which beach excursion St Maarten?

[Lorenky]

Hello. I'm looking at excursions for St Maarten and having a hard time finding one that we want. We were hoping for a beach day, but most of the excursions are for Orient Beach which I think is likely to have Sargassum seaweed next April. From my understanding the west side beaches have much less Sargassum in general, so were were thinking Great Bay, but now I am reading about the pollution there, so that's not an option. Maho doesn't appeal to us with the planes flying overhead. The only other beach excursion listed is Kim Sha, is this an okay beach? Or is it better to just go on our own without an excursion and if so which beach would you recommend that is easy to get to and from the cruise port, is generally Sargassum free and has calm flat water for swimming? We weren't really thinking of exploring on our own, this being our first cruise, I think we would be worried about getting back to the ship, but the excursions I'm seeing really don't seem to suit. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

[SnorkelAway]

I suggest getting taxi to Divi Little Bay for beach time and swimming. 

[Lorenky]

Thanks. How difficult will it be to get a taxi back to the ship? Is Divi Little Bay much better than Kim Sha?

[rjrpar]

We always grab a cab at the port and go to Orient. Never had a seaweed issue, always a great time, and plenty of cabs returning to the ship. 

[Lorenky]

Thanks. Orient would be great and give us more excursion choices. But I was under the impression there is lots of sargassum in that side of the island in April?

[davemy]

Kim Sha is a good beach, there are several places for food and drinks as well as renting water equipment. Buccaneer Beach bar is one of my favorite spots! 

At Divi you will need to go through one of the hotels to rent beach chairs, get food and drinks.

[SnorkelAway]

Impossible to say now what sargassum situation will be next April on Orient - . but could be bad like this year.  Very unlikely to be an issue in Little Bay - and Little Bay is usually calm.  At Divi, you just go to beach and get chairs and umbrellas from beach guys - no need to go to reception.  Very easy to get taxi at Divi - and you could arrange for driver who takes you to pick you up at set time.  You may want to stop in town on way back to ship and look around before going rest of way to port.

[Lorenky]

Thanks. I think we’re going to go on the Rhino Riders excursion. It looks like fun, though not sure how I’ll get back on the raft if I get off, lol. On my other post they said the tour guides could offer to help me. Having a bad shoulder I can’t lift up like I should. Even if I can’t get off the raft, it looks like fun.

[Miss SeaBee]

On 5/24/2023 at 7:35 PM, SnorkelAway said:

Impossible to say now what sargassum situation will be next April on Orient - . but could be bad like this year.  Very unlikely to be an issue in Little Bay - and Little Bay is usually calm.  At Divi, you just go to beach and get chairs and umbrellas from beach guys - no need to go to reception.  Very easy to get taxi at Divi - and you could arrange for driver who takes you to pick you up at set time.  You may want to stop in town on way back to ship and look around before going rest of way to port.

I’ve been thinking about going to Divi for the day. I’ve seen the beach day on Viator for $40/pp (includes the chairs/umbrella, not transportation) and I heard that you can book a day pass through the resort.  Can you reliably taxi to the resort and rent chairs without a day pass?

[SnorkelAway]

Yes. 

[mitsugirly]

On 5/24/2023 at 7:50 PM, Lorenky said:

Thanks. I think we’re going to go on the Rhino Riders excursion. It looks like fun, though not sure how I’ll get back on the raft if I get off, lol. On my other post they said the tour guides could offer to help me. Having a bad shoulder I can’t lift up like I should. Even if I can’t get off the raft, it looks like fun.

 

Oh my gosh yes! Do the Rhino Riders!!! It was a lot of fun! We had a blast the day we did them and for some reason they are hardly ever mentioned on here. HERE is my review of our day with tons of pictures. 

 

I will tell you that getting back onto the raft was a little difficult for me. I was "fluffy" back then when we went, so it was a little difficult and I had the hubby pushing me up but made it up. I also had a bad shoulder (torn rotator cuff that was healing). 

[Lorenky]

Thanks. So was your rotator cuff injury impacted by pushing and pulling to get back on the boat? How was your husband able to push you if he was treading water as well? Or do they dock where you can stand?

[mitsugirly]

6 hours ago, Lorenky said:

Thanks. So was your rotator cuff injury impacted by pushing and pulling to get back on the boat? How was your husband able to push you if he was treading water as well? Or do they dock where you can stand?

 

Just a description of my injury...I injured my shoulder and (I'm a very slow healer...like really slow...like years slow) and my ortho doctor felt that it would heal on its own but it was up to me if I wanted the surgery. I had injections every so often to help with the pain and about 2 years later it finally healed. So, it would hurt when I lifted it over my head or laid a certain way. 

 

Ok, that being said...it did take me a few tries to get up into the boat. The hubby was in the water behind me while holding onto the boat with one hand and pushing my bottom with the other and I was able to get up. The rest of the family didn't have any problems. Then again, I was somewhat over weight back then too. 

 

I did a full review on our day there, located HERE with tons of pictures and videos. Now mind you, if you haven't followed me for years on here and know me, my reviews are meant to tell a story and they are somewhat made to make people laugh at our antics with a little over exaggeration at times to enhance the review. 😁

 

I would also say that the snorkeling there wasn't the "best" so if you felt like you didn't want to go in, maybe stay on the boat? The water was really moving the day we were there and the swimming back to the boat was probably harder than getting on it. Might have been the day...might have been the area. I'm not sure. 🤷‍♀️

 

You've mentioned Divi and Kim Sha, we've been to both of those as well.

Here are those reviews:  Simpson Bay-Kim Sha  and here again  and Divi Little Bay

 

If you are considering any other places (mostly beaches but we have done the kayak's to Pinel Island as well), you can check out some of the places we've been to on the main St Maarten page HERE.

 

I hope this helps. I can try to answer any other question you have. 🙂  If you go, have a great time. The Rhino's are definitely fun!

 

 

 

 

[Lorenky]

Thanks. I’m not keen on snorkeling, but it looks like there is the opportunity to swim to the beach and hang out there for a bit, I think I would enjoy that, but not at the expense of my shoulder. I may just stay in the boat. I think I’ll take the tour and just play it by ear in terms of what I do and what the conditions are at that time. 

[mitsugirly]

1 minute ago, Lorenky said:

Thanks. I’m not keen on snorkeling, but it looks like there is the opportunity to swim to the beach and hang out there for a bit, I think I would enjoy that, but not at the expense of my shoulder. I may just stay in the boat. I think I’ll take the tour and just play it by ear in terms of what I do and what the conditions are at that time. 

 

No, there wasn't a beach you could swim to. If you are looking at my pictures and a beach over to the left side, that was just us passing by on the way back. We didn't stop to spend any time there. Just wanted to let you know.