Drive Clockwise or Counter-Clockwise?

[ccheng6401]

We have been to St Maarten 10 yrs ago and toured the island with a rental car. We did it counter-clockwise last time and hit the traffic jam on the way back to the cruise terminal. It took 1.5 hrs to get back from Maho Beach and we were worried about missing the ship. Luckily, we didn’t but we cut it really close. 

 

We are going back again with friends in Nov.  Thinking about doing it clockwise this time.

1)     Harold Jack Hill view point (Does anyone know exactly where that is?)

2)     Maho Beach plane spotting

3)     Marigot

4)     Orient Beach for lunch and relax on the beach for 2 hours

5)     Oyster Bay (Can anyone recommend a good view point?)

6)     Iguana Park  ( Where is their exact location? Their FB said it is on Oyster Pond Road but I can’t find it on google map)

7)     Border sign for photo

😎     Cruise ship terminal

 

I know the big planes usually arrive in the afternoon so driving counter-clockwise is probably better. Our ship leaves at 6pm so I am guessing we need to leave at 2:30 from Maho Beach if we decide to do it counter-clockwise? 

 

Any comment is very appreciated.  

[flagmom]

Following your thread, as we are going in January. There will be 5 ships in port, so we were also thinking of going to Maho first and Orient Beach last. Is the rental car place near the port?

[Cruising to Retirement]

Following

[ccheng6401]

On 9/9/2023 at 7:48 PM, flagmom said:

Following your thread, as we are going in January. There will be 5 ships in port, so we were also thinking of going to Maho first and Orient Beach last. Is the rental car place near the port?

Yes, I booked Hertz. It is right at the gate according to their description. I also got a quote from another car rental place near by. It is $20 cheaper but they are outside of the port area. It is still nearby and they will provide round trip transportation.  I used them before and it was fine.  This time I think I will pay that $20 to Hertz for the convenience in case we run out of time.  I think that $20 is like a port area access fee or so.    

 

https://hertz.sxmrentacar.com/faq/

 

Q. Do you have a location at the cruise ship pier in Philipsburg?

A. Yes, we have a location at the Philipsburg cruise ship terminal. When you get off your ship walk down the pier towards the main exit. When you see the large yellow building walk on the sidewalk to the right of it, past the buses to reach the car rental booth. Staff and cars are on-site.

 

I booked from the US website not this one but this local site has good info.

Edited September 27, 2023 by ccheng6401

[flagmom]

Thank you for the information. We booked a rental car and plan to do the drive clockwise--Maho Beach, late lunch in Marigot, then relax time at Orient Beach. We may not see the really huge airplanes in the morning, but we've been there before, and it will still be fun. 

Also, regarding Iguana Park: we stopped at a little roadside area where you could feed iguanas when we did the circle tour of the island with Amigo Tours in 2017. If this is the same one you are referencing, it was on the road between the Rotary Point Lookout on Rue de Coralita Rd. and Orient Beach. I don't know if it's still there since the hurricane. 

Edited September 28, 2023 by flagmom

[OnlyMe]

On 9/27/2023 at 4:05 AM, ccheng6401 said:

Yes, I booked Hertz. It is right at the gate according to their description. I also got a quote from another car rental place near by. It is $20 cheaper but they are outside of the port area. It is still nearby and they will provide round trip transportation.  I used them before and it was fine.  This time I think I will pay that $20 to Hertz for the convenience in case we run out of time.  I think that $20 is like a port area access fee or so.    

 

https://hertz.sxmrentacar.com/faq/

 

Q. Do you have a location at the cruise ship pier in Philipsburg?

A. Yes, we have a location at the Philipsburg cruise ship terminal. When you get off your ship walk down the pier towards the main exit. When you see the large yellow building walk on the sidewalk to the right of it, past the buses to reach the car rental booth. Staff and cars are on-site.

 

I booked from the US website not this one but this local site has good info.

Can you please tell me who this other car hire was? We are having difficulty finding a car rental for our early January arrival. Thank you!

[junieh]

We booked with a company called Rodael for our stop there next month. They will be meeting us at the gate of the port and take us to their office which is apprently just a couple of minutes away. They have been very helpful and their price was excellent

[ccheng6401]

On 12/1/2023 at 1:46 PM, OnlyMe said:

Can you please tell me who this other car hire was? We are having difficulty finding a car rental for our early January arrival. Thank you!

The other rental car in the port area is Coastal car rental. I think they are a cheaper than Hertz. I used Coastal before too.  These two are in the port area right next to each other. You just walk over there to pick up your car and return to the same place. Pretty easy. No need to taker shuttle at all.  

[Cruising to Retirement]

We are on Norwegian Viva and arrive on 1/12/24 with three ships in Port-  we may stay on the Ship due to thousands on the island