maho Beach is the airport beach. Recently refurbished following the last big storm. Sunset bar with yellow awning at end chairs and umbrellas buckets of beer. It’s a cool experience. The water is quite nice. We just grab a cab to and from. Board near bar states plane arrivals.

We have done the water taxi to beach across bay from ships. Lots of shopping of beach. Buckets of beer for me while the wife shops.

We have been over to the French side. Nude sunbathing. 

Tripadvisor is great with current information.

If you are looking for a great deal for his/her purchase many jewelry stores offering 2 movado watches. Starting at $300 for a pair. The Museum Watch.

 

Can you tell me the cost of a taxi and if you get the taxi right of the ship or do you use the water taxi to get to town first?  Also,  what is the cost of chairs on the beach? 

[cementhands]

Cab ride is $25 for 2. We waited and grabbed another couple so it became $9 each. On way back 6 people $8 each. $20 for 2 chairs and umbrellas. $20 for buckets of beer 6 including red stripe beer from Jamaica, my second favorite behind Banks beer from Barbados. Save receipts for bathroom or pay $1. 

Cruise port tt has info on how many ships are in port with you. Great to know ahead of time. We were alone until noon and Costa ship arrived tons of passengers arrived and were smoking. 

Ear plugs great. Stay to the side. Sunset bar is excellent. Other end cheaper bar but sani cans.

18 hours ago, smurf1635 said:

Can you tell me the cost of a taxi and if you get the taxi right of the ship or do you use the water taxi to get to town first?  Also,  what is the cost of chairs on the beach? 

 

[trivia addict]

Hate to share my secret but Dawn Beach is our favorite.

We have been  to the Island many times and this is where we return to. 

Never liked Orient Beach, and Mahoe was fun for the kids when they were with us, with the airplanes flying overhead but the swimming was awful.

Dawn is quiet, beach is small but comfortable, and the beach bar is friendly and adequate. Chairs, restrooms and umbrellas are all available.

[SnorkelAway]

17 hours ago, trivia addict said:

Hate to share my secret but Dawn Beach is our favorite.

 

 

I am not sure what is available on Dawn post-Irma.  It would be good to get a report from someone who has been there recently.

[trivia addict]

Good point. I think we last were there before Irma.

Anyone  been there in the past year?

[SensFan11]

On 2/25/2019 at 12:55 PM, trivia addict said:

Good point. I think we last were there before Irma.

Anyone  been there in the past year?

 

We've loved Dawn Beach in the past too...but wondering what it's like now?

[carnival03]

On 1/30/2019 at 7:01 PM, brookeq said:

We went to Little Divi beach last time we were here.  Its a time share place but beach access is free. Chairs are $5.  So were umbrellas.  There is a place to rent snorkel equipment, jet skis etc.  You can order food at any of the places.  You can not use the pool or anything like that.   Its easy to get to.  We found the sign at the cab stand and got in line.  You can see a review of our day here in my signature under Carnival Breeze.

 

Did they have restrooms and wifi for your use?

[brookeq]

1 hour ago, carnival03 said:

 

Did they have restrooms and wifi for your use?

They had very nice restrooms.  I don't remember if they had wifi or not.

[brookeq]

We also loved Dawns Beach.  We didn't go last time do to a huge seaweed problem on that part of the island.

[carnival03]

12 hours ago, brookeq said:

They had very nice restrooms.  I don't remember if they had wifi or not.

 

Thank you. I read that portion of your Carnival Breeze review and it looks like a very nice place! 

[SG65CB]

On 2/6/2019 at 1:50 AM, wingnut2005 said:

What would the cost of taxi for 4 people be from cruise port

thank you

 

Taxi from cruise port to Mullet for 4 people is $10 per person one way. If the taxi is a larger van and they put more people in the price drops to $9 each.

[KD Travel Adventures]

I haven't seen it mentioned yet, but Pinel Island is a great place for the beach and more.  Its not a big beach, but fairly quiet.

Here is a video that shows a little of the beach, but so much more of the island.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVazZZTUUiw

 

The water where the beach is usually calm because its protected by the island. We had a great time there and plan to go back.

 

St. Maarten makes it very easy to get a taxi to anywhere from the cruise terminal.  When you get to where the taxis are at the cruise terminal, there are signs for the locations around the island. We were buy the Orient Beach sign and I think it also had Pinel Island on it.  But, just let them know you ultimately want to go to Pinel Island (which is on the French side) and they will have a taxi. There were two of us going to Pinel Island and they put us in a van with another couple that was going to Orient Beach.The taxi cost $25-$30 plus tip one way, and we would have paid the same amount whether we shared or had our own taxi.  I think Orient Beach was about 20 minutes and then it was another 10 minutes to Cul de Sac, where the taxi dropped us off at a dirt parking lot to catch the 10 minute ferry to Pinel Island. The ferry to Pinel Island is $12 round trip, with the first ferry leaving at 10am. When we were there, the ferry was running back and fourth every half hour, but I think this may depend on time of day or year, so double check for when you will be there. You will want to ask your taxi to pick you up at a specific time at the ferry parking lot, as there normally are not any taxis waiting there. We had asked our taxi driver from the morning to pick us up at a specific time and he was right on time.  

 

 

[Irule7]

If you are up for an adventure, Pinel Island is great!  We booked a taxi and sea kayaks through Caribbean Paddling and had a great day.  You definitely want to book a taxi to pick you up, the area where you are dropped off is not busy at all.  Our driver was great, she was very friendly and talkative.  You have to kayak or take a short ferry ride over to the island, there are two restaurants there.  The kayaking is easy over to the island.  There are iguanas living there that love to be fed and when we were there it started to rain a bit and a bunch of hermit crabs started crawling out of the bushes.  

[KRAZYKRITTER2000]

We will be there from 8-5.  Will we have time enough to go to Orient Beach and the beach to see the planes?

 

[tunisbridal]

I love to can to friars beach

[Cruising Divers]

Thank you to everyone who replied! Here is what we ended up doing:

 

We took a taxi from the cruise port to Orient beach ($23 for two of us).  It was mostly deserted (minus an old, OLD guy in a thong 🤮)  so we walked down to Bikini Beach which was AMAZING! We went parasailing with the on-site company which while a bit pricey provided amazing and safe service, a fun jetski ride to/from the boat and a nice optional picture package that we thoroughly enjoyed. They also let us keep our things at their hut while we went out into the water which was greatly appreciated. We did not rent any chairs/umbrella or buy any alcoholic drinks but all of that was in plentiful supply.  

 

We then got a taxi back to downtown for $8 per person to do some shopping there (where on the boardwalk I bought the best rum I’ve ever had and that I may have to ask other CC’ers to buy and ship to me in Dallas because unfortunately I only bought one bottle -  has anyone ever done this/can anyone help me with this???) and we then paid $3 per person afterwards to go from downtown back to the cruise terminal.

 

Overall it was an amazing day with an excellent beach/water that we would happily recommend/repeat. Thank you again everyone for your help!!!

 

 

[karena1]

Just went to Orient last week.  Was  very hard to see the destruction of one of our favorite beaches.  Only Kon Tiki, Bikini Beach and the one past Bikini were open.  Prices have gone us post Irma.  Used to be able to get  chairs/umbrella/2 drinks for $18.  Now it is $30 for 2 chairs/umbrella.  Buckets of beer used to be 6 for $15, now $6 for $20.  Less competition so higher prices.  Was super windy when we were there last Wed.  Lots of erosion by Kon Tiki, had to step  down off the ledge to get to the water's edge.  Water was beautiful but a little rough due to the wind.  Bathrooms at Kon Tiki were nice.  We did not eat there.  

 

Have decided to try a different beach in September when we are back.  Thinking of Little Bay Beach by DIVI.  I know it is a public beach which is what we want.  As long as we can rent chairs/umbrella and have a bathroom, we don't need anything else.  

 

Orient has always been our "go to" beach over the years, but just did not have the "feel" we normally have out there.  Part of that is because it is so quiet, one of our favorite things out there was people watching.  Now hardly anyone there so not much going on anymore.  

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 1/17/2019 at 11:22 AM, SnorkelAway said:

 

 

Tough question.  Very subjective and dependent on weather/sea conditions on particular day.   If you know the weather is bad on one side of island versus other, then you can of course adjust the plans and go to the other side.

how would one know whether the weather is bad on one side and not on the other, and which side has the good weather? Please assume that we won't have internet access/wifi.